The Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) values and is committed to an educational, research, and professional environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
As a community, we actively hold ourselves and colleagues responsible for practicing the following expected behaviors:
- Proactive and thoughtful recruitment of talented individuals with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion
- Respect, fairness, and transparency
- Recognition of each individual for their ideas and contributions
- Active listening, curiosity, and empathy
- Self-education and reflection
- Identifying, rejecting, and addressing discriminatory actions, stereotypes, and structures
- Allyship, including centering, uplifting, and celebrating marginalized voices and the communities they represent
- Accountability to ourselves, each other, and our communities
We recognize that systemic inequities have prevented, and continue to prevent, the equitable participation and success of individuals from underrepresented groups in science, engineering, medicine, and beyond. We are determined to address inequality and acknowledge that this requires active processes. Our goal is to intellectually, emotionally, and physically support each member of our community so they can achieve their personal, scientific, and professional best, such that we and IMES are enriched by their collective brilliance and capabilities.
For those interested in learning more, below we provide examples of activities undertaken in IMES, as well as MIT resources related to justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
Examples of our Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Justice work within IMES/HST:
- In March 2021, IMES established a Steering Committee as well as several Working Groups, composed of students, faculty, administrative staff and research staff, to recommend and lead the adoption of actions/practices that allow every member of our community to thrive in their lives and their careers.
- Specific research groups and programs are piloting approaches for the recruitment and retention of diverse student, faculty, research staff, and administrative staff populations. These will serve as templates for future IMES-wide norms and policies.
- Communities within IMES have organized lectures and discussions on unconscious bias, inclusion, and leadership. We aim to establish regular IMES-wide programming to create an ongoing dialogue on these topics.
- Students, staff, and faculty are actively engaged in outreach to historically underrepresented groups at the high school, collegiate, graduate and postgraduate levels. We will build a broader and more integrated strategy to sustain and expand these efforts.
- Our teaching teams have begun instituting curricular changes to emphasize and explore racial disparities in healthcare and biomedical research.
- We are updating our onboarding and annual review processes to center diversity, respect, and community.