The promotion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a key goal and we believe integral to our long-term success as a department. We have continued important initiatives and created new ones in order to promote these goals. These include, the group for listening about inclusiveness, diversity and equity (BU-CHE-GLIDE), BU Women in Chemistry (BUWIC) and initiatives in recruiting faculty, graduate students and mentoring undergraduates with diverse backgrounds.
Departmental Groups and Initiatives
- Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
- Boston University Women in Chemistry
-
BU-CHE-GLIDE
We have founded a new graduate-student-focused group for listening about inclusiveness, diversity and equity (BU-CHE-GLIDE). GLIDE serves as graduate student-directed space for listening, planning and programming for the entire department, in order to promote the values of inclusiveness, diversity and equity. Since the summer 2020, the group has met monthly to engage in work such as: evaluating the representation of departmental values upon our soon-to-be updated website; generate and evaluate a departmental climate survey instrument to assess areas of improvement on DEI matters; and to monthly events centered around issues of inclusion. Two successful monthly events have been held. In January GLIDE sponsored a virtual watch-party of the documentary Picture a Scientist followed by breakout sessions for students to discuss among themselves and a then a gathering together with faculty. The February activity was a viewing of the movie and discussion of the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” in a gathering of staff, graduate students, post-docs and faculty in Chemistry. The success of the GLIDE initiative may be attributed to the self-guided nature of the group. The fact that the group is student-driven gives the group true agency and the engagement of members from the whole department in the programs builds community.
Under-Represented Minorities in Chemistry