LSST Workplace Culture and Inclusion

December 16, 2016– AURA’s Workforce and Diversity Committee (WDC) met in Tucson last week, bringing together Human Resources representatives, external experts, and the Diversity Advocates at each of the five AURA center: Gemini, LSST, NOAO, NSO, and STScI.  The committee works on issues related to building and maintaining a “fully diverse workforce where individuals feel genuinely empowered to bring their diverse perspectives into the ongoing creation of ideas and approaches.” 

LSST reported on three goals previously identified as valuable to the LSST Project and benefitting from expertise within the WDC:

1. Develop and maintain an inclusive, positive workforce culture.
2. Increase diversity within the distributed LSST workforce.
3. Improve internal project communication. 

For each goal, strategies have been developed and activities undertaken, with metrics to measure progress.  Activities, by goal, include:

1. Determining a baseline measure of project culture and development of the LSST Ombudsperson program.
2. Working to increase the diversity of all aspects of the hiring process including hiring committees and applicant pools.
3. Project-wide efforts to tackle inefficiencies and complexities of our internal communications effort including meetings.

For more information on these efforts contact LSST Diversity Advocate Suzanne Jacoby (sjacoby@lsst.org), or Deputy Director Beth Willman (bwillman@lsst.org).