IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orited/v26y2026i2p148-162.html

How Inclusive Are Degree Programs in Operations Research and Analytics in the United States?

Author

Listed:
  • Michael P. Johnson

    (Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02125)

  • Tayo Fabusuyi

    (University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109)

  • Elham Hesari

    (Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02125)

  • Salina Chu

    (Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02125)

Abstract

Academic programs in colleges and universities in the United States have increasingly embraced principles of equity and inclusion to support student success and diversity within professions. Innovations in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in university programs require baseline data on students, faculty and administrators, curricula, and programmatic support. A review of data shows that underrepresented groups in the U.S. workforce have limited visibility in operations research (OR) and analytics. A review of DEI-related research reveals some relevant insights, including a gap in studies specific to OR and analytics. To provide evidence in support of DEI initiatives in OR/analytics, we describe a survey project to collect baseline data on participants in university programs in OR/analytics, on DEI-related characteristics of curricula, and of DEI-related programmatic supports. Most OR/analytics programs have limited diversity, with proportionately small African American, Hispanic, and female student and faculty presence. However, despite the limited DEI content in curricula, many programs offer support services for underrepresented students. These results provide initial evidence in support of initiatives in university programs in OR/analytics to strengthen the presence of underrepresented groups among students, faculty, and administrators; increase DEI-related content in curricula; and ensure that programmatic supports for DEI result in intended outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael P. Johnson & Tayo Fabusuyi & Elham Hesari & Salina Chu, 2026. "How Inclusive Are Degree Programs in Operations Research and Analytics in the United States?," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 148-162, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:26:y:2026:i:2:p:148-162
    DOI: 10.1287/ited.2023.0050
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/ited.2023.0050
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/ited.2023.0050?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dylan Shane Connor & Michael Storper, 2020. "The changing geography of social mobility in the United States," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(48), pages 30309-30317, December.
    2. Melissa R. Bowers & Jeffrey D. Camm & Goutam Chakraborty, 2018. "The Evolution of Analytics and Implications for Industry and Academic Programs," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 487-499, November.
    3. Chrysafis Vogiatzis & Eleftheria Kontou, 2025. "Case—Racial Bias in Automated Traffic Law Enforcement and the Price of Unjustness," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 128-135, January.
    4. Sandra E. Black & Kalena E. Cortes & Jane Arnold Lincove, 2020. "Apply Yourself: Racial and Ethnic Differences in College Application," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(2), pages 209-240, Spring.
    5. Zakkoyya H. Lewis & Ken Hansen & Mai Narasaki-Jara & Lara Killick & MinHyuk Kwon & Laura Chase & Srdjan Lemez, 2022. "Embedding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into a Kinesiology Curriculum: A Detailed Report of a Curriculum Redesign," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-11, June.
    6. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lepinteur, Anthony & Menta, Giorgia & Waltl, Sofie R., 2025. "Equal price for equal place? Demand-driven racial discrimination in the housing market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo, 2020. "COVID-19, Race, and Redlining," GLO Discussion Paper Series 603, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Bindler, Anna Louisa & Hjalmarsson, Randi & Machin, Stephen Jonathan & Rubio, Melissa, 2023. "Murphy's Law or luck of the Irish? Disparate treatment of the Irish in 19th century courts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121339, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. M. Antonella Mancino & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Diego F. Salazar, 2023. "Signaling Worker Quality in a Developing Country: Lessons from a Certification Program," Borradores de Economia 1259, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    5. Joshua S. Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Christine Mulhern & Jonathan Smith, 2019. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling-Spillovers in College Enrollment," CESifo Working Paper Series 7974, CESifo.
    6. Li, Wen-Jing & Chen, Zhi & Jin, Ke-Zhong & Li, Lan & Yuan, Lin & Jiang, Luo-Luo & Perc, Matjaž & Kurths, Jürgen, 2022. "Eliminating poverty through social mobility promotes cooperation in social dilemmas," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    7. Jonathan Roth & Guillaume Saint-Jacques & YinYin Yu, 2021. "An Outcome Test of Discrimination for Ranked Lists," Papers 2111.07889, arXiv.org.
    8. Lubna Rashid & Silvia Cepeda-García, 2021. "Self-Categorising and Othering in Migrant Integration: The Case of Entrepreneurs in Berlin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    9. Kemeny, Thomas & Connor, Dylan Shane & Suss, Joel & Xie, Siqiao & Jang, Jiwon & Gu, Zhining, 2026. "Spatial wealth inequality in the United States: theory and evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 137667, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Acton, Riley & Cortes, Kalena E. & Miller, Lois & Morales, Camila, 2024. "Distance to Degrees: How College Proximity Shapes Students' Enrollment Choices and Attainment across Race-Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status," IZA Discussion Papers 17338, IZA Network @ LISER.
    11. Jun Honda, 2025. "Financial Adviser Misconduct and Labor Market Penalties: Uncovering Racial Disparities in the Absence of Gender Gaps," Papers 2503.12837, arXiv.org.
    12. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico, 2020. "COVID-19, Race, and Redlining," Department of Economics 0175, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    13. Mauro Caselli & Paolo Falco & Gianpiero Mattera, 2023. "When the Stadium Goes Silent: How Crowds Affect the Performance of Discriminated Groups," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 431-451.
    14. Brülhart, Marius & Klinke, Gian-Paolo & Marcucci, Andrea & Rohner, Dominic & Thoenig, Mathias, 2023. "Price and Prejudice: Housing Rents Reveal Racial Animus," CEPR Discussion Papers 18050, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    15. Kertesi, Gabor & Köllő, János & Károlyi, Róbert & Szabó, Lajos Tamás, 2025. "From Ethnic Prejudice to Employment Discrimination: The Role of Small Firms as Mediators," IZA Discussion Papers 17901, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Antonie, Luiza & Inwood, Kris & Minns, Chris & Summerfield, Fraser, 2024. "The geography of economic mobility in 19th century Canada," Economic History Working Papers 126165, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    17. John N. Angelis & Sara W. Bailey, 2026. "Broadening Undergraduate Student Perspectives on Equity in Operations: A Summary of Materials and Experiences," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 163-173, January.
    18. Corekcioglu, Gozde & Francesconi, Marco & Kunze, Astrid, 2024. "Expansions in paid parental leave and mothers’ economic progress," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    19. Kenneth Colombe & Alex Krumer & Rosa Lavelle-Hill & Tim Pawlowski, 2025. "Racial bias, colorism, and overcorrection," Papers 2508.10585, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2026.
    20. Simonetta Longhi, 2025. "Success stories and continuing challenges: A longitudinal analysis of gender-ethnic wage gaps in the UK," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2507, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:26:y:2026:i:2:p:148-162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.