Much more work is needed to make the biotech industry more inclusive and diverse, especially in terms of race, says our new report, the first of its kind measuring race, ethnicity, and gender diversity and inclusion at biotech companies.
Let’s dig into the numbers—and take a look at steps companies can take today to make their leadership teams in particular more diverse.
The details: BIO’s new annual report, Measuring Diversity in the Biotech Industry: Building an Inclusive Workforce, is the first comprehensive report on race, ethnicity, and gender diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the industry, with responses from nearly 100 BIO members ranging from large, public companies to small start-ups.
The key finding: While we see a growing commitment to D&I, with 73% of respondents saying their companies’ leaders are committed to D&I, it’s not all rosy—and there’s much more work to be done, particularly on racial and ethnic diversity.
In fact: While many companies have D&I initiatives and are making progress, just 17% have a D&I program in place, while 10% have no D&I activities. In addition, the majority of companies do not have diversity hiring targets or programs to promote and develop women or people of color.
On gender, things are improving. Companies are getting closer to gender parity, with women accounting for 45% of employees—but the numbers aren’t quite as good at the higher levels, with companies reporting 30% female executives and 18% female board members.
On race/ethnicity, the numbers are worse. Only 32% of employees overall are people of color, including just 15% of executives and 14% of board members.
In general, smaller and private companies are making greater strides. Pre-revenue and small companies are more likely to have a female CEO, and private companies are more likely than public ones to have a person of color as CEO. In addition, pre-revenue companies are more likely than profitable ones to employ more people of color generally.
Why diversity matters: “You have to be able to think differently to solve a previously unsolved problem,” says Reshma Kewalramani, Chief Medical Officer of BIO member Vertex, which is known for cystic fibrosis medicines. “And in order to do that, in order to have the innovation spirit, the ability to think differently, you need to have a diverse workforce. You have to have people who come from different backgrounds. There is no way to have this innovative, different way of thinking, of solving problems that have never been solved before, if everyone is the same either by background or gender or ethnicity. It’s not a nice to have—it’s an absolute must have.”
