Growing Diverse and Inclusive Teams

What We're Doing to Improve the Diversity and Inclusivity of Our Workforce

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  Expanding Recruitment

  RAND is reviewing its outreach strategies, including campus and conference recruiting, to determine how to better reach talented individuals from underrepresented groups and establish a pipeline of applicants in targeted areas of need. Employee Resource Groups are collaborating with HR and providing input on how to address diversity gaps.

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  Improving Hiring Processes

  To strengthen equity in our hiring practices, RAND is committed to making job opportunities transparent and widely available, using a diverse mix of screeners and interviewers, and requiring best practices to mitigate implicit bias and provide managers and interviewers with the resources they need to make objective decisions.

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  Supporting Faculty Leaders at Minority-Serving Institutions

  The Pardee RAND Graduate School's Faculty Leaders Program recruits professors from colleges and universities committed to serving students of color for a summer program to learn and practice policy analysis. The intent is for participants to return to their institutions equipped with new tools to effect change in their communities and to inspire their students to consider careers and advanced study in public policy analysis. A survey of program graduates found that 70 percent had used what they learned to advocate for change in their city, state, or university.

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• Supporting Military Service

  Since our founding, RAND has worked with and on behalf of veterans to address the challenges they and their families face as they return to civilian life. We are proud of the military members and veterans who are now RAND staff; their perspectives and wisdom make us stronger. RAND provides supplemental pay to employees serving on active duty, including the Armed Forces Reserve or State National Guard, to make up any difference between their military earnings and their RAND pay during a military absence.

  NextGen Initiative

  RAND's NextGen Initiative aims to foster civic engagement and cultivate lifelong interest in public policy among younger generations, especially those from backgrounds not historically prevalent in the field of public policy. In Hacking Equity, co-hosted by Pardee RAND Graduate School's Tech & Narrative Lab, student teams from Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University partnered with Pardee RAND doctoral students and faculty for a virtual hackathon to explore ideas for a more equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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• Nurturing a Culture of Mentorship

  Finding support and a professional champion can benefit all employees, and research finds that women and people of color are more likely to say that mentoring was an important aspect of their career. We're working to strengthen mentorship pathways through project-based mentorship, peer mentoring to help existing and incoming staff feel connected to the broader RAND community, and Employee Resource Groups.

  Inclusive Leadership Development Program

  A leadership development program supports mid-career managers in growing their skills and influence to foster a climate of diversity, inclusion, and belonging for their teams and across RAND. Workshops and discussion groups focus on increasing understanding and awareness, building open and honest listening and communication skills, and practicing a mentorship model of leadership.