Randolf Klein shares why diversity matters when providing opportunities in the workplace.
Star Trek fans like me dream of a society that more closely resembles the one depicted in the science fiction franchise: a meritocracy. Are we getting there? Recent executive orders have halted all federal activities promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and banned all DEI policies in an effort to restore merit-based opportunities.
However, I find that recognizing merit is not so straightforward. NASA has studied this issue in detail. Analyses of past proposal selections for the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that, despite efforts to avoid bias, selections favored male researchers. In response, NASA implemented an anonymous proposal review process to ensure that panelists cannot determine whether a submission comes from a male or female scientist — or be influenced by other unconscious biases. That removed the gender bias and increased the success rate for early career scientists removing another bias in the selection.
When I served on NASA panels evaluating research funding proposals, we were required to undergo training on recognizing and mitigating unconscious bias. I learned that I am biased for example by an accent (even though I have one myself) or by appearance. But by knowing them, I can manage my biases. Institutions make these efforts to advance people and ideas based solely on merit — and they achieve this by supporting DEI. Star Trek TV screenwriter and producer Gene Roddenberry had the right idea all along, as the series celebrated diversity as an essential ingredient of its envisioned society.
I make a conscious effort to recognize my own biases and counteract them so that I can find merit in all places. DEI initiatives are essential if we, the people, aspire to form a more perfect union. With a Perspective, I am Randolf Klein.