Abstract
Diverse teams are more innovative and creative. Nevertheless, science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, including bioengineering, continue to fall short in increasing representation from persons from groups historically excluded because of their ethnicity or race. Many universities have crafted strategic plans to increase diversity; however, university-wide policies often fail to result in notable changes in microcommunities, such as departments and undergraduate or graduate programs. Therefore, departments may benefit from guidelines not only to craft effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) plans, but also to measure progress towards achieving specific DEI goals. In this Perspective, we present a framework for building, assessing and continuously improving strategic plans to improve recruitment and retention and to make departments more inclusive, including the collection of demographic data, the establishment and assessment of DEI plans, specific goal setting and assessment of achievements, with specific examples and guidelines, which will ultimately help departments to become inclusive working environments.
Key points
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To advance innovation and improve workforce development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), higher education must recruit and retain students from historically excluded groups.
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Institutional plans calling for increasing inclusion are useful guidelines but are typically not actionable at the department level.
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Many departments have yet to evaluate or reflect on their community and develop actionable plans to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce.
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A departmental-level framework, considering department-specific circumstances and missions, outlines actions, activities and goals towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.
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Effective and lasting diversification of STEM requires department and programmatic accountability.
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Systemic problems demand systemic solutions. Departments, professional organizations and government agencies should support the development of action plans.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the BMEUnite community who helped to iterate the ideas and goals for this Perspective.
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J.C.L., A.M.P., L.W.C., S.E.S., J.O.W. and R.K.W. initiated a draft concept and outline. All authors contributed to researching and writing the manuscript. J.C.L. and J.O.W. drafted the initial figures. R.K.W. finalized edits to the manuscript.
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Linnes, J.C., Moore, E., Porras, A.M. et al. Framework for department-level accountability to diversify engineering. Nat Rev Bioeng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-024-00183-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-024-00183-4