The way ahead: Carey capitalizes on its first DEIB roadmap and releases its second

With an imperative to be the most inclusive and diverse environment it can be, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School released its new Carey DEIB Roadmap 2.0.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and administrative leaders collaborated through a strategic framework to review and assess the first roadmap, then make recommendations for the way forward with action items for specific internal groups.

“Inclusivity and belonging come out of conscious work toward diversity and equity,” said Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging James Calvin. “This is about paying true heed and actively challenging ourselves to be expansive in how we view our world and the ways we work together toward a common goal by making everyone feel heard, seen, and valued as they are.”

The broader roadmap extends well beyond Carey, through the entire Johns Hopkins University enterprise, as represented in the university’s own second roadmap. Carey’s shared work is motivated by a concerted interest in increased representation across the school’s roles, an enhanced and intentional culture of trust and belonging, and a consistent practice of equity and inclusion.

“This progress doesn’t happen by accident,” said Carey Dean Alex Triantis. “Our intentionality around this work is about ensuring that we have the best possible collective depth, breadth, and perspective on our day-to-day and mission-aligned work through the strengths and awareness that a diverse and inclusive organization provides. We’ve made great strides and I look forward to making even greater strides with the new roadmap.”

Assessing the first roadmap’s lessons and successes

The first roadmap resulted in 48 recommendations, divided among seven interest areas, which included culture and climate and community engagement. Of those 48 recommendations, 85% are either achieved or in progress, and many will be ongoing. Some are on hold pending the feasibility of partnerships with other schools.

The new report lists two dozen successful outcomes from the first roadmap, ranging from the establishment of the Council for Equity and Belonging and the Underrepresented Groups Advisory Board to expanding offerings like the DEIB Summit—known now as the Carey Annual Summit—and the Community Consulting Lab to fostering connections for students and alumni through the Diverse Leadership Mentoring Program. 

The foundation 

Carey’s DEIB Roadmap 2.0 is informed by the 2023 university-wide, division-specific climate survey assessing a range of areas that demonstrate the overall practices and senses of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the school—areas like how comfortable someone is in the environment, their sense of financial security, and even how academic advising contributes to a sense of belonging. 

The survey showed that Carey is highly diverse, and helped focus the second roadmap toward enhancing a sense of school/work/life balance, equitable workload for faculty and staff, and how to make support for staff’s sense of value and opportunity even stronger. 

The future

Work groups representing faculty, staff, students, and alumni reviewed the assessment and offered their considered suggestions for the second roadmap. Beyond suggestions for actual representation on the faculty, in the student body, and among alumni affinity groups, the report contains recommendations to promote research on DEIB topics and intentionally integrate DEIB content in courses, designing career pathways and including discussion of staff professional development in supervisor reviews, increasing opportunities for connection between faculty, staff, and students, and strengthening connections between alumni and students. 

“The reason we don’t call our DEIB work an ‘initiative’ is that it suggests there’s an end to it,” said Executive Director of Human Resources and Talent Management Karen Sentementes. “This is ongoing work by its very nature, so as we continually map the next steps on our path, we recommit to that imperative in a way that helps us continually get better.”