ICPSR DEI Statement

illustrated outlines of hands in black, brown and white skin tones

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), one of the five centers of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, is the world's largest social science research data archive. As part of its leadership role in the social science community, ICPSR commits to intentional and explicit principles supporting diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Our mission is to “advance and expand social and behavioral research, acting as a global leader in data stewardship and providing rich data resources and responsive educational opportunities for present and future generations'' (ICPSR Mission Statement). As it is itself a social institution, ICPSR’s archives and data collection efforts have reflected existing power structures in society and in the consortium’s member institutions. ICPSR is committed to using its resources and its leadership role to implement equitable principles that go beyond superficial declarations. As a key part of the social and behavioral science research ecosystem, we have a responsibility to advance learning and research that diminishes access barriers and brings the narratives and research of often-marginalized populations to the forefront.

Our commitments to respect and fairness are demonstrated in our data acquisition and archiving practices, instructional practices, hiring and professional development practices, building and facility management, and compensation, retention, and promotion practices. We seek to promote inclusion broadly and especially with regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality and national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and accessibility. Broad inclusion is necessary to achieve our goals of making high-quality research data available to the research community and to help to transform the behavioral and social sciences so that our scholars and research reflect the world and the communities that we study.

ICPSR promotes equitable data use and provides professional training to help build bridges to understanding instead of walls of exclusion. ICPSR strives to expand beyond the historically homogeneous, White-male-dominated perspectives of the past and into our more promising future that elevates multiculturalism and diversity in the workplace. We are not perfect, yet we strive to know better and to do better. This is our solemn commitment.

ICPSR challenges the myth of archival neutrality and passiveness. We provide guidance to our users about best practices to ensure that data use and analysis do not harm the population(s) being studied. As an organization, we provide resources that help users become aware of their biases and provide guidance to our depositors so that the data at ICPSR protect against harm to the populations studied. Our goal is to encourage an equitable perspective in the research community through ICPSR’s practice of acquiring and disseminating data.