A culture of Belonging in UW Bioengineering

At the University of Washington, diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to excellence. We value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access, opportunity, and justice  for all.

Two women in Lutz lab at whiteboard

What Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion means to the UW Bioengineering Community

Towards Justice, we believe that engineers must understand the social justice aspects of technology research and development practices, and are therefore including these topics in our curriculum. Towards Equity, we believe that admissions, hiring and retention practices must utilize best practices shown to overcome institutional and individual biases. Our Department values Diversity as individual differences (e.g., personality, prior knowledge, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations)1. We seek to have our educational and research programs represent the diversity of our country. Towards Inclusion, the Department focuses on intentionally creating a welcoming environment for everyone, absent of negative feelings and experiences such as fear, insecurity, social tensions, and unaddressed microaggressions, as well as fostering active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity (1,2).  These efforts are multi-dimensional and include collaborations with numerous UW programs, recruitment efforts, policies, curriculum, practices, faculty/staff promotions, decision making, and mentoring and continuing education for members of our community.

Three students in Lutz lab

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee

The UW Bioengineering JEDI committee has been tasked with developing mechanisms and providing guidance to increase our department’s level of expertise on equity and inclusive teaching and mentoring, and to provide similar expertise to our trainees.

JEDI Resources

Race and Ethnicity

Gender

LGBTQ

Individuals with disabilities

International students

INCLUSIVE ADMISSIONS OR HIRING

INCLUSIVE TEACHING

UW INSTITUTIONAL MISSIONS, POLICIES, AND RESOURCES

Feedback & Reporting Mechanisms

It is our goal that all members of the BIOE community feel included and supported. We want to highlight the resources available to you if you would like to provide feedback to improve the program or resolve a situation, or would like support in an incident of bias. We have provided links to different methods of providing feedback or reporting, and some information to help you decide which suits your purpose.

See also

Diversity at the University of Washington

UW Equity Focus, the UW’s hub for stories highlighting diversity and equity

In the News

  • 7 Bioengineering Husky 100 students 2020

Seven Bioengineering Students in 2020 Husky 100

May 15th, 2020|

The UW recognized seven students from the Department of Bioengineering for the 2020 Husky 100, an honor awarded to extraordinary juniors, seniors and graduate students who are making meaningful contributions at the University of Washington and beyond. Undergraduates Anna Craig, Sofia Jepson, Amanda An Nguyen, Parker Ruth, Vidhi Singh and Eric Yang, and Ph.D. student Trey Pichon Students are among 100 students selected.

  • Faculty portraits Soraya Bailey, Alyssa Taylor and Kim Woodrow

Students Recognize BioE Faculty with FACET Awards

May 7th, 2020|

Three UW Bioengineering core faculty members are being honored by the 2020 Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training (FACET) Awards program for positively impacting their students' career and professional development.

  • Researchers working

2020 BIOENGINEERING CAPSTONE SYMPOSIUM:

May 5th, 2020|

ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS FOR LIFE AND HEALTH June 1, 2020 2:30 - 4:00 P.M. Please RSVP Today Zoom webinar details will be sent to those who register To protect the health of our community and the [...]

Adjunct Faculty David Baker Elected to AIMBE

March 20th, 2020|

David Baker, professor in biochemistry and adjunct professor in bioengineering, has been elected as a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). The 2020 ceremony, originally scheduled for March 29-30, was [...]