Prioritizing safety and safeguarding against identity-based harassment and other exclusionary behaviors in field campaigns is critical to ensure safe and productive research environments. While harassment and discrimination in the fields are not new phenomena, widespread recognition of their prevalence and harm (Figure 1) has led to demands for culture change and increased training and preparation (Clancy et al., 2014; Fischer et al., 2021, Mervis, 2022; USAP, 2022). In response, funding agencies have worked to develop and support institutional change initiatives such as the Department of Energy (DOE, 2022) and NSF’s new Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) requirement for safe and inclusive work environments for off-campus and off-site research (PAPPG Section 2E9).
Figure 1. Factors that lead to increased challenges during fieldwork.
The goal of ADVANCEing FieldSafety is, therefore, to create and disseminate a field safety, anti-harassment, and bystander intervention training certificate program that is accompanied by the development of a toolkit to support field teams in planning safe and inclusive field campaigns. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be available in mid-2024 allowing easy access and broad participation. The MOOC will have both participation (online, self-paced) and certification pathways (participation + facilitated debriefs/reflections) that will help field teams meet NSF’s new PAPPG field safety and anti-harassment mitigation requirements (NSF, 2023), as shown in Figure 2. The MOOC content will also be accompanied by a toolkit, which will contain additional resources and readings relevant to each course module. To learn more information about the ADVANCEing FieldSafety Toolkit, click here.
The ADVANCEing FieldSafety MOOC is a three-week course that focuses on:
- Week 1: Creating a safe field environment
- Module 1: Preparing and Evaluating Hazards
- Module 2: Communication and Leadership
- Week 2: Creating a safe team culture
- Module 3: Setting Team Up for Success
- Module 4: Creating Safe and Positive Team Environments
- Module 5: Inclusive Mentoring
- Week 3: Creating a welcoming, inclusive and diverse field team environment
- Module 6: Keeping Diverse Field Teams Safe
- Module 7: Cultural Awareness
In Week 1, we will cover team communication strategies, such as leadership roles, decision-making styles, and debriefing tools. We will also discuss how to evaluate and prepare for hazards in the field, identifying the difference between subjective and objective hazards, and perceived and actual risks. We will discuss how to prepare for potential emergencies in the field, from developing in-team communication plans and meeting institutional requirements for emergency preparedness ahead of going to the field.
In Week 2, we will cover what you need to know to create a safe team culture starting by defining a safe, positive team culture and considering how to recognize exclusionary behaviors. During this week, we will discuss how to develop a code of conduct for your team. Finally, we will discuss bystander intervention and how to incorporate these techniques with your team.
In Week 3, we will share several lenses of identities that individuals may have (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, accessibility/ableism, culture, and economic equity) and be bringing with them into the field. We will also encourage those taking the course to consider how the intersectionality of these identity lenses that people hold may need to be more intimately considered to keep people safe in the field. We will discuss cultural awareness and how to build cultural competency, especially with working with different communities and international teams. Finally, we will focus on inclusive mentoring and developing skills to build better and impactful mentor-mentee relationships.
Figure 2. ADVANCEing FieldSafety massive open online course content, required assessments for course completion, and how they address the new NSF PAPPG requirements for safe and inclusive field work environments.
Course Certification Pathways
There are several ways that you and your team can interact with the ADVANCEing FieldSafety MOOC. The MOOC is free to all individuals of interest, regardless of your experience with conducting fieldwork, through Coursera. Individuals can view the course at their speed and focus on the topic of interest.
However, participants who complete the entire course through the official pathways listed below can receive a certificate at an additional cost.
- Coursera Certificate ($49 USD)
- Requirements:
- Completion of course and assessments.
- Requirements:
- ADVANCEing FieldSafety Certificate (Price to be determined)
- Alignment with new NSF PAPPG requirement for safe and inclusive work environments for off-campus and off-site research (Section 2E9).
- Requirements:
- Completion of course and assessments, and
- Participation in a series of two ADVANCEing FieldSafety debriefing sessions.More information on the debriefing sessions will be provided at a later date.
How to Engage
To learn more on how to engage and/or participate in the ADVANCEing FieldSafety MOOC, click here.