The Rubicon, RubicOnline and Ibid staff participated in a national Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion audit conducted last spring by the Journalism Education Association to shed light on our publication staff practices and increase transparency on our publications’ demographics.

The SPA publications mostly match what the audit found. A large number of their respondents identify as white, straight, and cisgender female.

In November, we updated the data with an internal audit of current staff.

WHAT WE FOUND

The survey covered five areas: gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, and whether the students attended SPA with financial assistance.

We found that the majority of our staff identified as female, straight, non-religious, and are attending SPA without any financial assistance.

During surveying, there was some overlap of data. Staff who identified as multiracial also checked off their respective races/ethnicities. Some staff attend SPA with both financial aid and scholarships.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Ideally, publications staff demographics should reflect school demographics.

Our staff demographics are relatively similar to the school in that the staff and the school are predominantly white, with 61% of the Upper School students reporting white, which is reflected in the percentage of our staff.

Similarly, our Asian American Pacific Islander students make up 32.4% of the staff, and AAPI students make up 22% of SPA. The numbers are close, but the numbers on our staff are approximately 10% higher. AAPI is the second-highest demographic reported in both school and staff.

Hispanic/Latine and Black/African Americans each, respectively, make up 7% of the school. The publication shows Hispanics/ Latine to be in close range. The percentage of Black/African American staff is still close in comparison to the student percentage but similarly less.

Finally, 2.9% of our staff identify as Palestinian-American, reflecting the 2% Middle Eastern population at SPA.

There is a significant gap between White and BIPOC demographics on staff that matches the school’s population demographics. If we want to see a more diverse staff, the school must diversify as well. SPA created a Strategic Action Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and belonging with six focus areas, including student experience and programming. The area strives to welcome and include new BIPOC families, improve the experience of BIPOC students and students of different socioeconomic backgrounds, and improve school culture.

DIVERSITY IN COVERAGE

The SPA publications value diversity in our coverage of events and people in the school. The publications aim to amplify all voices of SPA, including underrepresented groups.

Diversity in our coverage and inclusive reporting continues to be a priority of all our student publications.

The joint Equity and Inclusion Statement developed by editors can be found in the “About” tab on the site: “Coverage about sensitive and difficult topics is an essential part of our job. We examine and reflect on personal and institutional biases to mindfully report on the community. We aim to amplify all voices, including underrepresented and marginalized voices, with care and respect. We seek to be representative and inclusive in our processes, in content published in The Rubicon (print and online), Ibid yearbook, Iris: Art + Lit, and social media channels, and within our publications classroom.”

We further commit to reflective practices in our name/pronouns policy when we state that “It is a priority for us to be fair to the lived experience of our sources and our community.”

This commitment is demonstrated by our staff in several ways. Reporters ask interviewees for their preferred pronouns and names. When assigning stories and selecting sources, we consider grade level, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity to diversify the voices in every story.

CONCLUSION

This staff survey was conducted to provide a snapshot of who is on our staff. We hope that as readers and as the people we cover and write about, you can see yourself reflected in our work.

The SPA publications aim to shine a light on all voices and write the stories of the community, whether that be commonly told stories or those of marginalized groups. We invite readers to contribute their perspectives through guest articles and letters to the editor and encourage all students to consider joining as staff.