Our Strategy
To ensure the Office for Research (OR) excels and exemplifies staff commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), belonging, justice and beyond. By committing resources and staff, OR has demonstrated a firm belief in the practice and execution in these efforts which will be met through a multi-pronged approach including:
- 2023: Launch first-ever unit-level DEI Climate Survey – completed Summer 2023
- Results to be shared and learnings to be implemented – starting Fall 2023
- Expand DEI OR team – by December 2022 – updated to 2023 – moved to FY 2024
- Development:
- Curate content and dedicating time weekly, biweekly and monthly with OR leaders to question and challenge understanding or history and move toward creating more comfort, confidence and strength around diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, belonging and beyond – ongoing
- Invest in OR leaders and beyond to expand foundational DEI+ learning via Northwestern’s Leading DEI Course, Next 250 Program and institutional offered resources in order to move beyond DEI towards practicing anti-racism – ongoing
- Integrate DEI into town halls, monthly communication and dedicated website; intentional integration of DEI+ approach into departmental practices – ongoing
- Collaborate with OR Human Resource Administration to create a program to recognize and reward DEI+ advocates/champions – by December 2022 – complete and implemented
- Implement DEI+ learning options into employee development – by December 2022 – Launched new Leading with Inclusion eLearning module with Training Team - completed and implemented Spring 2023
- Introduce Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to leaders and teams – by May 2023 – ongoing for FY 2024
- Launch OR DEI council /Advisory board – by December 2022 – completed and in progress
- Implement learning and practices into teams locally – ongoing
- Data & Analytics:
- Provide OR leaders with diversity (gender + race/ethnicity) data/metrics to create awareness around current recruitment, retention and advancement information– by December 2022 – completed with Research & Analytics team and HR
- Recruitment & Retention:
- Review job requirements for inclusive language and to create more access to employment opportunities; all job postings include reference to OR values and commitment to DEI+ - completed and ongoing
- Expand access and reach to Northwestern and Research through internship opportunities with local and more diversified academic institutions
- Empower leaders to critically view practices, processes and policies to create more equity informed approaches through stakeholder partnerships with Talent Acquisition