Dr. Angela Alexander-Bryant has been named the department’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion. Here, she describes her goals and some of her strategies to augment diversity of faculty and students and to increase the department’s level of inclusion. Editor
What would you like to accomplish in your new role?
I would like to increase recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups to contribute to a more diverse student body within the department. I would also like to foster an environment that is inclusive, promoting collegiality and engagement of students across all backgrounds.
What would be the advantages to the department and its graduates of being more diverse and inclusive?
One advantage is that we will benefit from the full diversity of ideas that we will have available to us when we have contributions from the pool of talent that is currently underrepresented. We will also be preparing our students to excel in a diverse and inclusive workforce.
What are some of the ways you will promote diversity and inclusion in the department?
These are not goals that I can achieve on my own; therefore, I will begin by forming a Committee for Diversity and Inclusion comprised of students, faculty, and staff within the department. We will work together to formulate ideas and strategic efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. Our initial diversity efforts will focus on attracting, recruiting, and retaining students from groups historically
underrepresented in bioengineering. We will also develop initiatives to foster an inclusive environment in and outside of the classroom.
What can individual faculty, staff and students do to increase, promote and support diversity and inclusion?
I think we can all work to understand the value in diversity and how each of our differences adds value to the department. We can actively seek out different viewpoints and engage in diversity and inclusion-related efforts. A good way to embrace inclusion is to daily interact with someone you wouldn’t normally interact with—e.g., invite someone new to lunch or to work together on a class project. These small efforts can make a huge difference in creating an inclusive environment.
