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Our Strategy

To ensure the Office for Research (OR) excels and exemplifies staff commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, fairness, and belonging. By committing resources and staff, OR has demonstrated a 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 in 2023
    • Results shared and learnings to implemented – starting fall 2023
  • Development:
    • Curate content and dedicating time weekly, biweekly and monthly with OR leaders to facilitate understanding and move toward creating more confidence and strength around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging – 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.
    • Integrate inclusion into town halls, monthly communication and dedicated website; intentional integration of DEI+ approach into departmental practices.
    • Collaborate with OR Human Resource Administration to create a program to recognize and reward DEI+ advocates/champions.
    • Implement DEI+ learning options into employee development.  Launched new Leading with Inclusion eLearning module with Training Team.
    • Introduce Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to leaders and teams.
    • Launch OR DEI council /Advisory board completed and in progress.
    • Implement learning and practices into teams locally.
  • Data and Analytics:
    • Provide OR leaders with diversity (gender + race/ethnicity) data/metrics to create awareness around current recruitment, retention and advancement information completed with Research & Analytics team and HR.
  • Recruitment & Retention:
    • Review job requirements for inclusive language and to create more access to employment opportunities.
    • Expand access and reach to Northwestern and Research through internship opportunities with local and more diversified academic institutions.
    • Empower leaders to view practices, processes and policies to create more equity-informed approaches through stakeholder partnerships with Talent Acquisition.