Definitions of engagement describe a connection between the employee and the goals of the institution:

• Employees’ willingness and ability to contribute to the company’s success

• Staff commitment and sense of belonging to the organization

• Employees’ commitment to the organization and motivation to contribute to the organization’s success

• Employees’ exertion of “discretionary effort”- going beyond meeting the minimum standards for the job

• Creating the sense that individuals are part of a greater entity

Inclusion is a set of social processes that influence an individual’s:

• Access to information and social support

• Acquisition of or influence in shaping accepted norms and behavior

• Security within an identity group or in a position within the organization

• Access to and ability to exercise formal and informal power

The DES functions in three ways:

1. Descriptive: Describes the inclusiveness of the environment by determining its level of engagement by demographic categories.

2. Diagnostic: Defines areas of strengths and areas of improvement for the diversity and inclusion efforts through benchmark comparative data

3. Prescriptive: Points to the strategic direction for change by identifying which engagement domains and which inclusion factors to target for improvement

The DES, targeted to be used by academic medical centers, was conceptualized as an evaluation tool for measuring the academic environment through the lens of inclusion and diversity. After pilot with 14 academic medical centers, the instrument was demonstrated to have value not only within educational settings but also in any institution that desires to build an engaged and inclusive workforce.

We do collect demographic data. Specifically, we collect data on position at institution (executive leadership/senior administration, faculty, staff, student, resident/fellow, post-doc), length of time at institution, gender, race/ethnicity, generational age group, sexual orientation, primary language, belief system, veteran status, and disability status. National benchmarks are available for all these categories.

If you chose the licensing only option, you are responsible for hosting and administering the survey. In that case, you can use whatever platform you would like to distribute the survey. You would also be responsible for analyzing your data. We would provide you with a User Guide and a Scoring Guide that includes the benchmark values to compare your results. You would also be responsible for storing your data. As the owner of your data, there are no restrictions to what you do with it. However, we would enter into a license agreement in which you would agree to send us a copy of the data that will be included in future benchmark values.

The DES can be administered in virtually any language. The most common are English and Spanish.

It takes an average of 10 minutes to complete the DES. The DES consists of 22 core multiple-choice questions, 1 open-ended question, and 10 standard demographic questions.

Our team will work with you to identify acceptable edits. These may include adding multiple choice or open-ended questions or including institution specific demographic items.

The core 22 items of the DES have undergone rigorous psychometric testing and are considered to be a single validated instrument. These items cannot be modified.