Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Professional Associations: Experiences from Security Studies

The International Security Studies Section (ISSS) of the International Studies Association aims to promote the study of global, international, regional, and national security—broadly conceived. Over the past decade, ISSS has also sought to improve diversity and inclusion for its membership, culminating in its Taskforce on Diversity in Security Studies. In this forum, taskforce organizers, researchers, and participants examine the ways in which ISSS has collected data and then acted to improve both experiences and outcomes for historically excluded scholars, using an intersectional approach but with a specific focus on race. By critically reflecting on the role of professional associations in combatting racism in academia, using the case study of ISSS, the forum has two aims. First, we hope that by sharing ISSS experiences and processes, we may encourage other professional associations to self-reflect on how they may contribute to racial injustice, as well as how they can reveal and counteract racial oppression. Second, rather than solely focusing on goals and outcomes, the forum also gives voice to personal perspectives of researchers and participants to highlight how it is people who ultimately make up the heart of efforts to challenge racism and discrimination.