Improving diversity and inclusion

In the summer, the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers led to a national reckoning with the systemic racism and entrenched inequality in American society and institutions. The Detroit STEM community is not immune to this reckoning. We at the individual, lab, and department levels must put in the work to help improve our community.

Here's what we are doing in the Fehl Lab to learn, discuss, and act:

We start each of our weekly group meetings with a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Minute that features scientists in underrepresented groups, identifies issues and red flags, and practices ways to be more inclusive.

We have started a quarterly book club to help us communicate and work through pressing D&I topics as a team. This fall, we're reading Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt.

We use our Twitter platform for a monthly "Media Moment" to feature podcasts, articles, and music we find inspiring for a discussion open to the department and WSU STEM community.

Look for periodic email and Twitter announcements (follow @FehlLab) for how to join us and normalize our conversations and actions to inspire inclusion and feature new voices, including yours. Contact Charlie Fehl for more information at charlie.fehl@wayne.edu.

By the Fehl Group