Building a Data Lifecycle Management Toolkit to Support Diversity Scholarship

Abstract

There are increasing demands on researchers to continue refining their data practices, including requirements for data sharing coming from federal and other funders. However, support to appropriately manage and assess data (e.g., for sharing) is nonstandard and inconsistent, often relying on the resources of specific institutions, mentors, or individual experience. This is likely to have a disproportionate impact on scholars doing work with data on sensitive populations or that otherwise require extra care, as well as those scholars from underrepresented backgrounds, without well-resourced institutional affiliations, or who otherwise face structural barriers in their work.

Acknowledging that resolving these issues requires larger shifts in the research infrastructure, this presentation will discuss the content and creation of an openly-available toolkit of data lifecycle management resources to support diversity scholarship (scholarship that advances understanding of identity, difference, culture, representation, power, oppression, and inequality). While things have started shifting in recent years, there are still not enough easily accessible resources that explicitly integrate DEIA (and similar) concerns into the full spectrum of data management.

The toolkit creation process included original research conducted in collaboration with a campus organization for diversity scholars to identify needs and gaps in support, as well as an environmental scan of existing resources which were evaluated and selected based on set criteria. The end result is a curated set of resources relevant to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility considerations for data management in multiple disciplines. The presentation will also briefly discuss the role of this partnership in conducting the research and in plans for sharing the toolkit with researchers, as well as plans for sustainability and engaging scholars in revision of the toolkit moving forward.

Also available at https://osf.io/gvjhb