Our client is a leader in global education institution based in Washington, DC, US. The client is looking for a model to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion on campus to create a climate that engages the full potential of individuals, where innovation thrives, and views, beliefs, and values are integrated.

Omega provided the client with a granular breakdown and analysis of demographics based on ethnicity, graduation, and retention rates and recommended developing a solution framework to ensure DEI.

Students Demographic

Omega first analyzed the data about the student population based on ethnicity to better understand their latest average share and found that the biggest ethnic group is almost four times bigger than the next closest one.

Retention Rate

The university should develop data standards for measuring longitudinal progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Retention and graduation rates, as well as academic performance, need to be monitored in real-time for students of different races and genders. Omega found that through data analysis that the client had a retention rate of 85% for full-time students in 2020.

Graduation Rate

In 2020, 2,274 whites graduated (highest group), which was 4.23 times more than the next closest group of Hispanics with 538 graduates. The reason behind this huge difference could be financial, academic or mental pressure which are more prevalent in the minority groups.

Many universities have programs or councils to provide workshops and training designed for students of different races, genders, and sexual orientations to become self-aware, culturally competent, and critical thinkers. These efforts by universities can reduce students’ feelings of isolation or alienation and play a critical role in diverse students’ academic development and persistence.

Diverse Campus Climate

The first thing Omega recommended is recruiting more diverse candidates. Many campuses aim to attract diverse faculty through financial support, including creating a presidential diversity postdoctoral fellows program, investing in faculty mentoring, launching campus networks for faculty members of color, and training professors about biases.

Another tactic is to attract the next generation of educators. The university can recruit minority students working or studying in undergraduate or graduate programs to pursue doctorate degrees. The Omega team worked on remodeling the DEI newsletter and enrollment system.

Diverse Work Environment

If certain demographic factors are not taken into account, it is worth considering whether a school’s admissions are still fair to minorities or students with low scores, and whether the admissions themselves are able to maintain their goal of diversity and equality. Thus, the institution should encourage the research and scholarship of DEI and reward individuals who have made important contributions. DEI should be embedded into the educational (curriculum, pedagogy) engagement on campus. In addition, students should also be educated about the contribution they can make to the promotion of DEI through actions such as actively participating in the university’s workshops on establishing DEI and evaluating faculty members.

DEI Scholarship

A scholarship can be set up to provide support to students or young professionals from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, and/or disabilities. Recipients will be selected based on their potential to contribute to increasing the benefits of an inclusive and equitable academic environment.

Diversity Training

Diversity training is designed to facilitate positive intergroup interaction, reduce prejudice and discrimination, and teach individuals how to work together effectively. Topics can be: cognitive shortcuts, cultural awareness & belonging, anti-harassment, microaggressions.

A survey can be designed to collect information about how race and ethnicity shape the experiences of a community. It can be open to students who define themselves as minority groups. Questions can include demographics and identity, sense of belonging, interpersonal experience, and experiences with harassing and discriminatory behavior in the community of the university. The Omega team also listed some valuable questions for the survey.

DEI Events, Training & Workshops

Omega investigated DEI events or workshops at some universities along with our client.

Impact

The insights from the analysis and recommendations provided by Omega have helped the client better understand their current diversity scenario on the campus and develop a model to improve their approach to ensure DEI.

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