ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
Historically, attendance at the International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems has not been particularly diverse in terms of gender or race. In fact, the lack of diversity amongst the attendees was noted during the closing session of the 2015 conference by an invited speaker from outside the accelerator community. Informal discussion and observations support the assertion that our conference attendance reflects the diversity of the broader accelerator controls workforce. Facing very low participation of women in our field and even lower minority representation, it is important to examine this issue as studies point to the importance of diverse work groups to spark innovation and creativity as catalysts to solving difficult problems. This paper will discuss diversity and inclusion in the disciplines that comprise the accelerator controls workforce, including background, barriers and strategies for improvement.
