OU Regional and City Planning Assistant Professor Co-Authors Practitioner Diversity Climate Survey for APA

Dr. Aujean Lee, assistant professor of Regional and City Planning, is one of six authors involved in a recently published practitioner diversity climate survey project called “Survey Says: Planners Share Insights on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” Read more about the project and collaborators at the American Planning Association website.

Abstract:
This study seeks to understand the perceptions of practicing planners around issues of diversity and inclusion in their workplaces and the communities they serve. This initiative is a partnership between the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Planners of Color Interest Group (ACSP-POCIG) and the American Planning Association (APA) to conduct a nationwide web-based survey of urban planning practitioners and in-depth interviews with APA membership around these topics. The online survey received over 3,000 responses between January 15, 2019, and March 15, 2019. A total of 104 planners were interviewed in 2019. The study finds that there is a perceived lack of representation of people of color and underrepresented groups, which limits who plans and whose values are validated. Bias and discrimination continue to persist and must be acknowledged to support systemic change. 

Participants reported that planning organizations and agencies are implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives, but these have yet to be institutionalized. Interviewees offered suggestions to promote greater diversity within APA, their workplaces, and planning educational institutions. The study concludes that it is more important than ever to center diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency within our planning organizations, workplaces, and planning educational institutions to send a message regarding the value of diversity within the field of urban planning.

About the Authors:

• April Jackson is an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University.
• Ivis García is a professor at the University of Utah in City and Metropolitan Planning.
• Benjamin Chrisinger is an associate professor at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford.
• Andrew J. Greenlee is an associate professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• C. Aujean Lee is an assistant professor of Regional and City Planning at the University of Oklahoma.
• Anaid Yerena is an associate professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma.