Overview of DEIA practices to improve the plasma physics workforce pathway

In order to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the plasma physics community, institutions and decision makers in the community must adopt evidence-based practices to create and improve pathways for the workforce at all levels. An overview of critical evidence based policies will be presented, with a focus on improving retention, recruitment and innovation in learning and training spaces, industry, and government. The role of traditional weed-out techniques like the GRE and graduate qualifying exams as negative gatekeeping is discussed. Alternatives, including the use of non-cognitive variables in rubrics for admissions and hiring decisions, are presented. Other hiring practices mitigate the influence that bias, racialization, and marginalization can have in the hiring process. Creating psychologically safe teams and fostering cultural competencies leads to a physics community where all members, especially marginalized individuals, have the tools to innovate and take risks.