SWE Graduate Community Blog Series for a Diverse and Inclusive Campus:
How Campuses Prepare Students as Diversity and Inclusion Advocates in the Future Workplace
Dear SWE Graduate Community,
As part of the GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) blog series, the D&I team has interviewed Allison Osmanson, a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of Texas at Arlington. Allison shares her perspectives on how campuses prepare students as diversity and inclusion advocates in the future workplace.
Interview:
How was your first experience with SWE on campus, and can you tell us how SWE inspires students to advocate for an inclusive and diverse future workplace?
I have had some great experiences with SWE during my undergrad and Ph.D. I didn't get as involved as I would have liked, but that was because I spent most of my time on research during my undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. studies. One notable experience I had was during my undergraduate studies. As a woman studying engineering, I am a minority. That's just a fact. I recognize that it is even more isolating and challenging for BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ students. During my undergraduate studies, I have noticed how white male peers excluded minority students. It was especially apparent when big-name companies would host workshops and open houses exclusively for women. Some male students told their female classmates that they would no longer study with them if they attended open house interviews. I've had classmates receive job offers only to be told by their male peers that they were just diversity hires and didn't deserve the positions. However, this atmosphere changed after the appointment of a female dean. She met with the SWE members and encouraged us to share our experiences. The dean and SWE leadership worked extensively to improve the culture in the engineering college.
Can you share a project/activity that you participated in which challenged your own thinking about being inclusive and/or advocating for a diverse community?
During my undergraduate studies, I worked with a group of other young women to establish a multicultural sorority at Washington State University. We did not succeed in establishing it because many of us were STEM majors and were unable to balance the workload from the organization with our studies. However, this experience ultimately taught me the importance of diversity and how organizations, universities, and K-12 schools still have a long way to go to be more inclusive and equitable. Many of my peers in the multicultural Greek community were undocumented students and getting to know them and learning their stories changed my viewpoint on the path to citizenship and immigration. I also attended several programs to learn more about the Black experience living in America. These workshops also completely changed my outlook. I would encourage everyone to learn about other cultures and other people's experiences as much as possible. Take the time to listen to other people's stories to understand a perspective other than your own or your family's. It teaches you compassion, humility, and respect for others. Since getting involved in these organizations, I have been very vocal about civil rights, equality, equity, and diversity. I have hosted fundraising for these causes, as well. Understanding the importance of all of these is vital for a healthy community in the workplace.
As a graduate student, can you share with us how your campus/academic institution has prepared you to be inclusive in your workplace?
My university organizes keynote speeches on occasion. Graduate students who are working for the university are required to take training, one important aspect being harassment and how to maintain a safe working environment, which is critical for inclusivity. The SWE chapter at my university works to connect women in engineering and computer science through networking, and it serves as a safe space for us. Many people are unaware that SWE is not solely for women, which I believe is critical for the inclusivity of all students, including transgender and nonbinary individuals. Organizations that adopt these sorts of models pave a path to inclusivity, which translates to the workplace. I would argue that more could be done because more can always be done.
What activities would you like to see more or should be implemented on campus to prepare graduate students to advocate for an inclusive workplace?
I sincerely believe that my university can still do some work to improve its inclusivity. For example, making menstrual hygiene products available for purchase on campus is something students have been fighting for three years. The student senate has passed legislation, yet a change is yet to be seen. Additionally, some buildings are still not optimally accessible to persons with disabilities. I think it would be essential to improve on that. The town where my university is located does not have public transportation whatsoever. Walking around town to get to different places is unsafe because not all roads have paved sidewalks, and businesses are dispersed. A shuttle runs to a shopping store down the street maybe once every few days, but it is not easy to coordinate with that if students are working or have classes that interfere with that. I believe that advocating for public transportation or increasing student fees to pay for public transportation for students would also pave the way to inclusivity for students who do not have their own cars. Just having better programs and accessibility can translate to expectations of the workplace. I also think that harassment and diversity training should be made available to all students and should be required in addition to its employees, as that can improve the culture on campus.
Finally, our university does not have a union for graduate student employees among other universities. It makes it very easy for some students' labor to be exploited by their supervisors, as is the culture in graduate school. The exploitation of student employees' labor can be exacerbated by race, class, nationality, and gender. It is especially problematic for international students who will not be able to continue their graduate studies if they lose their research position. Please note that this is not a problem in every lab or teaching assistant job, but it is a problem for some, which is enough to merit concern. Unionization may be necessary to increase inclusivity at the university level, teach student employees their rights, and offer protection for those rights.
Are some initiatives that you can share with us about implementing a leadership program or committee that advocates for a diverse community and inclusive practices in your workplace?
I am not sure if we have initiatives like this. We do have leadership organizations like the student senate and activist groups, but beyond that, there is no clear-cut program or committee for advocacy for diversity. However, the university does have a clear-cut pathway to creating a club, but I don't think that comprehensively fulfills the need for expanding diversity on campus or in the university workplace.
As for Texas Instruments, where I plan to work after I graduate, it has several initiatives or groups that connect and advocate for members depending on their mutual interests or backgrounds. For example, there's a Women's Initiative, which is self-explanatory. There is also a New Employee Initiative and initiatives for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ employees.
How can these initiatives be learned or taught on campus? What possibly can be the challenges of these initiatives?
I think that challenges to these initiatives can be met with opposition. Unfortunately, people fear things they cannot fully understand. There is a lot of confusion between critical race theory and generally teaching about history and diversity, which are not the same thing, yet there lies confusion and strong opposition. I would anticipate opposition to initiatives that would teach anti-racism, diversity, and anti-harassment would be inevitable. Again, this is why I advocate for trying to learn as much as possible because it is very easy to be misinformed if you don't take the time to research and think about the issues critically for yourself.
What are some ideas on how academic institutions can work together with some companies to advocate towards diversity and inclusion best practices and prepare future leaders at the workplace?
During my internship, the employee training I took at Texas Instruments was comprehensive, with very well-depicted examples. They covered not only workplace sexual harassment but also harassment based on age, race, and culture. I believe if companies like Texas Instruments teamed up with universities and collaborated on their employee training programs, students would be better prepared for creating and maintaining a non-hostile work environment conducive to better collaboration and inclusivity.
As part of the GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) blog series, the D&I team has interviewed Allison Osmanson, a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of Texas at Arlington. Allison shares her perspectives on how campuses prepare students as diversity and inclusion advocates in the future workplace.
Interview:
How was your first experience with SWE on campus, and can you tell us how SWE inspires students to advocate for an inclusive and diverse future workplace?
I have had some great experiences with SWE during my undergrad and Ph.D. I didn't get as involved as I would have liked, but that was because I spent most of my time on research during my undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. studies. One notable experience I had was during my undergraduate studies. As a woman studying engineering, I am a minority. That's just a fact. I recognize that it is even more isolating and challenging for BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ students. During my undergraduate studies, I have noticed how white male peers excluded minority students. It was especially apparent when big-name companies would host workshops and open houses exclusively for women. Some male students told their female classmates that they would no longer study with them if they attended open house interviews. I've had classmates receive job offers only to be told by their male peers that they were just diversity hires and didn't deserve the positions. However, this atmosphere changed after the appointment of a female dean. She met with the SWE members and encouraged us to share our experiences. The dean and SWE leadership worked extensively to improve the culture in the engineering college.
Can you share a project/activity that you participated in which challenged your own thinking about being inclusive and/or advocating for a diverse community?
During my undergraduate studies, I worked with a group of other young women to establish a multicultural sorority at Washington State University. We did not succeed in establishing it because many of us were STEM majors and were unable to balance the workload from the organization with our studies. However, this experience ultimately taught me the importance of diversity and how organizations, universities, and K-12 schools still have a long way to go to be more inclusive and equitable. Many of my peers in the multicultural Greek community were undocumented students and getting to know them and learning their stories changed my viewpoint on the path to citizenship and immigration. I also attended several programs to learn more about the Black experience living in America. These workshops also completely changed my outlook. I would encourage everyone to learn about other cultures and other people's experiences as much as possible. Take the time to listen to other people's stories to understand a perspective other than your own or your family's. It teaches you compassion, humility, and respect for others. Since getting involved in these organizations, I have been very vocal about civil rights, equality, equity, and diversity. I have hosted fundraising for these causes, as well. Understanding the importance of all of these is vital for a healthy community in the workplace.
As a graduate student, can you share with us how your campus/academic institution has prepared you to be inclusive in your workplace?
My university organizes keynote speeches on occasion. Graduate students who are working for the university are required to take training, one important aspect being harassment and how to maintain a safe working environment, which is critical for inclusivity. The SWE chapter at my university works to connect women in engineering and computer science through networking, and it serves as a safe space for us. Many people are unaware that SWE is not solely for women, which I believe is critical for the inclusivity of all students, including transgender and nonbinary individuals. Organizations that adopt these sorts of models pave a path to inclusivity, which translates to the workplace. I would argue that more could be done because more can always be done.
What activities would you like to see more or should be implemented on campus to prepare graduate students to advocate for an inclusive workplace?
I sincerely believe that my university can still do some work to improve its inclusivity. For example, making menstrual hygiene products available for purchase on campus is something students have been fighting for three years. The student senate has passed legislation, yet a change is yet to be seen. Additionally, some buildings are still not optimally accessible to persons with disabilities. I think it would be essential to improve on that. The town where my university is located does not have public transportation whatsoever. Walking around town to get to different places is unsafe because not all roads have paved sidewalks, and businesses are dispersed. A shuttle runs to a shopping store down the street maybe once every few days, but it is not easy to coordinate with that if students are working or have classes that interfere with that. I believe that advocating for public transportation or increasing student fees to pay for public transportation for students would also pave the way to inclusivity for students who do not have their own cars. Just having better programs and accessibility can translate to expectations of the workplace. I also think that harassment and diversity training should be made available to all students and should be required in addition to its employees, as that can improve the culture on campus.
Finally, our university does not have a union for graduate student employees among other universities. It makes it very easy for some students' labor to be exploited by their supervisors, as is the culture in graduate school. The exploitation of student employees' labor can be exacerbated by race, class, nationality, and gender. It is especially problematic for international students who will not be able to continue their graduate studies if they lose their research position. Please note that this is not a problem in every lab or teaching assistant job, but it is a problem for some, which is enough to merit concern. Unionization may be necessary to increase inclusivity at the university level, teach student employees their rights, and offer protection for those rights.
Are some initiatives that you can share with us about implementing a leadership program or committee that advocates for a diverse community and inclusive practices in your workplace?
I am not sure if we have initiatives like this. We do have leadership organizations like the student senate and activist groups, but beyond that, there is no clear-cut program or committee for advocacy for diversity. However, the university does have a clear-cut pathway to creating a club, but I don't think that comprehensively fulfills the need for expanding diversity on campus or in the university workplace.
As for Texas Instruments, where I plan to work after I graduate, it has several initiatives or groups that connect and advocate for members depending on their mutual interests or backgrounds. For example, there's a Women's Initiative, which is self-explanatory. There is also a New Employee Initiative and initiatives for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ employees.
How can these initiatives be learned or taught on campus? What possibly can be the challenges of these initiatives?
I think that challenges to these initiatives can be met with opposition. Unfortunately, people fear things they cannot fully understand. There is a lot of confusion between critical race theory and generally teaching about history and diversity, which are not the same thing, yet there lies confusion and strong opposition. I would anticipate opposition to initiatives that would teach anti-racism, diversity, and anti-harassment would be inevitable. Again, this is why I advocate for trying to learn as much as possible because it is very easy to be misinformed if you don't take the time to research and think about the issues critically for yourself.
What are some ideas on how academic institutions can work together with some companies to advocate towards diversity and inclusion best practices and prepare future leaders at the workplace?
During my internship, the employee training I took at Texas Instruments was comprehensive, with very well-depicted examples. They covered not only workplace sexual harassment but also harassment based on age, race, and culture. I believe if companies like Texas Instruments teamed up with universities and collaborated on their employee training programs, students would be better prepared for creating and maintaining a non-hostile work environment conducive to better collaboration and inclusivity.
Bio: Allison is graduating with her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of Texas at Arlington in December 2021. She earned her BS and MS in MSE from Washington State University and the University of North Texas, respectively. She's interned at Texas Instruments (Packaging Engineering Intern, 2020) and the US Army Research Laboratory (UCEP MSE/Tribology Intern, 2018). Her experience is in multiple areas, including polymers, metallurgy, tribology, affordable point-of-care biosensors, and electronic materials. Allison's Ph.D. research, funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and Texas Instruments, is on semiconductor packaging interconnect reliability. Her research scope includes electromigration failure mechanisms using experimental and finite element methods (FEM). Since 2019, Allison has been the SWENext K-8 Newsletter Reporter. She was an officer in her UTA SWE chapter. Allison coordinated kids' STEM workshops and classes, judged, and mentored at Future City competitions, and volunteered at horse rescues and animal shelters.
Contact information:
E-mail: allison.osmanson@mavs.uta.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-osmanson-558683106/
Yareni Lara-Rodriguez
Content Creator
Diversity & Inclusion Team
SWE Graduate Community
Contact information:
E-mail: allison.osmanson@mavs.uta.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-osmanson-558683106/
Yareni Lara-Rodriguez
Content Creator
Diversity & Inclusion Team
SWE Graduate Community
