In August, I organized and co-moderated a panel presentation and roundtable discussion titled, "Spaces for All Humankind: Facilitating Diverse and Inclusive Aerospace Events". The event attracted almost 90 aerospace and STEM professionals.
Themes of the discussion encapsulated recommendations for cultural inclusion, the SciAccess conference and accessible science, diversity initiatives in the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) and future work, and powerful words of being "othered" as an international student in the U.S. space industry. View the full 1-hour session below.
Accessibility: Live CART captioning and ASL interpreting provided by The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy. Captions edited by Caroline Juang for YouTube.
Thank you to my co-moderator Amy Huynh, to the panelists for sharing with all the meeting attendees on these important topics, and to our ad hoc Aerospace Diversity and Inclusion Task Force organizing team for technical moderation, discussion moderation, and sharing the event (Therese Jones, Luc Riesbeck, Karen Rucker, and David Ramirez).
Event Description
With the introduction of programs like the AIAA Diversity Scholars Program and the Brooke Owens Fellowship, the aerospace community is successfully increasing access to the industry by bringing in bright students from underrepresented and nontraditional backgrounds and ensuring they have a place and voice. How can we continue the positive momentum and expand the efforts of the community to include diversity in the aerospace industry? The goal of this roundtable discussion is threefold:
Educate the community on what is currently being done to improve diversity and inclusivity.
Reflect on the state of diversity and inclusion across the industry, including conferences, workshops, workplaces, and classrooms.
Build actionable plans for how to continue to improve diversity and inclusion in the aerospace community, both on organizational and individual levels.
The community we would like to see at this event should include all of those who are interested in expanding their diversity and inclusivity initiatives to improve themselves and organizations/events they are leading now or in the future. This includes anyone from current students to the heads of organizations.
MODERATORS:
Caroline Juang (Columbia University, she/her)
Amy Huynh (UC Irvine, she/her)
PRESENTERS:
Khristian Jones (Brooke Owens Fellow Class of 2019, she/her)
Chanel Richardson (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, she/her)
Anna Voelker (The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy, they/them)
Michaela Deming (The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy, she/her)
Rikhi Roy (Georgia Institute of Technology, Aerospace Systems Design Lab, she/her)
A special thank you to Therese Jones for handling the Zoom meeting, to Luc Riesbeck for facilitating the questions and comments during the discussion, and to the rest of the Aerospace Diversity and Inclusion Task Force for helping to organize and share the session.
*The Aerospace Diversity and Inclusion Task Force is an ad hoc group of students and young professionals working to improve diversity and inclusion in the aerospace industry. Included in this group are Brooke Owens Fellows, Matthew Isakowitz Fellows, AIAA Diversity Scholars and Diversity Working Group, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, and the Space Generation Advisory Council.
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