Creating a diverse and inclusive culture is better for everyone
Making Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) part of the culture at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering plays an important role in achieving the world class research, education, and innovation that happen there. It requires intention, communication, concrete measures, and involvement from every staff member. In this interview Dean Henri Werij and D&I Officer Axelle Viré share their thoughts on how the faculty is working to strengthen a diverse and inclusive environment that makes everyone feel a part of the community.
Addressing the diversity gap
Six years ago when Henri Werij became Dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, he acknowledges things were not where they should have been when it comes to diversity. At the time, the percentage of female Professors (Assistant, Associate, and Full) was around 14 percent, while females made up around 13 percent of the student body. “We were the lowest of TU Delft, and it was clear that we had to do something about it,” he says. Aiming to shrink the gap, resources were allocated to hire more people and the faculty started actively working to find qualified female Professors. This resulted in significant growth, and within a couple of years female Professors accounted for about 23 percent of the total
However, the initial growth spurt levelled off, even declined somewhat, and with some attrition Werij notes there is still room for improvement. “We want to do better,” he says. “We want to be an inclusive faculty where people feel welcome and stay. Sometimes we are a sort of springboard for people who come in and then they get a wonderful position elsewhere. We will always support that, but we would also like to give people the opportunity to build their career in our organisation.”
Culture change
In addition to dealing with the diversity numbers gap, Werij says the Management Team (MT) recognised something also needed to be done to change the culture in the faculty, also on D&I matters. “We got feedback from a staff survey about issues like gossip and some women not feeling at ease,” he said. “That is not okay and we wanted to do something about it.” In 2019, the faculty commissioned an independent bureau to research and identify specific areas for improvement. The results of that survey led them to take some concrete steps towards prioritising a more diverse, inclusive and cooperative culture. One notable step was the launch of a programme called Towards Greater Connection. It aims to improve the working culture, interpersonal communication, and leadership at the faculty, thereby improving safety, diversity, and inclusion and stimulating people to work together more. In March 2023, as an initiative of this programme, the faculty organised a week for staff to talk about these issues and practice their leadership and communication skills.
Making Diversity & Inclusion a priority
Another groundbreaking step was the appointment of Dr. Axelle Viré as the faculty Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) officer in 2019. Aerospace Engineering was the first faculty at TU Delft to have such a role, which in 2021 became mandatory for all faculties. “Taking the initiative to do this shows the importance that the faculty places on D&I,” says Viré, who was appointed as Full Professor of Floating Wind Energy last year. This is also evident by the recent decision to make the D&I officer a permanent member of the faculty Management Team. Werij notes that Aerospace Engineering is currently the only faculty at TU Delft to have taken this step.
Although she started the role on her own, Viré says it did not take long for others to start showing interest and a small team grew organically. Wanting to build momentum, she launched a recruitment campaign last year which resulted in 27 people joining her team to work on D&I initiatives. Such a big team gives a broader perspective on important issues and ensures a more balanced approach. “With diversity and inclusion, I think both the bottom-up and top-down approach are important,” she notes. “It allows you to observe issues that could be improved, and then you can turn them into a more structural policy.” Viré says she regularly communicates ideas and observations from the team with the MT, making D&I a central topic on their agenda.
Community voice
Making the connection between the Management Team and what people encounter in their daily work is a challenge, says Werij. “We want our community to have a clear voice and we want this voice to reach the MT. I'm extremely happy that we now have Axelle on the MT, and a team of 27 people who are a very valuable sounding board for us.”
The diversity of the team itself means there is representation for many of the different aspects of D&I. In addition to gender, other topics include things like physical abilities, neurodiversity, and ethnic backgrounds. They also started a working group focussed on outreach to first generation students, people whose parents did not attend university. The aim is to connect with schools in different regions of the Netherlands to enthuse students from different backgrounds for choosing a science and engineering study programme. In addition, the faculty is involved with the central TU Delft D&I office, which is a useful platform of exchange for learning between faculties.
Encouraging open communication
Open communication is a fundamental part of creating a diverse and inclusive culture. Werij explains that when he delivers his welcome speech to new students, he specifically discusses the value of giving feedback in the Netherlands. “If they don’t understand something or have questions about the way things are happening, we want people to be vocal,” he says. “Sometimes that can even mean being critical and that’s okay.” But with a diverse community representing some 100 nationalities, there can be cultural challenges around giving feedback, particularly if it is to a supervisor. Simply telling people to speak up is not always enough. There are multiple ways that people can make suggestions or file complaints, and announcements are posted around the faculty letting people know what steps to take. It can even be done anonymously, using a QR code. The aerospace study association VSV Leonardo da Vinci and the faculty student council also communicate useful feedback from students with the faculty leadership.
Investing in training
As part of Towards Greater Connection, the faculty MT recently approved a new training programme for PhD candidates and supervisors that is also expected to contribute to inclusive leadership. In the Triangle Tuning Programme, a proposal by the PhD Council, the Graduate School and Human Resources that was fully embraced by the MT, participants will work on self-awareness and learn to connect effectively with others in the triangle of PhD candidate and the two (or more) supervisors. Although the training has a broader focus than D&I, Werij and Viré expect it will also contribute to an inclusive community. After all, many of the faculty’s 370 PhD candidates and some of their supervisors come from different parts of the world. This adds to the challenge because sometimes people have completely different views, whether it be related to academic culture or societal norms. The Triangle Tuning Programme will be mandatory for PhD candidates up to and including the third year and supervisors and will start early 2024.
Innovative initiative
Another unique and innovative initiative led by the D&I team is the establishment of a parental relief programme. Although it is a work in progress, Viré mentions that it is already a big step. When a scientific staff member takes parental leave, whether it is a mother or father, it can be challenging to cover their absence, particularly when it comes to supervising PhD candidates. Sometimes colleagues can step in, but that places more work on them and might not be optimal if they are not an expert in the field of the PhD candidate being supervised. “Instead of doing things ad hoc, we wanted to solve this by providing financial support so that a replacement or support can be organised more structurally,” Viré says.
That essentially means that when someone decides to take a period of leave, there is a pot of money made available by the faculty that can be used flexibly. “I think that's an important aspect because in some cases you might want to hire someone for a few months, or maybe the PhD candidate would benefit from a secondment to another university,” Viré explains. “It can be used in many different ways.” Werij says that to his knowledge, the Aerospace Engineering faculty is the only faculty in the Netherlands to implement such a programme.
Building trust and structure
Both Werij and Viré agree that trust is critical when it comes to building a culture of diversity and inclusion at the faculty. “I think that trust building is extremely important and I hope that I can help building trust by making the connections, connecting the management to the daily experience of people in the faculty,” says Viré. She also wants to bring a more structural approach to D&I and the culture at the faculty. “I think we have done things in the past that have been ad hoc, where we see things and then come up with measures and it does make things better. But I think it can be more structural, from clearer directions, to things that we want to achieve on the D&I processes, and then transparency of these processes. I think that will help strengthen the trust.”
Learning and belonging together
Making everyone feel that they are part of the process and that they belong to our community is what inclusivity is, says Viré. She believes the faculty is on the right track but there is more to be done. “I think it's good that as a faculty we recognise that we are also learning,” she says. “We are not saying we are perfect. We are saying we are willing to change and we are taking steps in that direction. I think learning from the past is important in that respect so that we can move forward with good intentions and good measures.”
The feeling of belonging is the ultimate goal from her perspective, Viré said. “When you are in an environment where you feel you can flourish and you feel you belong, that's where you get the most out of yourself and others.” In her new role on the MT, she is optimistic about creating that kind of environment and increasing the momentum that has already started. Viré and the D&I team are actively working on a strategic plan for the coming year, including more concrete steps that will support the vision of strengthening a safe an inclusive place for the TU Delft aerospace community.
Werij would like people to know that this can only be done together. “Changing the culture is not something you can do from the top down. There are complex challenges that take time to solve and we need everybody for the input. We have to do it together, to have this trust and collaboration. When people feel part of our community that makes it better for everybody.”