Diversity & Inclusion

Career Exploration and Development's
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitment Statement

Oberlin College's Center for Career Exploration and Development is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable environment to support all students and alumni in their career explorations and journeys. 

We understand career exploration and development to be a form of social justice. 

• We recognize that larger systems and structures of oppression directly impact the daily lives and social and cultural capital of our students and alumni. 
• We affirm the diverse identities of our students, alumni, and staff.

We collaborate with students and alumni to make their personal goals a reality as we work to level the playing field through our advising, funding, programming, and networking connections. 

We practice open and honest communication about how to make ourselves, our office, and our services more diverse, equitable, and inclusive through understanding our own intersectional identities and practicing cultural humility. 

We demonstrate our commitment to access and equity through the following actions for the 2021-2022 academic year: 

• Advising: Providing students the opportunity to schedule individual advising appointments for “Career and Identity” to discuss questions and/or concerns about the intersection of these topics.
• Campus Programs: Regularly schedule programs that address the unique needs and interests of our historically excluded students 
• Cross-Campus Collaboration: Partnering with offices and student organizations that serve Oberlin’s historically excluded populations to create meaningful programs for our students. 
• Data: Intentionally tracking student engagement with our office to determine which populations we have a better opportunity to serve.
• Internal Staff Development: Implementing a department DEI plan to deepen the awareness, knowledge and skills of our staff in order to better support students and alumni from diverse backgrounds in our advising practices and career education programming.
• Online Presence and Resources: Engage in an audit of all external links on our website to determine if they are written from diverse perspectives by diverse authors. Update our identity-centered resources pages to ensure the resources address the unique needs of students from these backgrounds.
• Student Feedback: Regularly hosting listening sessions with students to center student voices within our office, services, and programs.