Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP)

DIAP Phase II (2021)

Five years into the implementation of the DIAP, Brown re-committed to its diversity and inclusion goals with the release of DIAP Phase II.

Released in 2021, Phase II of Brown’s Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion action plan advances the goals and desired outcomes within each priority area of the 2016 plan. DIAP Phase II reflects on and assesses the impact of the DIAP over its first five years and sets new and continuing actions to address emerging issues and sustain progress in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion.

View DIAP Phase II (PDF)

Actions

DIAP Phase II describes new and continuing actions that will move the University toward its desired outcomes in each of the six priority areas established in the 2016 DIAP — People, Academic Excellence, Curriculum, Community, Accountability and Knowledge. Because DIAP Phase II is a continuation of the plan launched in 2016, actions that were not implemented or incorporated into regular business processes are also included in Phase II as continuing actions.

Each of the actions found in DIAP Phase II were developed with the intention of maintaining the overarching spirit of the DIAP, including a focus on historically underrepresented groups and increasing the number of women in STEM.

Members of the President’s Cabinet have been designated as the responsible officers for each of the actions, which in many cases will be implemented in collaboration with multiple offices.

Key Definitions

To achieve our goal of increasing diversity and inclusion at Brown, the Phase II plan will continue to focus on historical legacies of oppression and discrimination that have, for years, barred certain groups from access to and/or full participation in higher education in the U.S. These groups are referred to throughout the report as historically underrepresented groups.

Additionally, women in STEM have been identified by the U.S. Department of Education as a group that continues to have limited participation at the graduate and faculty levels in higher education.

Below are some key terms used throughout the DIAP and DIAP Phase II:

Diversity
A community composed of individuals with wide-ranging backgrounds with regard to their identity, including but not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status and/or religion.
Equity
Successfully creating structures and systems that disrupt existing and potential barriers that may disproportionately impact historically marginalized groups to ensure that all members of a community can thrive.
Historically underrepresented groups (HUGs)
U.S. citizens or permanent residents who hold racial and ethnic identities that were previously, and may be currently, underrepresented at colleges and universities in the U.S. These groups are defined as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. There is a persistent, historical legacy of these groups being barred from access to higher education.
Inclusion
Community members, representing a full spectrum of identities, have a shared sense of belonging and feel welcomed, involved, empowered and valued.
Underrepresented in medicine (UiM)
Underrepresented in medicine refers to racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population. When providing data on UiM populations, the Division of Biology and Medicine uses the same categories that are defined in historically underrepresented groups.