DEI PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The first National Academies’ DEI Program Advisory Committee was established in 2022 to support the DEI Council with efforts related to our programmatic work. This committee includes representation from each program division and Academy as well as the Report Review Committee. Over the past year, the DEI Program Advisory Committee has begun the work of implementation and collaboration by meeting with internal partners throughout the organization to shape the application of DEI to our programmatic policies and procedures. For example, they have advised key stakeholders on issues across the project lifecycle, such as applying a DEI lens to project development and approval, enhancing accessibility in our meetings and activities, and integrating DEI and the lived experience into the external peer-review process.
PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS
Research in social science, health, medicine, and many other fields can shed light on the factors that drive systemic inequities in STEMM communities and society more broadly to find evidence-based solutions. A wide range of studies, webinars, and other activities at the National Academies explore DEI-related topics; this section highlights a few from 2022–2023.
Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM: A National Leadership Summit
Although nothing about STEM should inherently exclude people with disabilities, stigma and ableist cultures persist. With support from the National Science Foundation, the Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM conference series explored issues related to the accessibility and inclusivity of STEM workplaces for persons with disabilities.
Taking asset-based and intersectional approaches to understanding the experiences of persons with disabilities across a wide range of STEM workplaces, the panels and presentations included discussions of disability identity, workplace ecosystems, preferred language for describing disabilities, the science and role of mentorship, systemic institutional barriers and bias that limits the career advancement of persons with disabilities in STEM, and access and inclusion practices and
policies that support and advance persons with disabilities in the STEM workforce. In addition to discussions about systemic barriers, practices, and policies that support and advance disabled people in the STEM workforce, the National Academies are using this project to help identify and remediate some of our own issues with accessibility to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
All five events—with one hybrid session and four virtual sessions—took place in the first two weeks of June 2023. These events included American Sign Language (ASL) and Communication Access Real-time Transcription (CART) interpretation. Event recordings, slides, and other electronic documents from the full series are now available online. A summary of the proceedings will be published and freely available for online reading and download in Fall 2023. It will be accompanied by papers commissioned for the series and a collection of resources on disability inclusion approaches for conferences and conference planning, which will be prepared in cooperation with accessibility consultants at the DO-IT Center of the University of Washington.
Advancing Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations: A Consensus Study Report
To increase DEI in STEMM fields, this consensus study report advises higher education institutions and STEMM organizations to go beyond simply increasing the numeric participation of minoritized racial and ethnic groups and to act to change their organizational cultures and environments.
While people from minoritized groups comprise a growing part of the U.S. population, the report finds that growth has not been mirrored by similar increases in STEMM education and careers among these groups. The root cause of these gaps does not reflect the abilities or interests of individuals; rather, evidence shows that minoritized individuals have faced numerous systemic barriers, including macro-level policies and practices, that have negatively impacted their access, representation, and ability to thrive in STEMM careers. Racial bias at the individual and interpersonal levels also impedes STEMM careers for people from minoritized groups.
The report emphasizes that removing barriers to entry and participation, while also implementing practices that convey belonging, will allow organizations to move from broadening participation by the numbers to fostering a culture of inclusion, thriving, and success. The committee recommends organizations take active, intentional steps to dismantle
policies, practices, and cultures that confer power and privilege to certain groups over others. The report further recommends that organizations follow a multi-tiered approach—at the leadership, team, and individual levels—and identifies policies and practices that can be implemented at each level to effect institutional change.
Standing Committee on Equity in Transportation
The Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Equity in Transportation focuses on the research and practices needed to provide better access to reliable and affordable transportation options by all users, including those in rural, low-density, low-income, and disadvantaged communities. The primary mission of this standing committee is to engage in research, planning, evaluation, education, and outreach associated with environmental justice and transportation equity that would advance the state of the practice for all transportation agencies. Given the complex links among mobility and accessibility needs, economic opportunities, and socio-cultural, environmental, and health effects that are compounded by different strata (e.g., spatial, temporal, modal, generational, gender, racial, cultural, income), this standing committee brings a variety of disciplines (e.g., planners, social scientists, epidemiologists, economists, attorneys, engineers, advocates, elected officials, and academics) together to advance the standing committee’s mission and scope.
Other programmatic highlights between July 2022 and August 2023 include:
CONSENSUS STUDY REPORTS
- Utilizing Advanced Environmental Health and Geospatial Data and Technologies to Inform Community Investment (ongoing study)
- Reducing Racial Inequality in Crime and Justice: Science, Practice, and Policy
- Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System
- Advancing Health and Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region: Roadmap for Progress
ROUNDTABLES, FORUMS, WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, AND MEETINGS
- Improving Diversity of the Genomics Workforce: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief
- Suicide Prevention in Indigenous Communities: Proceedings of a Workshop
- Structural Racism and Rigorous Models of Social Inequity: Proceedings of a Workshop
- An Inclusive and Equitable Ocean: A Workshop
- Pathways to an Equitable and Just Energy Transition: Principles, Best Practices, and Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement: Proceedings of a Workshop
- Supporting Children with Disabilities: Lessons from the Pandemic: Proceedings of a Workshop
PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES CLIMATE CROSSROADS INITIATIVE
- Culture of Health Program, National Academy of Medicine
- Inclusive, Diverse, and Equitable Engineering for All, National Academy of Engineering
- Ford Foundation Fellowship Program
- New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Program
- Transportation Research Board Minority Fellows Program
SPECIAL PROJECTS AND PUBLICATIONS
- Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education: Year Three Annual Report of Activities
- Transportation Research Board Blog Series on Equity: Building Socioeconomic Equity Through Transportation Research
- Assessing Meaningful Community Engagement in Health and Health Care Policies and Programs
- National Academy of Engineering Perspectives: Psychological Safety in Engineering Starts with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
