The Business Case for Diversity in Engineering

Civil engineering professor David Mays has recently published an article entitled, “How Diversity Makes Better Engineering Teams” in Journal AWWA published by the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Mays explains, “This article summarizes the business case for diversity in engineering—the simple idea that more diverse teams develop more creative, higher quality, and more impactful designs. It also places the business case in the context of engineering ethics, which calls upon engineers to serve public health, safety, and welfare.” The article, which is available through digital object identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.1002/awwa.1962, makes three key points:

1. Diversity, equity, and inclusion offer a win–win for engineers working together to serve the public.
2. Cognitive diversity helps teams produce more and better ideas through their different perspectives; identity diversity promotes cognitive diversity by inspiring members of a project team to listen and prepare better.
3. Diversity is not enough—progress also requires equity and inclusion so that every team member feels safe to share ideas.