Equitea

Equity is a distribution of opportunities such that everyone is being provided with what they need to ensure they do their best.
This is different to equality, where opportunities would be distributed equally, regardless of someone's circumstances.
[Source - "What is Social Justice?" Psychology Today]

a banner with a picture of a mug to the left with equitea printed on it and text to the right which reads a monthly forum to discuss topics related to equity diversity and inclusion ED&I in relation to Astronomy Physics and STEM

The Concept

Science is not performed in isolation - it is influenced by the people who perform it, and the world in which it is performed. Certain groups of people face bigger barriers to success when on their journey in science.

Our monthly Equitea meeting is a forum to discuss topics related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) in relation to Astronomy, Physics and/or STEM as a whole.

This meeting is open to everyone; you are encouraged to participate and attend regardless of your background. Even if you do not belong to a minority group, allies are very important! The aim of this meeting is to educate ourselves, listen to minority voices, and learn about perspectives and topics that we might not have considered before.

This is also a place for us to collect resources that further understanding in the above topics. You can find our amalgamation of resources >> here! <<

You can read up on the origin story of our Equitea meetings >> here! <<

Schedule

Our meetings typically occur on the last Friday of every month from 2 to 3pm. This may be subject to change (especially when external speakers are being hosted), so please double-check the schedule below for up-to-date meeting dates/times!

You can read up on past meetings, including notes and resources discussed, >> here! <<

2023

Date, Time	Meeting Topic(s)	Speaker(s)	Chair(s)	Recommended Reading
Wed 25th Jan, 4-5pm	What's in an Image?: Looking to an Equitable Future for Astronomy	Divya PersaudLink opens in a new window (external)	M. O'Brien & CEHLink opens in a new window	Details for eventLink opens in a new window
Mon 20th Feb, 2-3pm	Conferences: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly	Ares Osborn (internal)	A. Faruqi	Consider these discussion questionsLink opens in a new window
Mon 27th Mar, 2-3pm	Managing Mental Health and Wellbeing in Academia	Emily White (external)	G. Jones	None
Mon 24th April, 2-3pm	Some Equitea Reflections from Aotearoa, New Zealand	Prof. Jan Eldridge (external)	G. Jones & A. Faruqi	None
Tues 30th May, 2-3pm	The Impact of Having a Stutter in Academia	Jamie Williams (internal)	M. O'Brien & A. Faruqi	None

Current Committee (2023)

Our committee is responsible for organising and chairing these meetings. They come from both the student (postgraduate) and staff (postdocs included) bodies, and their work on this is entirely voluntary. The committee changes every new year.

You can check out the members of the past committees >> here! <<

Role	Name (pronouns)	Email	Other links
Staff Lead	Heather Cegla (she/her \| they/them)	h.cegla [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Postdoc Lead	Marina Lafarga Magro (she/her)	marina.lafargo-magro [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Student Lead	Gareth Jones (he/him)	g.jones.6 [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Speaker Liaison (Student)	Mairi O'Brien (she/her)	mairi.o-brien [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Digital Communications (Student)	Amena Faruqi (she/her)	amena.faruqi [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Treasurer (Student)	Azib Norazman (he/him)	azib.norazman [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Committee Advisor (Staff)	Farzana Meru (she/her)	f.meru [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Committee Member (Postdoc)	Vatsal Panwar (he/him/his)	vatsal.panwar [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage
Committee Member (Student)	Ares Osborn (they/them)	e.osborn [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage 🐦 astro twitter 🐦 art twitter
Committee Member (Staff)	David Brown (he/him)	d.j.a.brown [at] warwick.ac.uk	🌎 webpage

Code of Conduct

By attending our Equitea meetings, you agree to abide by the following guidelines.

We are dedicated to providing a positive, harassment-free experience for everyone in our meetings, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices.

We do not tolerate harassment, abusive behavior, or intimidation of participants in any form.

We follow the Values of the University of Warwick and the AAS Code of Ethics, and outline some additional, specific guidance for this particular meeting below:

This is a space for everyone to learn and grow.

Remember, no-one is perfect, If you make a mistake, remember to apologise and learn from it. If someone says something that is incorrect, please make sure to correct them kindly, rather than berating them.
The voices and needs of the most vulnerable in any given conversation should be prioritised.

As such, please be conscious of how much space you’re taking up in a conversation. Please be extra conscious if you hold a privileged or dominant identity when discussing a form of inequality or oppression. Listen to and amplify the voices of those who have the lived experience; do not talk over them.
Disagree with ideas, not people.

Use "I" statements to speak from your personal perspective, rather than making generalizations.
Avoid playing devil’s advocate.

Specifically, do not argue for contrarian positions that you do not actually hold.

If an individual continually breaches this code of conduct, they will be barred from attending these meetings.

If you have any complaints, please contact a member of the current committee (listed bottom left).

This Code of Conduct was inspired by the Code of Conduct for the University of Michigan Astronomy Department's Equi-tea meetings.