Practical Tips for Intentional and Inclusive Recruiting and Hiring for Academic Research Laboratories

Hiring decisions are some of the most important choices PIs make for their research groups. Whether it is undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or other research assistants, trainees are pivotal for the success of a research group. Choosing an effective team can lead to synergy amongst researchers, high creativity, and groundbreaking science. Choosing an ineffective team can lead to infighting, toxicity, low morale, and scientific stagnation. These same hiring decisions are critical in creating an equitable and inclusive lab environment. Importantly, the challenges for creating productive and inclusive lab groups align: both can be achieved by (i) advertising broadly to ensure a high number of qualified potential researchers apply and (ii) removing unconscious selection bias in the hiring process such that these highly qualified researchers are hired. Intentionally and deliberately incorporating these two steps into the recruiting and selection processes aid in the recruitment of a more effective and inclusive research team. Here, we describe practical advice for intentional and inclusive recruiting for academic research labs. We focus on three areas: advertising your research positions, assessing candidates for research positions, and assessing your hiring practices. In each, we give guiding principles and practical tips for designing an equitable and inclusive hiring process for academic labs.