Inclusivity & Diversity at Cengage Higher Education

Download a PDF Inclusivity & Diversity statement below.

Cengage has a critical role to play in providing quality, inclusive learning materials that empower progress and combat ignorance. As one of the largest education companies in the world, and a global employer, we are taking action to advance inclusion and diversity efforts in our workplaces, communities and the education experiences we provide to learners and educators. We do this because it’s the right thing to do: for our customers, our employees and our business.

What does inclusivity and diversity mean to the Cengage Higher Education division?

We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion in order to advance the way students learn inside and outside the classroom. Our comprehensive vision of inclusivity encompasses the learner’s need for social belonging.

We recognize a special responsibility to develop and deliver content that is responsive to this powerful need, in part by eschewing the idea of a generic student. Instead, in order to improve both the learning process and outcomes, our materials seek to affirm the fullness of human diversity with respect to all forms of human difference that students may bring to the classroom.

We do more than simply acknowledge diversity—we actively strive for inclusivity in content through the solicitation, promotion, recruitment, valuation and incorporation of different views and experiences. Our efforts center on recognizing and reducing implicit biases, being intentional in our learning design and including diverse sources of scholarship and authorship.

How is Cengage Higher Education working to be inclusive and diverse in our products?

The Higher Education Product teams follow four Quality Learning Principles that prioritize Intentional, Authentic, Personalized and Inclusive experiences when developing and updating products. Our product and content teams are trained in the Quality Learning Principles, as well as in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessible design. Additionally, the team has built a comprehensive Inclusivity & Diversity (I&D) program and framework for our division, collaborating with expert external consultants and our internal teams to establish a clear roadmap of actions we will take, how we will measure progress and more.

What key I&D actions has, and is, Cengage Higher Education undertaking?

• Engage Experts. We have consulted outside experts in I&D in the development of our product guidelines, rubrics and training. We are establishing discipline-specific I&D advisors—consisting of educators whose work embodies a deep understanding of, and commitment to, diverse and inclusive scholarship—to provide us with ongoing advice, direction and expectations.
• Institute I&D Guidelines. We have I&D content and authoring guidelines that our authors and content teams use as we develop new products, including print, digital, narrative, assessment and supplemental materials.
• Audit Our Products. Our current and upcoming copyright products are being assessed against our I&D rubric to ensure our products adhere to our robust Inclusivity Guidelines and reflect our commitment. We also retroactively update existing products wherever we can.
• Train Our Team. We have implemented I&D trainings for our Product team members, updated our internal online Inclusivity course and will continue to build out our training program to ingrain our I&D standards.