Raheem Beyah on Inclusivity

Motorola Foundation Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Executive Director for Online Masters and Cybersecurity Program | Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research

Do you feel the College of Engineering is an inclusive place for faculty and staff? Why or why not.

I think it is a good place…it has made a lot of progress. We’ve had diverse leadership of the College at the dean and associate dean levels, and we’ve done a decent job with diversity inside of the Schools. With that being said, I think we still have a long way to go. We need to make sure we are a place where everybody feels comfortable and welcome. I love the analogy about diversity and inclusion that goes: “It’s like being invited to the party AND being asked to dance.” For me, I have always felt very welcome and included and part of that comes from me going to school [at Georgia Tech]. But I don’t think my experience necessarily reflects every experience of a minority individual. However, overall, there are really good intentions and corresponding actions by the COE’s leadership, and we’ve made a lot of progress.

How are you involved in inclusivity efforts around campus with students and/or faculty?

I do lot of formal and informal mentoring and activities. I think the most impactful part is the weekly piece. I probably meet with under-represented students and faculty members weekly from all over. I also ran the SURE program, Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Sciences, for about seven years, which brought on average 35 to 40 under-represented students to campus per year. I have also, along with two of my colleagues, Baratunde Cola and Samuel Graham, founded an organization for doctoral-level researchers called the Academic and Research Leadership Network (ARLN). It has grown to about 400 individuals across the country, and we have used that to improve diversity and inclusivity across the country and campus.

Where do you think there are opportunities to be more inclusive across our eight schools?

I think we need to make sure that our actions follow our intentions and make sure that our budget follows our ideas. I would love to see a Georgia Tech ‘We Can Do That’ campaign about diversity and inclusion.

Why do you feel diversity and inclusion are important in higher education and beyond?

Data shows the more diverse the group, the better the decision that is made. At a place like Tech, that is very analytical and data-driven, we want to make sure that we are practicing what we preach from the fundamental research areas and also in areas like diversity/inclusion. I was watching a documentary about Warren Buffett, where he said, “We’ve done so well with half of our people: just imagine what we could do when we bring everyone to the table.” In this example, he was talking about the contributions of women finally being recognized. If we could give everybody an equal opportunity to contribute, we could do so much more. Diversity makes Georgia Tech much stronger, the College of Engineering much stronger, and the country much stronger. It makes sure that everyone is at the table contributing and feeling comfortable because when individuals do not feel comfortable, they waste brainpower and energy on fitting in, when that brainpower could go towards curing cancer or cybersecurity.

What do you believe makes Georgia Tech unique in terms of inclusion efforts?

Seventy years ago, we didn’t admit women, and now our freshman class last year was approximately 40% female. Over this seventy-year period, our rankings steadily increased, and we now have some of the best rankings in history. We have made tremendous progress. However, even though the numbers are increasing, we should always aspire to do better in all areas of diversity and to achieve excellence.

Do you have final thoughts on this topic?              

I was overwhelmed by the statues that were just built on campus of the first African American students to be enrolled and the first to graduate. That meant a tremendous amount to me and made me even more proud to be an alum. It’s a huge deal and stands for what we want to be, so I am optimistic and excited. I think this is a really good time for Georgia Tech, and I think we are going to do even better than we have done in the past.