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Publications

Read through the foundational impact and peer-reviewed papers that ground Reflecting Equity’s expertise in evaluation, intervention design, and policy reform.

“Chrissy was the linchpin of a monumental cultural shift in our chemistry community. She transformed town halls from stalemate arguments that left all stakeholders feeling unfulfilled into constructive conversations underpinned by common goals, values, and community data. Through a series of equally effective initiatives, she demonstrated an uncanny ability to make spaces inclusive, to ensure everyone felt heard and that they could be listened to. I unreservedly recommend her. She will investigate your needs and tailor solutions to them, just as she did here as both a scholar and community leader.”

— Professor of Chemistry

Cartoon of six researchers sitting around a white board, looking at the content on the board, which reads "community data (top) – stakeholder collaboration (right) – intervention design (bottom) – empower cultural change (left)" in a circle

Stachl et. al. ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 6, 910

  • What exactly does it take to change the culture of a community? This narrative describes the growth and success of a movement to collect data, exchange ideas, and implement goal-oriented interventions, to make an academic community more inclusive.

    (Stachl* et. al. ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 6, 910; link)

 
A word cloud of academic climate related words—the largest read: "faculty", "students", "department", "graduate", "female", and more!

Stachl et. al. J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96, 10, 2149

  • Responding to the needs of an entire community is difficult, but critical when working toward equity and inclusion. This case study documents the growth of a movement to assess the Berkeley Chemistry academic climate and describes the logic behind designing a new format for hosting department-wide conversations grounded in the community’s own data.

    (Stachl* et. al. J. Chem. Educ. 2019, 96, 10, 2149; link)

 
A cartoon render of a large group of people sitting in a room. A circle of words around the image reads: "community data (top) – stakeholder collaboration (right) – intervention design (bottom) – empower cultural change (left)"

Stachl et. al. ACS Omega 2021, 6, 22, 14410


  • After three years of focused assessment and interventions, we improved an academic climate and quantified the positive changes! This publication presents the data and the positive outcomes our efforts to make the Berkeley Chemistry academic climate more inclusive. Our success resulted from designing sustainable interventions based on the community’s own data.

    (Stachl* et. al. ACS Omega 2021, 6, 22, 14410; link)

 
A collage of six cartoons illustrating scenarios related to sense of belonging. For example, someone walking on campus thinking "I feel so happy and accepted here!"

Stachl et. al. PLoS ONE, 2021, 15(5): e0233431

  • Sense of belonging is known to predict retention throughout academia. So why don’t we understand the factors that shape belonging among graduate students, postdocs, and faculty? This research outlines a new strategy for measuring sense of belonging and contributes to a completely novel understanding of the phenomenon among graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and professors.

    (Stachl et. al. PLoS ONE, 2021, 15(5): e0233431; link)

“Chrissy left our department with a data-driven and quantifiable framework for creating institutional change that is grounded in the humanity and experiences of people in our community. Now, people who create and run new initiatives in the department think about how to assess them to make sure they actually address the problem(s) they intend to address… its a complete paradigm shift, and was possible because Chrissy empowered the community, built bridges between groups of stakeholders, got everyone on the same page, and helped the graduate student body realize what was possible for them to initiate change.”

— Dan Brauer, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Scholar, Chemistry

 
 

  • Listen to the community perceptions and outcomes of the foundational work our CEO did during her Ph.D. to change the Berkeley Chemistry academic climate!

 
 
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Other resources

Illustration of a prism with a line titled "success" on the left and six lines on the right, the top three describing graduate student values and the bottom three describing faculty values

Brauer, Mizuno, Stachl et. al. J. Chem. Ed, 2022, 99, 1, 338

  • A continuation of our CEO’s foundational work to change the Berkeley academic climate resulted in data showing that faculty undervalue the metrics of success preferred by marginalized students, and highlighted some of the ways that definitions of academic success can be exclusionary. What would happen if we join graduate students, particularly those with marginalized identities, in challenging the use of publication record as the primary metric of success? Can we re-envision graduate school success in ways that reflect the values of diverse student populations?

    (Brauer, Mizuno, Stachl et. al. J. Chem. Ed, 2022, 99, 1, 338; link)

 
 
 
 
 

  • Our founder and CEO contributes to a Chemistry World article with five tips for being a good ally to colleagues and friends (link).

 
 

  • Listen to our founder and CEO chat with PhD Balance about sense of belonging, and give advice on how to prioritize your own wellbeing!