Photo: Jason Varney Photography
The business and scientific value of diversity is discussed frequently, but building a truly diverse workforce is much easier said than done. Nevertheless, small- and large-scale efforts – from a research grant to a community college in North Dakota to summer job programs for aspiring scientists with disabilities to major policy shifts at MIT and Harvard – are producing real change, slowly but surely. Many Big Pharma and biotech companies are putting major muscle behind efforts to both promote and celebrate diversity within their workforces. As this section makes clear, real diversity requires more than just bringing members of underrepresented groups on campus or putting them on the payroll. It must also mean giving them the opportunity to stick around and move ahead, and the chance to have a real say in how things are run.
