The 2020 SC Diversity & Inclusion Working Group Recommended Actions

The 15 recommendations in the 2020 internal SC report, Opportunities to Advance Diversity, Equity & Inclusion within DOE Office of Science Program Business Practices: Recommendations from the SC D&I Working Group, serve to ensure that SC’s business processes for research awards management and research related activities are: supportive and inclusive of women and underserved and underrepresented groups in STEM fields; allow for more rigorous tracking of applicants, awardees, and reviewers information; limit and mitigate potential implicit bias behaviors; and encourage inclusive and professional behaviors in all SC-sponsored activities. Each recommendation included multiple elements, those elements have been organized into seven categories of action summarized below.

DEI Supporting Policies & Practices
  • Build on SC’s Statement of Commitment through proactive communications of SC’s expectations for DEI in funded activities, and associated procedures for reporting incidents and addressing concerns.
  • Promote and communicate existing Federal regulations and requirements regarding non-discrimination and personal conduct in SC funding solicitations.
  • Promote and utilize existing flexibilities under financial assistance agreements that supports diverse individual circumstances (e.g. communicating allowable costs, and budget modification flexibilities).
Standard Review & Selection Criteria & Protocols
  • Update and standardize procedures for the use of Letters of Intent and Pre-applications to ensure transparent communication of requirements, promote diverse participation, and equitable consideration of diverse applicants.
  • Establish a set of standard diversity-promoting review criteria options for internal competitive review of pre-applications.
  • Establish a standard set of diversity-promoting Program Policy Factors for solicitations and associated program guidance for their use.
  • Establish a standard set of diversity-promoting review criteria options for S&T performance reviews and associated program guidance for their use.
  • Establish a standard set of diversity-promoting review criteria options for SC facility reviews and associated program guidance for their use.
Peer Reviewers
  • Establish SC guidance for program office-specific goals (program-determined goals) for balancing the demographics of reviewers on panels and within reviewer pools.
  • Develop a comprehensive strategy for recruiting new reviewers to increase the overall reviewer pool, increase the diversity of the reviewer pool, and for decreasing barriers to reviewer participation.
  • Update and standardize SC’s reviewer guidance to include: communication of the SC Statement of Commitment and expectations of professional conduct during SC reviews; a reminder of the appropriate role to provide constructive, technical feedback; and standard implicit bias awareness and mitigation training. Incorporate the new guidance in reviewer orientation content.
Demographic Tracking
  • Track and document demographics of applicants throughout all review and decisions stages of the proposal review and selection process.
  • Document the demographics of reviewers invited and reviewers served for all types of SC peer reviews.
  • Identify and implement actions to increase the response rates of applicants to the demographic questions in PAMS profiles.
  • Identify and implement actions to increase the response rates of reviewers to the demographic questions in PAMS profiles.
  • Track demographics of SC Federal Advisory Subcommittee Members.
SC-Sponsored Meetings
  • Establish an SC guidance document, written at a high level, for conducting SC-commissioned technical workshops and roundtables that includes SC’s requirements and expectations for diverse participation and respectful and inclusive technical discussions.
  • Establish SC requirements and expectations for host institutions of scientific meetings and conferences as a condition of SC support of meeting and conference proposals.
  • Establish an SC guidance document for SC Federal Advisory Committee Subcommittees that provides SC’s expectations for Subcommittee membership and Member conduct, including guidance to Subcommittee Members as they perform the functions of their official charge.
Program Manager Guidance & Supporting Tools
  • Develop informational and instructional materials for SC Program Managers and staff on the SC Statement of Commitment and Federal civil rights requirements as they apply to award recipients and recipient institutions, including procedures for reporting or mitigating concerns.
  • Develop informational resources and tools for Program Staff for the implementation of new guidance and requirements for all recommendation actions as they are implemented. In particular, the actions related to solicitations, peer reviews, SC-sponsored technical workshops and tracking demographics.
  • Host learning sessions and provide training opportunities for Program staff; develop a repository for guidance and tools available to program staff.
  • Develop informational resources and tools for SC Designated Federal Officials (DFOs) and Program staff for the implementation of new guidance for Federal Advisory Subcommittees.
Program Manager Guidance & Supporting Tools
  • Create a communications plan for providing updates on SC DEI efforts, including the implementation of the report recommendations.
  • Develop a web presence for communicating SC DEI actions to applicants, awardees, reviewers, and scientific community, including updating SC’s DEI sites and Grants and Contracts pages.
  • Develop fact sheets, slides, and other documents that can be used by SC Program Staff to communicate new policies, SC actions, and guidance to the community.
  • Post new SC guidance for technical workshops and associated templates for related communications on the SC website.
  • Develop supplemental information to SC Federal Advisory websites regarding DEI guidance for Subcommittee activities.