Academic chemistry departments not only employ a significant fraction of the chemical workforce, they also train future chemical scientists.  As such, it is critical that these departments create an equitable culture for practicing and aspiring chemists from diverse backgrounds. OXIDE (the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity, www.oxide.gatech.edu) is a 5-year, NSF/NIH/DoE-funded initiative to reduce inequitable policies and practices in leading research-active academic chemistry departments with respect to gender identity, race-ethnicity, disabilities, and sexual orientation.  We partner with department chairs, placing both the responsibility and the credit for solving the problem on them, rather than on single �change agents� in the department's rank and file.  Our partnership model also entails a variety of approaches to connect the chairs, existing diversity communities, and social scientists with diversity-related expertise.This presentation will describe OXIDE's current findings and primary activities, including:sponsoring biennial National Diversity Equity Workshops (NDEWs), with the next in Spring 2015.gathering annual faculty demographics data from over 100 research-active chemistry departments and partnering with Chemical & Engineering News to publish the results.serving as an information conduit between stakeholders in academic chemistry departments, the social sciences, diversity communities, funding agencies, and the broader chemical enterprise.

OXIDE:  Fostering diversity equity in academic chemistry departments

248th National Meeting (2014)

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