Developing social justice competencies: preparing the next generation of health disparities researchers and practitioners

This paper describes the process used by the Social Justice Competencies Subcommittee to identify social justice competency domains and related constructs that inform social justice approaches to research, practice, policies, and government infrastructures. The Subcommittee held monthly virtual meetings from November 2023 to September 2024. A literature review was conducted to identify existing competency measures. Voting and consensus processes were used to determine the content validity of the domains and constructs. The Subcommittee identified 5 domains and 59 constructs that describe (1) internal awareness; (2) attitudes, values, and beliefs; (3) knowledge that influences a social justice orientation or action; (4) skills in practice that incite others into action; and (5) skills in practice that build strong research and practice teams to engage in social justice approaches. Endgame strategies to eliminate chronic disease and risk factor disparities require that the workforce has the competencies to execute impactful research, practice, and policies.