Women and folks of other underrepresented identities often get asked to serve on diversity initiatives. We volunteer our time for committees, panels, speaking engagements, mentorship programs, and more. These initiatives are super important, but time spent working on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is time not spent doing other work-related tasks, like writing grants or publishing.

This is an issue because it can end up negatively impacting our careers, and thereby doing exactly the opposite of what DEI initiatives are aiming to accomplish. Imagine this scenario: a young professional (either through invitation or self-motivation) ends up spending a quarter of their time on DEI efforts. Because of this, they finish the year with fewer publications than counterparts who spent 100% of their time on their research alone. This ends up hurting their ability to land an academic or research job when one becomes available.

And it can become a vicious cycle. Organizations, schools, programs, etc. are recognizing the need for DEI work, and are recruiting underrepresented people to help them make things better. However, because of the acknowledged lack of diversity in the field currently, the same few folks may end up doing most of the heavy lifting and being asked to serve on a multitude of efforts. If these same underrepresented people then become less competitive for jobs or promotions because of this time spent on DEI initiatives, we have only served to place roadblocks to success in front of the very people these initiatives are meant to support.

Of course, one big way to combat this is to value diversity work and to make sure this value is reflected in its impact on careers and career advancement. Some spaces are recognizing this, but we need to do more to acknowledge those working to help DEI in our field.

Another way to help is for allies to also step up for these initiatives. Spend time volunteering to serve on DEI committees, attend DEI workshops and panel discussions, take time out of your workday to learn more about and brainstorm actions to combat DEI issues in your own workplace and organizations. This will help share the load with others, so that those underrepresented in our field aren’t also asked to shoulder the burden of making it more equitable.

We ALL need to do the work to make fisheries an inclusive field for everybody.