Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | December 6, 2021 | wbjournal.com Biotech's diversity problems e state's biopharmaceutical industry committed itself to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, but companies need to set aside the resources to see those promises through L ike many industries, the biopharmaceutical sector in Massachusetts is working to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion among its work- force, leadership, and supplier channels. Doing so requires tackling diversity from multiple angles, including on-ramp- ing the workforce, providing areas for advancement for people from diverse backgrounds, and implementing account- ability measures at the company level. A new report from the Massachu- setts Biotechnology Council released in November shows while significant prog- ress has been made in some of these areas – like a 164% increase in women's representation on the state's biophar- maceutical company boards since 2017 – the industry still has a lot of work le to do. "You have to look at it as; it's a long journey… It doesn't happen overnight and, honestly, there may not be a finish line," said Ross Marshall, MassBio's senior director of DEI advisory. e report was compiled from a survey MassBio conducted between Oc- tober 2020 and June 2021. Respondents were signatories on MassBio's Open Letter 2.0, e CEO Pledge for a More Equitable and Inclusive Life Sciences In- dustry, which was compiled in 2020. Of the 222 companies that signed the letter, 85 responded to the survey. Some 73% of respondents came from organizations with 100 or less full-time employees. e letter, beyond simply agreeing DEI initiatives inside the industry were important, consisted of a series of pledges, including commitments to improving leadership and compa- ny culture, reevaluating recruitment processes, working on retention and employee development, diversifying suppliers, and implementing internal accountability measures. November's report indicated, while some headway has been made, significant areas are still le for improvement. While female representation on com- pany boards came in at 37% – a 164% increase from 2017, when MassBio released an initial report specifically focused on women in the industry – November's report saw no movement in the percentage of women companies reported in their C-suite. at figure was 24% in 2017, and remained the same in 2021. ose figures are significantly lower when broken down by race and eth- nicity. e November MassBio report found 3% of people of color in execu- tive management positions or board po- sitions are women. In turn, 7% of Asian members of executive management are women, with that figure dropping to 4% for board members. White women, in turn, comprised 27% of all executive management roles held by white people, and 17% of board roles. ese numbers are low despite people of color comprising 15% of the industry-wide workforce. e report concluded both women and POC (which for MassBio's survey includes Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous people of color) appear to get stuck in middle management roles and companies need to proactively help those members of the workforce advance. STEM on-ramp In Central Massachusetts, much of the work related to diversifying the biomedical industry at large relates to getting people into the field in the first place. Collaborative efforts are in place with organizations like MassBio, Worcester incubator Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, local colleges, and industry groups. MBI serves as a hub, of sorts, for this kind of programming. "DEI is top of mind across the industry," said Jon Weaver, president and CEO of MBI. "ere's very few meetings that we go to where DEI isn't an underly- ing theme of the entire event." Among the most recently announced collaborative projects in Worcester proper is a pilot program being run by Quinsigamond Community College, biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, and MBI known as the Biomanufactur- ing On-Ramp Workshop. e program, funded through the state's Office of Business Development in partnership with MBI and launched in October, is 10-weeks long, and in its first iteration has served roughly a dozen non-native English speakers. Participants in the program are taught by a bilingual instructor who ensures they leave equipped with basic bioman- ufacturing knowledge and industry terminology. ey undergo training in basic wrap-around so skills, with the workshop culminating in resume creation and mock interviews. e goal of programs like these, Weaver said, is to break down barriers to entry in the biomedical and bio- manufacturing industries, and ensure folks are able to get into the workforce pipeline to begin with. Ross Marshall, MassBio senior director PHOTO | COURTESY OF WATERS CORP. The Immerse facility in Cambridge from Milford laboratory equipment maker Waters Corp. seeks to spur scientific advancement by providing a place where various players in the biotech industry can innovate together. BY MONICA BENEVIDES WBJ Senior Staff Writer Jon Weaver, CEO & president of MBI

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