Parallel sessions

Astronomy and academia as a whole suffer from a whole host of issues relating to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I), such as inability to attract and retain diverse scientists, sexual harassment, bullying, poor work-life balance and incredible pressure to perform, mental health crises, and perpetuating colonial practises among many others. There are pervasive disadvantages for those who exist along axes of marginalisation, especially for those with multiple intersecting identities. As these issues have made their way into the spotlight, there have been efforts, often grassroots, to rectify the inequities in our discipline. There are working groups (e.g. ISNBS, Pride in STEM, BBSTEM, the STEM Equals project, TIGERSTEMM, oSTEM), seminar series (e.g. Astronomy in Colour, Equitea), departmental codes of conduct, conference sessions like these, and even standalone conferences (e.g. the LGBTQ+ STEMinar). This session aims to give a platform to those within the community who work on projects that embed ED&I into our lives and careers as astronomers, students, researchers and academics. It also aims to reflect on what we all can and should be doing better, to steer the future of astronomy towards being equitable, inclusive, and welcoming to all. We will encourage speakers from all career stages to submit abstracts, prioritising early-career and minority-background researchers, as well as ED&I experts outside of Astronomy and Geophysics.