“Equity is the goal we strive for,” says Vice President Dunstan Macauley, P.E., HBDP, Member ASHRAE, in the latest episode of ASHRAE Journal Podcast.
Regional Vice Chair for the Young Engineers in ASHRAE Committee Carrie Anne Monplaisir, Associate Member ASHRAE; Region X Director and Regional Chair Devin Abellon, P.E., Member ASHRAE, join Macauley and discuss how ASHRAE and the engineering industry can be more inclusive.

Guests, left, Dunstan Macauley, Carrie Anne Monplaisir and Devin Abellon

ASHRAE Journal:

ASHRAE Journal presents.

On this episode of the ASHRAE Journal Podcast, Devin Abellon, Dunstan Macauley and Carrie Anne Monplaisir break down and define the importance of  diversity, equity and inclusion—or DEI/—and how engineering can become more inclusive.

Devin Abellon:

It's surprising that the amount of, I'll say, negative energy around DEI, because for some reason, there's this thought that it's a political initiative. I think in today's society, where depending on what side, right or left, you're on, it can be interpreted in such a way that people, they take it the wrong way when we look at what diversity, equity, inclusion means. But I think that a lot of people would agree that those are certainly values and things that we want to work towards.

My name is Devin Abellon. I serve on the board of directors as the director and regional chair for region 10, and I also serve on the board of directors DEI advisory subcommittee.

Carrie Anne Monplaisir:

Hi, my name is Carrie Anne Monplaisir, and I am the Region 3 Young Engineers in ASHRAE RVC.

Dunstan Macauley:

Hi, I am Dunstan Macauley. I serve on the ASHRAE board of directors as a society vice president, and I'm with the National Capital Chapter. I'm also on the board DEI subcommittee as well. What is diversity, equity and inclusion?

Devin Abellon:

I think diversity, most people have a good understanding of what diversity is. It's about having a group of individuals with different social, ethnic backgrounds, different genders, sexual orientations. It's about not having a group where everyone's the same, and I think there's a great value in having diversity in any organization because you get to have different perspectives, people with different backgrounds, experiences, and it creates a more creative environment.

Dunstan Macauley:

Equity is a fair and just treatment of all members of the community. Equity's about promoting justice, impartiality, fairness within our procedures, our policies and our processes and distribution of resources. Equity is the goal that we strive to get to, both in our professional and in our ASHRAE lives as well. We want to make sure we have an equitable distribution of all the resources. Equity is also a good distribution of our strategic priorities as it relates to ethnicity, gender, age, physical appearance, thought styles, religion, nationality, socioeconomic status, belief systems, sexual orientation and education.

Devin Abellon:

I think a lot of times, people, when we're talking about diversity and equity, they see them as the same thing. In my mind, also, it's a great description, Dunstan. I also think about in terms of making sure that everyone has equal opportunities, that everyone with different backgrounds, they still have the same opportunities to succeed in any area.

Carrie Anne Monplaisir:

I think that's where the inclusion can also tie in. Inclusion is the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or mental disability, and members of other minority groups. I've always liked this metaphor, I've heard it from quite a few sources, that diversity means being invited to the party, but inclusion is being invited to dance.

Devin Abellon:

Yeah, that's a great metaphor. I think we've talked about what DEI is, and we've gotten different definite of DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion. But I think when we start having a conversation, it's important to understand what it isn't. I'll say from our Region 10 perspective, I hear from different chapter members, different leaders, and it's surprising the amount of, I'll say, negative energy around DEI, because for some reason, there's this thought that it's a political initiative. I think in today's society, where depending on what side, right or left, you're on, it can be interpreted in such a way that people, they take it the wrong way, unfortunately. I think when we look at what diversity, equity, inclusion means, as we had just described it, I think that a lot of people would agree that those are certainly values and things that we want to work towards. But because there's this political stigma attached to it, people immediately push back against it.

Carrie Anne Monplaisir:

I want to add a lot of the times, I think people feel attacked like, "Oh, we're being called out for doing something that we're doing maliciously or intently." That's not the point. You could be doing something based on these unconscious biases that we're all unaware of and DEI is trying to just spread awareness, and so that we can all just rethink about how we're interacting with other people. We're all guilty of it, we all just have things that we don't understand because we haven't had those experiences or know anyone close to that. If we just are all a little bit more aware, we take some time to educate ourselves, we can create a more inclusive world.

For complete Transcipt https://www.ashrae.org/news/ashraejournal/ashrae-journal-podcast-season-2-episode-2

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