Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020 - 15

BY CALVIN HENNICK
hree women sit on the nine-member
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
board of directors for Woodard & Curran;
DIWG has its origins in discussions that took place in 2018
there are no people of color. And yet, "surbetween McKeown, Mike Carragher, president and CEO at VHB,
prisingly and sadly," says Doug McKeown,
and Lisa Robert, executive vice president at RS&H.
CEO at Woodard & Curran, 33 percent of
Carragher heard McKeown and Robert present on diversity
women on the board make the firm's board
and inclusion at the 2018 ACEC Annual Convention and was
fairly "diverse"-at least when compared to
moved by their discussion. Later when the topic came up as
the boards of many other engineering firms.
something DPC wanted to shed more light upon, Carragher
McKeown, along with representatives
recruited McKeown and Robert to partner with him to advance
from 21 other engineering firms across the
the discussion. Together, the trio recognized the need for the
country, are working to change that reality.
industry to not only increase the number of women and people
In concert with leaders at VHB and RS&H, McKeown
of color going into (and staying in) engineering, but to also
spearheaded the effort to create a Diversity and Inclusion
create a welcoming and inclusive environment for people of all
Working Group (DIWG) within the Design Professionals
backgrounds. Their brainstorming led to championing the first
Coalition (DPC)-itself a coalition composed of senior execuD&I-focused survey conducted in the A/E/C industry, establishtives representing some of ACEC's largest Member Firms.
ing a baseline for the industry to benchmark diversity and incluAfter collaborating remotely for much of last year and then
sion program development over time. The survey results were
meeting in person for a day and a half in Chicago, DIWG has
presented to DPC in August 2018, and the strong feedback led
produced the in-depth report "Diversity & Inclusion, Keys to
to the establishment of DIWG.
Success & Lessons Learned," which offers keys to success and
"It is always incredible to me, when you get a group of engilessons learned on the topics of diversity and inclusion.
neering companies together, how willing we are to share ideas
Now, members of the working group are hoping their
and information," says Robert. "That was incredibly powerful,
suggestions are adopted throughout the ACEC Member Firm
whether it was with respect to our initial survey, the workfamily, eventually resulting in tangible change for an industry
ing group calls we had, or our meeting together. There was an
that has long sought change,
incredible amount of passion
but is still dominated-both
and energy around this topic,
in perception and in reality-
and how we as an industry
by white men.
can better drive an inclusive
"Leaders are in a position to
environment for all of our
Diversity and inclusion are related, but not synonymous,
create change," says McKeown.
employees."
"It is about giving people a
The results of the initial
terms. Here is how the working group defines them:
voice and listening, and maksurvey, while not entirely suring sure you hear them, so you
prising, illustrate the extent
DIVERSITY addresses "the differences in our
can recognize where the hurto which the industry has
people in a wide variety of ways," many of which can
dles are, and put changes into
trouble attracting, engaging
be measured. These include:
practice based on their input.
and retaining diverse candiIf you do not go and delibdates and employees. The data
erately change anything, not
highlighted the need to focus
* Gender
* Religion
* Socio-Economic
much is going to be different."
on inclusion and belonging,
Background
* Race
* Education
"You cannot fake this
and what can be done to make
* Ethnicity
* Political Affiliation
* Disabilities
stuff," McKeown adds. "If
the industry more welcoming
* Sexual Orientation
* Communication Style
you make this a policy that
and inclusive so women and
people 'shall' follow, and
minorities want to stay and
they have to check off a box,
grow their careers.
INCLUSION is about creating an environment that
managers can get around
According to the survey,
"provides opportunities for all employees to realize their
that. You have to change the
around
32 percent of entryfull potential."
culture of the firm."
level employees at DPC firms
are women, and 26 percent
are minorities. For C-level

DEFINING THE TERMS

SPRING 2020

ENGINEERING INC.

Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020