Promoting diversity through shared understanding
After several years of work on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, faculty and staff within a large department at a prominent research university discovered they had not made as much progress as they had hoped.
In a letter to department leadership, graduate students identified persistent challenges and a list of items they considered necessary to improve the diversity, equity, and inclusion climate. This letter created an impetus to understand diversity, equity, and inclusion needs and experiences across the department.
How could the department bring together students, faculty, and staff to understand and close its diversity, equity, and inclusion gaps?
We decided the end goals should be to:
Refresh their climate survey to assess the current state
Develop a roadmap to target focus areas and actions most important to stakeholders
Diversity, equity, and inclusion issues are top of mind on campuses and in companies across the country.
While we refreshed the survey, we needed to generate broad support for the initiative.
Our multi-faceted approach:
Develop trust
We listened to the concerns of the students’ diversity, equity, and inclusion council as well as the department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee
Building understanding
We conducted interviews and focus groups to gain insight into the current state of diversity, equity, and inclusion
Promote transparency
We invited input from all stakeholders as we refined the survey
The revamped survey was the result of intradepartmental communication and buy-in across stakeholder groups.
RESPONSE RATE
among participating graduate students
RECOMMENDATION AREAS
identified to achieve the desired diversity, equity, and inclusion climate
1 WIDELY ATTENDED TOWN HALL
that allowed stakeholders to openly reflect on the survey findings
Why Eagle Hill? We’ve got the right mix.
Vast experience in organizational assessments and change management + our collegial and inclusive approach to consulting = the right mix
Eagle Hill’s approach to change management
Immerse ourselves in the organization
Engage people from the outset
Gain and give valuable insights
Measure and accelerate adoption
We see differences of opinion as opportunities for progress—not roadblocks to it.
As we demonstrated for this client, bringing people together, through every stage of a transparent process, leads to successful change.
