When the University of Michigan launched its five-year strategic plan, each school and college was challenged with providing comprehensive summaries highlighting their unique efforts in regard to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The first five years of U-M’s DEI Strategic Planning and Implementation Process or better known as DEI 1.0 provided an opportunity to assess longer-term measures, not only in the demographic composition of U-M units and campus over time but also any shifts in climate and key indicators of equity and inclusion across all populations.
As engineers, we took the time to evaluate the how and why behind DEI. Through it, we identified the major challenges and obstacles and learned how to clear a better path through them. These initiatives are foundational to lasting change and will build a framework to allow us to become more effective in our efforts to address other critical matters, such as sexual misconduct, accessibility, harassment and more.
