Diversity Statement - Clinical Science

[kristincas]

Does anyone have experience with writing a diversity statement for a successful application for clinical science? I do not mention adversity in my academic personal statement, but a program I might apply to specifically asks for diversity/adversity history.  Is it okay to bare all if the program asks and you use that information to explain why you are a better candidate for it? Or will certain information work against you and seem divulge-y?

[_kita]

15 minutes ago, kristincas said:

Does anyone have experience with writing a diversity statement for a successful application for clinical science? I do not mention adversity in my academic personal statement, but a program I might apply to specifically asks for diversity/adversity history.  Is it okay to bare all if the program asks and you use that information to explain why you are a better candidate for it? Or will certain information work against you and seem divulge-y?

It is okay to divulge. That's what they want. But make it about what and how you've overcome those obstacles. That will show skills and character development you SOP does not.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Although not in the same area, I've had to write diversity statements for a few of my apps. What I tried to do was tell a story that shows how my unique background as (insert all the reasons I'm a diverse candidate here) makes me want to pursue (insert research interest here). In some cases, I did not dwell on the diversity aspect (I offhandedly refer to myself as a woman at one point, rather than dedicating a paragraph to my gender and preferred pronouns), but I tried to weave all of the things that they might find of interest in a diverse candidate (that are actually part of who I am) into one coherent story that explains part of the passion I have for the work I plan to do.