Research Expertise
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
A key strength of the Heldrich Center is the diversity, equity, and inclusion lens through which every research project is viewed. Projects — from program design to research studies and evaluations — are geared toward improving the public workforce development system, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged workers. Applying a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens, as well as ensuring research designs, protocols, and methodologies are designed to measure disparate impacts among subgroups, allows Center researchers to recognize structural and systemic inequities.
Center researchers frequently collaborate with faculty and researchers with diverse research interests. The Center has designed, developed, and managed programs that directly affect the workforce. Heldrich Center staff are well-versed in intersectional research and nationally recognized metrics such as Justice40 measures.
A Workplace Divided: Combining Robust Survey Research and Strategic Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Equitable Workplaces and Economic Progress for Workers of Color was one of 22 projects across the United States receiving grants from WorkRise, a research-to-action network hosted by the Urban Institute, to conduct original research and build new datasets through surveys and analysis. A Workplace Divided documented how American workers perceive and experience racial inequities in the workplace through a nationally representative survey of Black, Latino, Asian-American, and white workers. The findings are being used to engage stakeholders, inform program development and policy change, and guide future research to promote equitable workplaces and economic mobility.
Since 2009, the Heldrich Center has offered a series of policy forums that have examined the state of workforce diversity not only in the United States, but also in other countries. To date, more than 1,000 people have participated in those policy forums.