As part of the central evaluation of DEI 1.0, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Evaluation and Assessment team analyzed U-M budget submissions to understand the extent to which DEI has been infused into U-M budgetary considerations and priorities. These analyses demonstrate a sustained infusion of DEI language in units’ budget submissions, suggesting a strong financial commitment to DEI goals and an alignment between units’ budgets and the university’s DEI 1.0 strategic plan.
Words related to the four strategic domains of DEI 1.0 saw the largest increase during DEI 1.0. Words and phrases related to fostering an inclusive and equitable climate (Process) and recruiting, retaining and developing a diverse campus community (People) saw the largest increases, followed by words related to promoting innovative and inclusive education, scholarship and research and service provision (Products).
The most common identity-related words in units’ budget request documents were race and ethnicity, citizenship, immigration status, national origin and gender, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation. The least common identity-related words were religion and spirituality, political perspective and veteran. However, the prevalence of words naming specific identity characteristics decreased over the course of DEI 1.0, particularly with regard to race and ethnicity.
Among mechanisms that support the implementation of DEI 1.0, words that referred to infrastructure (e.g., DEI Committee, strategic plan, workgroups) were more common than words that referred to programming or initiatives (e.g., DEI events, programming and workshop).
To learn more about these analyses, see the DEI in Budgets section of the downloadable DEI 1.0 Evaluation Report here.