SCIENCE sciencecareers.org 773FOCUS ON CAREERS
diversity/equity/inclusionADVERTISING FEATURE: Produced by the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing OfficeA strategic plan for your team should include more than just the
infrastructure to achieve your research agenda: It must include a
thoughtful approach to crafting a culture that honors the principles
of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In doing so, you create the means
for science to advance—and everyone to triumph. By Alaina G.
Levine
A lawnmower served as the vehicle to illustrate to environmental
engineer Sharon Walker (she/her) the transformative power of
investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and
culture. Walker, dean of the College of Engineering at Drexel
University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was mentoring a student,
the daughter of Mexican immigrants and whose family members
worked as gardeners and landscapers. She spotted a problem: Her
relatives had developed lung problems as a result of breathing in
the emissions from common lawnmowing equipment. “Her goal
as an environmental engineer was to protect them,” recalls Walker.
For her senior design project, the first-generation college student
invented a catalytic converter that used non-precious metals,
significantly reducing emissions that are inhaled by the users of
landscape equipment typically used for “the mow and blow.” The
student took the project further, applying for patent protection, and
won an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She
ended up landing roles at Google and a municipal water district.
“This is why you need people with diff erent experiences in your
lab: to make sure we answer questions for everyone who matters,
not just faculty in elite institutions,” says Walker. “We are missing
innovation.”
The experience of Walker and her student is a commanding
example of why DEI is so important and relevant in STEM. But
DEI initiatives are not limited to the overall field; it is somethingthat individual faculty members can facilitate in their own
spaces. While there are plentiful reference materials guiding new
professors as to how they can establish research infrastructure
and collaborations necessary to their endeavors, there are less
resources as to the why and how of interweaving DEI principles
into a research group’s strategic plan. Experts argue this has to
change, for the sake of science and scientists. “The best ideas
come in a diverse and inclusive workspace,” says Arti Agrawal
(she/her), associate adjunct professor in the School of Electrical
and Data Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney in
Australia. Studies have shown that “we get improved innovation
outcomes when we have diversity attained,” says Bree Gorman
(they/them), managing director of Bree Gorman Consulting, a
Geelong, Australia-based firm which works with organizations to
create DEI initiatives that are sustainable, realistic, and achievable.
“It’s a competitive advantage that you are missing out on if your
team is not diverse.”
That advantage is a serious concern. “It goes back to a core
definition of who engineers are and what we do,” says Stephanie
G. Adams (she/her), dean of the Erik Jonsson School of
Engineering and Computer Science, Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair
in Electrical Engineering, and professor of systems engineering
at the University of Texas at Dallas. “You have to design them for
all people—not just white people or women or x. It can only be
as eff ective as the data you pour into it, and if your data is one
dimensional you have problems.” We have seen this outcome, she
notes, with AI systems, which have been shown to have significant
errors when it comes to facial recognition of people of color.
An inclusive, equitable culture that engenders a diversity of
IMAGE: © PX MEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM perspectives is what can alleviate these pain points and cont.>How to begin building a culture of diversity,
equity, and inclusion in your research group
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