The ideas of diversity, inclusion, and equity were presented to us as part of the course. We were challenged to think about its importance, especially in STEM, something that I understood more deeply. I developed questions regarding the subject such as: Who's to say that one person should have this job over something that is as ridiculous as skin color? Or why don't we have equal hiring rights? Here are my responses to prompts we were asked.⬇️
What is it, and why is it important for STEM (Engineering)?
a) Diversity is the inclusion of many different backgrounds, from sex, gender and race. Equity is the fair treatment of people, and inclusion refers to bringing everyone into the mix and not excluding others based on uncontrollable factors.
b) These three values are important for STEM in general as they promote a productive and fair workplace. With diversity, there would be a large pool of opinions and experience, leading to stronger projects. By also treating everyone equally and not excluding, it makes the workplace safe for those who may be minorities.
As an innovator and an entrepreneur, you formed a company.
• What two strategies would you choose to improve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at your company?
1. The first strategy I would employ would be to have a threshold for diversity, making sure to hire a certain percentage of races, to insure that the company would not be one sided in terms of opinion.
2. For my second strategy I would employ a dedicated diversity/inclusion officer that would ensure that no discrimination would be present. Often when people undergo acts of discrimination in the work, they have nowhere to report it, however with a dedicated officer, reports would be filed and discrimination would decrease.
• Why and how these two strategies would benefit your company?
By adding these strategies and others, it ensures that our company remains diverse and fair. This adds the benefit of appealing to more employees as they see the company as fair. By also making the workplace fair, employees have a better environment that conduces more productive work. Diversity adds the aspect of bringing many different points of views on projects, and making solutions more applicable to the world.