Now in our fourth year, the Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE) is part of the College of Engineering’s strategy to create a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone. We focus on three main areas: people, capacity and culture.
Over the past two years, we’ve led workshops, built partnerships, hosted events and launched bold projects to make our College a place where all members can thrive, feel valued and belong.
Read on to see our progress in each pillar and join us in shaping the future of our community.
“It takes more than good intentions to manifest a culture of belonging in the College of Engineering. Using an Inclusive Excellence Framework, OIE aims to bridge the gap between good intentions and action. Each of us walks through the door with a unique lived experience that has shaped what we know, how we see the world and how we interact with it. When we harness this wealth of perspectives and actively use them in our everyday lives, we contribute to a sum that is greater than its parts in our classrooms, labs, workplace and in our community. This type of environment embodies belonging.”
People: Attract, recruit, develop and retain students, staff and faculty from all backgrounds and experiences
Our students, staff and faculty make our College strong. The University of Washington is committed to creating and sustaining environments where individuals from all backgrounds and experiences can participate fully, thrive academically and professionally, and feel a sense of belonging.
Listening and improving through surveys
We now use surveys after trainings and workshops to learn what works, what needs improvement and what topics people want next. This helps us keep our programs relevant and useful.
Strengthening student access to engineering
Pathways for Inclusive Excellence (PIE) provides specialized curriculum and individualized support for talented students who need additional STEM and college preparation before they begin their engineering or computer science career.
29%
increase in students enrolled
93%+
retention rate of CoE and Allen School students
97%+
retention rate of UW students
We also improved student onboarding by expanding Summer Bridge from two to four weeks, reducing pre-arrival commitments to ease transition, adding math-focused preparation, and a new placement process.
Capacity: Develop structures, practices, and people skills that embed and leverage the value of diversity, equity and inclusion in all College activities
We give our community tools, training and resources to create and sustain environments where all members of the CoE community can thrive and feel a sense of belonging.
Creating resource hubs
Our website now has dedicated pages for students and for staff/faculty. These include upcoming events, program details and informational materials.
Promoting inclusion in communication and STEM innovation
We launched an inclusive language guide and shared it with College communicators. Additionally, we developed a guide titled "Practicing mindful inclusion in STEM innovation," which evolved into a workshop piloted with 25+ STEM students. The workshop covers broadening the scope of STEM innovation, challenging stereotypes, reframing narratives, designing equitable technology solutions, and promoting responsible AI development.
Expanding inclusive conversations
We built a Community Conversations Facilitators Toolkit with videos and discussion guides. Topics include the importance of authentic identity expression and effective communication across differences. So far, we have trained 21 facilitators from seven departments and hosted eight community conversations.
Our surveys indicate that:
94%
attendees found the hosted conversations informative
97%
attendees felt motivated to take action for equity
Bringing in industry voices
In 2024, OIE formed an advisory board of the College’s alumni and industry leaders. They give feedback, share trends and strengthen our connections with industry and community partners.
Increasing diversity, equity and inclusion learning
We launched a self-paced training program on microaggressions for staff and faculty, and over 120 participants have completed it. So far, 91% of attendees reported a better understanding of microaggressions, and 89% left with effective strategies to respond.
Beginning in fall 2025, we will offer a follow-up workshop titled "Taking Action: Tactics for Interrupting Microaggressions."
Additionally, we developed the Donor DEI&S Objections Workshop, which prepares advancement staff to address donor concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion values with respect and understanding.
The effects of microaggressions on both perpetrators and their victims were the most valuable to me. As someone who has fallen prey to microaggressions, seeing the list of effects made me feel seen and understand why I felt the way that I did when they occurred.”
Please let Robin Clayton continue to do workshops like this one. They are so valuable and needed. I feel fortunate we have this resource and support available to us in the College of Engineering.”
National recognition
In 2024, OIE co-presented "Taking diversity, equity, and inclusion from theoretical to practical" at the National Engineering Development Forum held at Duke University.
Graduate student excellence
Through the Elevate fellowship, three students received $10,000 each for robotics research.
Undergraduate leadership
ENGR 401: Leadership Development to Promote Equity in Engineering Relationships (PEERs) course now focuses on six core leadership skills for engineers. These skills include collaboration, curiosity, cognizance of bias, cultural Intelligence, courage and commitment. Since 2023, 176 students have taken it.
We also launched the PEERs Leader Program, giving graduates of the course hands-on leadership roles.
Publishing and sharing our work
OIE staff published and presented four papers on inclusive teaching and student success:
- Evaluating the impact of teaching undergraduate engineering students strategies to become leaders in diverse environments: A work in progress. Presented at the 2024 ASEE annual conference in Portland, OR, this paper discusses the impact of the ENGR 401 PEERs course.
- Motivations for engineering faculty engagement in an inclusive pedagogy program. Presented at the 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) conference in San Antonio, TX, this paper focuses on the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellowship.
- WIP: The Impact of a Mathematics-Focused Summer Bridge Program on First-Year Engineering Students’ Preparation and Retention. Presented at the 2025 ASEE annual conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this paper focuses on the STARS program, specifically the impact of the redesigned bridge program from summer 2024 and the mathematics preparedness of the students.
- Enhancing engineering faculty implementation of inclusive pedagogy through an inclusive excellence faculty development program. Presented at the 2025 ASEE annual conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this paper focuses on the impact of the IEFFP’s phase 1 training in enhancing faculty’s understanding of inclusive pedagogy. It received the Best Paper Award for the Faculty Development Decision and is nominated for the best paper in the conference.
Increasing Diversity-designated (DIV) courses within the College
In spring 2024, OIE launched the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellowship (IEFFP) to help faculty redesign courses for equity. Nineteen fellows are part of two cohorts.
Research from this program has been shared at the 2025 ASEE Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity annual conference and the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference.
Industry connections for students
OIE partnered with TransDigm and the Foster School of Business to connect PIE and Foster Bridge students with corporate leaders.
Culture: Build a robust College community culture where all members thrive, are valued and feel a sense of belonging
Setting expectations in classrooms
OIE worked with the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering to address insensitive remarks in introductory courses. A short video on respectful interaction with faculty and teaching assistants is now shown to 1,500+ students each quarter. It is followed by discussions that are facilitated by the teaching staff.
Celebrating resilience
The “Fail forward: Building resilience in STEM” event brought 100+ students together with faculty and industry mentors to discuss overcoming setbacks in STEM.
My biggest takeaway from the event was the importance of resilience — taking care of yourself mentally and professionally and always pushing forward even when things don’t go as planned,”
Highlighting women of color in STEM
OIE co-hosted a Women of Color in STEM Summit in partnership with the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and the Sisterhood Initiative. Seventy-two students participated with professionals from Amazon, Boeing and more.
Building student leadership
Since its launch in 2023, the Leadership Academy has trained 33 students in advanced leadership skills with support from F5 and Amazon.
Mentorship programs
Mentorship is essential to student development. The Peer Mentorship Program (PMP) pairs students with mentors and offers quarterly networking events. The WE Rise program, open to all engineering students, centers women and gender-diverse engineers through mentorships and events.
122 students & 107 mentors
have connected through PMP since 2023
131 students
attended the WE Rise conference in 2025