DEI at the Nicholas School
diversity, equity, & inclusion
DEI at the Nicholas School

Accountability

To make our DEI Implementation Plan a success, the Nicholas School must be accountable and transparent about its DEI activities and metrics of success.

To ensure accountability, the Nicholas School hosts regular DEI Accountability Meetings for students, staff, and faculty to review recent DEI efforts, make suggestions for improvements, and ask questions. To ensure transparency, the Nicholas School is committed to sharing our DEI evaluations and metrics. Additional evaluation and information on progress made towards our DEI objectives can be found on our Implementation page.

Accountability Meetings

The Nicholas School uses regular Accountability meetings, open to any student, staff, or faculty member to guide our path towards increased inclusivity, diversity, and racial equity.

Before each meeting, the Dean and Associate Dean of DEI release an update on recent activities that: 1) increase our Knowledge, 2) change our Behaviors, and 3) recast our Identity. These are interdependent. Without a sustained effort to continue to educate ourselves and change our behaviors, our School cannot achieve the diverse identity and perspectives we seek to be truly excellent as the Nicholas School of the Environment.

During the meeting, community members reflect on key question in small groups and then offer feedback and questions to the whole group, including the Dean and Associate Dean of DEI.

The Accountability Meeting updates can be found here:

Available Data

From the 2021 Anti-Racism Plan: A Response to the Racial Inequity Petition (Appendix I) and Duke University’s 2021 DEI Climate Survey:

NSOE Professional Students Demographic Trends 2014-2021
NSOE Doctoral Students Demographic Trends 2010-2021
Students | A sample of averaged responses from the 2021 Duke-wide Climate Survey of the Nicholas School embedded with results of other units which remained anonymous. Take home messages include [1] NSOE results are comparable to other units on campus, though we have significant room for improvement in areas of advancement & promotion, hiring, feeling comfortable expressing viewpoints and opportunities for URMs, and improving the overall climate for URMs and folks who identify as LGBTQIA+; [2] Non-URM & URM community members have different experiences; [3] We still have a lot of work to do.
NSOE Faculty Demographic Trends 2014-2021
NSOE Staff Demographic Trends 2014-2021
Faculty & Staff | A sample of averaged responses from the 2021 Duke-wide Climate Survey of the Nicholas School embedded with results of other units which remained anonymous. Take home messages include [1] NSOE results comparable to other units on campus; [2] Non-URM & URM community members have different experiences; [3] We still have lots of work to do. Highlighted areas of concern include fair pay, opportunities for URMs, overall climate for URMs, advancement & promotion criteria, and fair & transparent hiring.
Faculty & Staff | A sample of averaged responses from the 2021 Duke-wide Climate Survey of the Nicholas School embedded with results of other units which remained anonymous; ’04 = NSOE. Take-home messages include [1] NSOE results are comparable to other units on campus; [2] Women & men in NSOE have different experiences; [3] We still have a lot of work to do, including how we collect data on gender.

The 2021 DEI Climate Survey identified the following areas of concern:

  • Racial and ethnic diversity of faculty and divisional leadership; fairness and transparency of the hiring process
  • Communication of criteria for advancement and promotion
  • Voice and expressing concerns
  • Performance feedback
  • Opportunities for advancement
  • Climate for women and community members from under-represented minority groups (e.g., microaggressions)

Evaluations & Metrics of Success

The Nicholas School is starting to collect long-term data to evaluate its progress towards it’s DEI goals, objectives, and activities. Please visit our Implementation page to see our annual evaluation of DEI Implementation activities.