The importance of diversity & inclusion in writing:

Plenty of data that global health is neither global nor diverse ( https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhukarpai/2020/03/08/global-health-needs-to-be-global--diverse/#61e8cf897659)

Having woken up to this fact, I have consciously & deliberately started seeking input from women & experts in LMICs, when I write.

When I look back at my older articles, I see the lack of diversity & inclusion.

So, it did not come naturally. I had to work at it., be deliberate & get better. Takes time until it becomes second nature.

I believe (hope) professionals go through this learning curve as well.

It is much easier to just reach out to folks we know and are familiar, or just the 'big names'.

Easier to go back to the same folks we are friends with or have collaborated with before.

Harder to break this pattern, and takes more effort and time.

Even with all the effort, I realize I still tend to gravitate to others 'like me' - academics, researchers, professors. I guess we all like to stay close to our familiar zone (lane).

Another pitfall is to reach people that we can directly message via phone, Twitter, social media. What about inclusion of voices of folks who are not on these platforms?

I suspect we also reach folks who we suspect 'thinks like us' or might have a lot in common with.

So, a question to other writers (professionals or folks like me): how do you approach these challenges and ensure diversity and inclusion in your writing?

Thanks.