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Thank you to all of the Members and Volunteers who participated in our 2019 Diversity & Inclusion survey! Your input is crucial for the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee to help shape the way the Rochester Chapter serves you.

RESULTS

In the following, you will find a summary of the results of our anonymous survey. Along with several initiatives determined by the Committee, these results impact our planning for the following year.

DEMOGRAPHICS - MEMBERS

Did you notice that when you initiated or renewed your PMI membership, no demographic data was collected? The Rochester Chapter wants to know more about the people we serve. This is why we sent out the survey.

Definitions:

• Member: A PMI Rochester member who does not currently volunteer for the organization. 59 respondents. 7% response.
• Volunteer: A PMI Rochester member or non-member who volunteer (board members not included). 18 respondents, 25% response.
• Board Member: In this survey, Board Members might specifically be called out. Board Members are Volunteers who are elected. The contact information for each Board Member is listed here: https://pmirochester.org/board.php. 9 respondents, 100% response.

From the survey we gathered that:

EMPLOYMENT

• 78% of our Members are employed full time
• 22% of our Members are retired
• 0% of our Members are unemployed and looking for work.

Note: 5% of our Volunteers are looking for work. If you are in the market for a new job, check out our Career Corner at https://pmirochester.org/classifieds.php?type=job. Our Chapter is working with local companies and recruiters to list opportunities here.

GENDER

• 54% of our Members are female, while 46% of Members are Male. According to Ganttic.com, in 2008 only 30% of PMI members worldwide were women. The D&I Committee will try to determine if Rochester is different than PMI worldwide or if demographics have changed in general.

 

• When posting content on the D&I webpage/blog, and helping with the choice of programs to bring to our Members, the D&I Committee will bring awareness of topics that are important to both men and women.

RACE

• 81% of our Membership and Volunteers identify as White, 5% as Black or African-American, 3% as Hispanic of Latinx, and 6% as Asian or Asian-American. The Committee plans to research whether this is representative of the Project Management Community in Rochester and throughout the USA, and if not, find ways to engage or attract more diverse representation.

AGE

• Only 3% of respondents were 21-29 years old. 17% were 30-39 years old, 28% were 40-49 years old, and the majority of respondents were 50 and older. The well-being of any professional or organization is recruiting the next generation of people. The Diversity & Inclusion Committee will support the other committees who already target the next generation.

VETERANS, DIFFERENTLY ABLED MEMBERS

• Our survey showed that we do not have a significant number of Members who are Military Veterans.
• The survey respondents answered that they did not require accommodations for disabilities, or preferred not to say. If you would like accommodations or have recommendations for how our website or events could be more accommodating, please contact the VP of Professional Development or the Director of D&I.

DEMOGRAPHICS – PMI ROCHESTER BOARD AND VOLUNTEERS

Our Board members and Volunteers make up a more diverse group than our members in general, and we hope that they can help encourage membership and participation.

EMPLOYMENT

• As previously mentioned, 5% of our Volunteer respondents compared to 0% of our Member respondents are unemployed and looking for work.

GENDER

• 54% of our Members are female, while 64% of our Volunteers are female. The Committee will seek to understand the difference in Volunteers versus Members, and how we can best serve all Members.
• According to https://www.girlsguidetopm.com/men-women-the-pmp-infographic/, in 2018, 49% of PMP holders were female, making an average of 10% of their male counterparts. Again, the Committee will work to understand the membership differences between Rochester and our great global PMI community, and bring awareness to others of the topic.

RACE

• 80% of our Membership identify as White.
• The Committee will assist in bringing awareness to the Board about continuing to pursue diversity of thought and action. For the Diversity & Inclusion Committee there is nothing more important than the goal of making our Members feel represented and included. We recognize that means recruiting Volunteers with the passion to support all Members. All are welcome to join us in this endeavor.

MEMBER FEEDBACK ON PMI ROCHESTER

In addition to demographics, the Chapter wanted to know how our members feel we are doing.

RESPONSIVENESS TO MEMBER NEEDS

The majority of Members rated the Chapter Leadership as responsive to Member needs. 2.5% rated the Leadership at Somewhat or Very Unresponsive. The Chapter will continue to work towards responding to Member needs and feedback.

HOW CAN WE DO BETTER?

Several respondents provided feedback to our request, “Please, tell us something that you think PMI Rochester could do better.” Here is a sampling of responses. We are actively considering all feedback.

• Reflect diversity & inclusion across its leadership, and membership base.
• Run more networking events.
• While not 100% relative to this topic the chapter could apply focus in presenting the strategic plan(s) to the members at large.
• Continue the variations on the monthly activities, adjust based on participation and continue to try new things.
• Bring more diverse presenters and topics at the conference and monthly meetings.
• Better Speakers on leadership and managing projects to included tips on software and reporting on project status. Ask the members what they want from speakers and use local talent and trainers. Local trainers know the audience.
• PMI Rochester is awesome! Better than awesome, they rock!
• Offer more in the way of early breakfast events or lunchtime events.
• Publish meeting slides and maintain web site meeting material.
• How to manage product development projects. Seems heavy on IT and capital projects.
• A few seminars on Women in PM.
• I have noticed that the opportunities for volunteering are only for individuals with a strong background in PM but there is almost none for individuals that are just starting in the field.
• Virtual participation for Ithaca branch members is very important and I know there has been a focus on this in the recent past, but more efforts to make registration and participation for Ithaca branch members easier would still be welcome.
• More welcoming environment.
• More fun!
• I think the board and volunteers do a wonderful job! Keep up the great work!
• Maybe team up with & learn from other diversity groups in the area, for example, programs offered by YWCA, UR, Xerox,...
• I would like to see more women and POC speakers at PDD.

Please know, your feedback and collaboration is always welcome and we’d love to speak with our Members to gain more in-depth insights. If you would like to talk with us about these results, join our committee or discuss planning initiatives, please email us at diversity@pmirochester.org.