Bridging the Gap Between Academic Research and Real World Solutions in DEI

Changing the way the world works requires connection between academic knowledge and real world experiences. Academic research can provide directional insights, uncovering underlying biases, systemic disparities, and innovative strategies. However, the translation of this knowledge into practical solutions is where the true impact lies. It requires collaboration and active engagement between researchers, practitioners, and communities to ensure that research findings are translated into actionable strategies that address real-world challenges and promote tangible change. By embracing interdisciplinary approaches, empowering marginalized voices, and fostering inclusive spaces for dialogue, we can strengthen the bridge between academia and the real world, ultimately leading to more effective DEI initiatives and a more equitable society.

At ReadySet, we believe that every individual and organization has a unique origin story that deserves to be shared. Check out the video below to learn from Y-Vonne Hutchinson, ReadySet’s Founder and CEO, about the intersection between her academic interests and professional journey.

Y-Vonne Hutchinson, the Founder and CEO of ReadySet, shares how her academic interests intersect with her professional journey. She founded ReadySet in 2015 as a diversity, equity, and inclusion firm that has since evolved to serve clients in a variety of ways through evidence-based methods in strategy consulting, learning and development, and executive coaching.

Transcript (Y-Vonne):

“Yeah, what--how do I think about the academic part of it? How do I think about the research part of it?

I've always sort of straddled, uh, the role between researcher and practitioner. I think, uh, work and this work is most exciting when we're able to see kind of what the research says when it's informed by data, but when we can apply it, because you know there's a world of research that exists in the vacuum that is--it is--it's itself quite faulty, you know, and--and vulnerable to the biases of the researchers that are conducting um the research.

And then there's also the real world, which it's like you--okay, so this experiment works with like 30 students at Harvard, it's not-- we don't know if it's going to work at your company, um, in Boston.

So I--so I think that, that--that for me though the promise of that was really great, and I think and this is not to like, degrade or slam anybody who's done DEI prior, but I think at that time what you were seeing in the space was a lot of like feel good stuff, but not stuff that was backed by evidence. A lot of interventions that were based on comfort and not effectiveness. And I think for me it just became really a priority like if we're gonna do this, like really do this, we need to be as rigorous as we can, because these are people's lives at stake, right, these--people's livelihoods and so, we can't just do what feels nice in the moment, we really have to focus on what we think is going to work based on the evidence.

And that was like one of the foundational...pieces of the vision for me and the vision for ReadySet, and so just to answer the question about what was the vision for Ready Set, I think I wanted us to do DEI differently.

When I started ReadySet in 2015, what I saw in the space was like a lot of unconscious bias training. We never did that. No--no shade to the people who do it, but we just never--we didn't feel like it was rigorous. We never did it. We saw a lot of, kind of ad hoc approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We saw a lot of folks who struggled to connect the--that work to the core business and the broader social impact questions that we're just starting to bubble up.

I mean today now we're in a post Me-too world, post Black Lives Matter movement world, a post-COVID world, all of these issues and movements and social changes had a huge impact in connection to how people interacted with the workplace which is the fundamental question of diversity, equity, and inclusion, right, the role that work plays in people's lives and the kind of products or services that companies put out there and the--and the way that that it interacts with viewers, customers, etc.

But you know at the time when we started ReadySet, that wasn't really there. I wasn't in the zeitgeist, right, and--and I think for me, I wanted to help people make that connection. You know, and in a--in my ideal world, we never would have had Me-too. We never would have had to have, um, you know, the BLM movement, but we did, right, and we're now starting to see the role that companies, corporations, organizations play socially as well as within our work lives.

That said, I never could have imagined that we would be, you know, where we are today. You know, we're one of the larger firms in the space.We work globally, and we're constantly, we're still trying to push the envelope and I think that's really important, because this work is advancing rapidly, and--and the needs of people are changing like just like that [snaps]. And for us to be effective, we have to stay on top of that.

So I could have never imagined some of the conversations we're having today. You know, I could never imagine the ways that we would be supporting our clients today. I could never imagine the industries that we're working in today, but I think that, you know, that's probably--that might be part of the design, right, like I hope that that 10 years from now there's a future that I couldn't have imagined, uh, today.”