IEEE Adopts New Diversity Statement

THE INSTITUTE At IEEE, diversity is an important and valued strength. IEEE is committed to maintaining an environment in which all are welcome to collaborate, to contribute to our community, to support the growth of our profession and our professional colleagues and to advance technology for the benefit of humanity.

To that end, in February 2019, the IEEE Board of Directors formed an ad hoc committee to review the organization’s focus on diversity, inclusion, and professional ethics. The ad hoc committee’s work included efforts aimed at the continued improvement of awareness and understanding of IEEE’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and professional ethics, and efforts focused on improving the processes by which IEEE members hold each other accountable for our commitments. 

One of the recommendations from this committee was a proposal to include a diversity statement as part of the IEEE policies. The IEEE Board of Directors considered the proposal and during its November meeting approved the following statement for incorporation into the IEEE policies:

IEEE’s mission to foster technological innovation and excellence to benefit humanity requires the talents and perspectives of people with different personal, cultural, and disciplinary backgrounds. IEEE is committed to advancing diversity in the technical profession, and to promoting an inclusive and equitable culture in its activities and programs that welcomes, engages and rewards those whocontribute to the field without regard to race, religion, gender, disability, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

This change to the IEEE policy reflects IEEE’s longstanding commitment to ensure the engineering profession maximizes its impact and success by welcoming, engaging, and rewarding those who contribute to the field in an equitable manner.