Claudio and the College of Forestry Lab Directors – Initiating Culture Change

Claudio is new to his role as Dean of the College of Forestry. Early in his service, Claudio was inundated with emails, personal testimonies, and reports about the adverse conditions for women in the college’s research labs. Women’s participation in the college at all levels – undergraduates, graduates, staff and faculty – is below the institutional average, and the results of their climate surveys corroborate adverse conditions for women in teaching, service and research. The research labs, which are the cornerstone of the college, are uniquely inhospitable. Across all accounts, concerned stakeholders frequently reported use of sexist and marginalizing language about or toward women. Marginalizing language included inappropriate comments, jokes, and questions. Marginalizing language was described as sexual harassment and intimidation, as well as demeaning, demoralizing, and chauvinistic.

Claudio’s response to reports of sexual harassment and intimidation were swift, and he partnered with the institution’s equity and compliance office to investigate and adjudicate claims. In addition to addressing civil rights grievances, Claudio was discerning how to lead change regarding the college’s larger culture of sexism. Claudio decided to initiate an inclusive language campaign to educate the college on the impacts of marginalizing language, and to encourage bystander intervention, which recognizes and confronts sexist language. Claudio convened the director of the research labs to share his plans and cultivate buy-in with the campaign.

At their first meeting, the lab directors were dismissive, and some were incredulous. Generally, the group regarded Claudio’s initiative as superfluous to its research goals and an exaggeration of the working conditions of the labs. Claudio was disappointed but resolute.

Claudio continued to convene the group and subsequently focused on de-identified testimonies, focused survey data and other metrics to illustrate the issues in their labs. With time, individual lab directors empathized and began to understand the inhospitable conditions of their labs for women. Culture change was slow. As time progressed, other lab directors joined Claudio’s campaign and initiated their own meetings, trainings, and campaigns to shift language use throughout their labs.

Key Take-Aways
  • The Issue: Claudio is made aware of the hostile climate for women in his college and a pattern of marginalizing and harassing language that undermines the college’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • The Deliberation: Claudio attempts to lead culture change through a rollout of an inclusive language campaign. Claudio experiences difficulty and slow movement as the college’s lab directors are incredulous and disengaged. Claudio works slowly to grow allyship through dialogue and education.
  • The Growth: Claudio realizes the imperative of time and endurance in leading culture change and the value of coalition building in realizing inclusive organizational climate.