Affinity Groups

Diverse Student Networks

MIT recognizes over 500 student groups, which includes 68 ethnic and cultural associations. MIT clubs are officially organized through, and recognized by, the Association of Student Activities (ASA), a student-run joint committee⁠ of both the Undergraduate Association (UA) and the Graduate Student Council (GSC).

To learn more about these organizations, you can visit Engage@MIT and filter by your unique interests.

MIT also offers specialized resources to support a more inclusive learning environment:
Disability and Access Services
Graduate Admissions Diversity Initiatives
LGBTQ+ Services
Office of Graduate Education 
Office of Minority Education (for undergraduates)

For Postdocs

Postdoc Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

For Staff

Council on Staff Diversity and Inclusion, managed by MIT HR
Employee Resource Groups, employee-led groups formed around common interests, common bonds, or similar backgrounds. Current groups include:

• African, Black, American, Caribbean (ABAC)
• Asian Pacific American (APA)
• Disabilities
• Latino
• Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender Queer (LBGTQ)
• Millennials
• Women in Technology (WIT)

Community of Practice

The Fall 2023 Community of Practice meeting schedule is as follows:

First Meetings
Cohort A: Tuesday October 17th from 4-5 PM
Cohort B: Friday, October 20th from 12-1 PM

Second Meetings
Cohort A: Tuesday, December 5th from 4-5 PM
Cohort B: Friday, December 8th from 12-1 PM

To participate, please contact DEIJ Officer Farrah Belizaire: Farrahab@mit.edu.

More abut the Community of Practice:
Our Community of Practice is a group of Building 46 affiliates (graduate students, postdocs, faculty & staff) who meet twice a semester to share best practices, learn from each other, build peer-to-peer accountability, problem solve, innovate, test out ideas and strategies, and identify consistent DEIJ themes across the building.

In addition to the bi-semester meeting schedule, the group also convenes for informal networking lunches throughout the semester as well as three working groups fcoused on the following strategic aims:

Community-building initiatives (Nancy Kanwisher and Elise Malvicini)
K-12 outreach (Ted Gibson and Ed Boyden)
Postdoc to faculty pipeline (Ila Fiete and Steve Flavell)

DEIJ Working Groups

Community-Building
Led by Nancy Kanwisher & Elise Malvicini
The purpose of this working group is to promote and encourage opportunities to foster a more inclusive building culture by supporting initiatives which bring together members of the Building 46 community in meaningful ways, honoring our diverse identities, subdisciplines and departmental roles (faculty, staff, students, postdocs). A key initiative of this group includes a series of "Community Coffee Hours" where labs could sign up to promote intergroup dialogue through afternoon coffee chats.

K-12 Outreach
Led by Ted Gibson & Ed Boyden

In addition to institutional outreach programs sponsored by departments across Building 46, this group will focus on creating and/or promoting more sustainable, long-term relationships with outreach organizations both within and outside of the MIT community. The goal is to broaden our impact on early STEM education and community engagement, and to also hope to make these opportunities as accessible as possible for interested members of the community. 

For a list of individual outreach projects conducted by members of the Building 46 community, please click here.

Postdoc to Faculty Pipeline
Led by Ila Fiete & Steve Flavell

This working group is focused on identifying opportunities to provide early exposure and mentorship to postdoctoral researchers from groups historically underrepresented in the brain and cognitive sciences, and to support the transition to a career in academia. A key initiative of this committee has been the establishment of a "Rising Stars Seminar" which began in the Fall of 2022. Each semester, the Rising Stars Award will recognize postdoctoral candidates of exceptional scientific merit and highlights the importance of diversity and broad representation in the brain and cognitive sciences.


From L-R: Faculty member Steve Flavell, Fall 2022 Rising Star Recipient Biafra Ahananou, Faculty member Ila Fiete