Commentary: Imagining possibilities for JEDI in research

This is the final article in a three-paper series focused on enacting a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) lens in qualitative research. Article one described how to conduct research with a JEDI lens even when this is not the central research focus.1 The authors provided tools for awakening your critical consciousness and JEDI-advancing strategies for conceptualising the phenomenon under study, orienting the research paradigm and methods and analysing data. Article two reported an empirical study of internal medicine trainees that exemplified some of the strategies offered in article one.2 The authors demonstrated how trainees' social identities (gender and country of origin) are part of complex identity transitions. In this article, the authorship teams from articles one (Laura and Neera) and two (Joanne) unite to discuss how article two took up a JEDI lens and to explore how the research in article two might shift if the authors enacted alternative JEDI strategies. Our goal is to illuminate the possibilities that open through enacting a JEDI lens in research. We conclude by sharing how we have been transformed by this process and inviting readers to join in this transformation. Starting out in qualitative research, and even more so when seeking to research with a JEDI lens, can be challenging when we have been taught to think in positivist ways.14 We hope that readers will not be deterred by fear of not doing JEDI ‘right.’ Employing just one small strategy is a good start. We invite you to consider these concerns in the research you read, review and conduct. Table 1 offers some strategies to work through the challenges that may arise. As discussed in article one, this is a journey—we encourage a mindset of continual progress, not perfection.1 As the authors of this article, we are conscious that flaws remain in our own scholarship. We continually learn how to be, and work at being, better allies and co-conspirators in the JEDI arena. There are challenges structured into academic institutions where priorities may differ, but as a scholarly community, we can move this forward in a good way. Acknowledge complexity in the ways you analyse and write about data. Draw from theory and methods that help you to identify, appreciate and highlight nuance in your findings and interpretation. Disclose research team dissent.5 Admit limitations. Ask colleagues for feedback. Remember that language matters. Choose words carefully in consultation with others, check understandings and acknowledge that language is contested. Include rationale for language choices in your writing. Research unfamiliar terminology. Read widely and deeply, discuss your understandings with others and cite your guiding sources. Demonstrate your work: explain what you have done and why as well as the grappling you have engaged with. Acknowledge your mistakes. Be open about vulnerabilities among the research team with each other and in writing. Laura Y. Bulk: Conceptualization; data curation; investigation; methodology; project administration; resources; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing. Joanne Kerins: Conceptualization; data curation; methodology; project administration; resources; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing. Neera R. Jain: Conceptualization; data curation; methodology; project administration; resources; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing. The authors are grateful to the scholars, activists, learners and other individuals who have helped shape their critical thinking and learning. They thank Prof. Lara Varpio, Dr. Abby Konopasky and Dr. Katherine Schultz for including this topic in the Triptych series, the opportunity to learn together and for their support in editing these papers. With sincere gratitude, Laura and Neera acknowledge that they are settlers and are privileged to learn, play, work and live on Indigenous lands: Laura on the unceded, ancestral and continually occupied territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), Tsleil-Waututh (Slay-wa-tuth) and W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) Peoples; and Neera recognises the tangata whenua of Aotearoa, in particular Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. As settlers and tangata tiriti, they recognise their responsibility to address colonial injustices in and beyond health professions education. No conflicts to declare. The authors have no ethical statement to declare.

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