DEI Insights in the Actuarial Profession

One of the aims of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) is to ensure that all members and candidates feel fully included and have equitable opportunities to enter, develop, grow and succeed in the profession. To advance the SOA’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) objectives, the SOA established the member-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC).

In June 2021, the SOA Board of Directors approved a comprehensive DEI strategy the DEIC developed. This refined strategic framework focuses on three priorities:

1. Fostering equitable and inclusive experiences for members and candidates
2. Expanding the actuarial pipeline with a focus on supporting underrepresented groups
3. Promoting DEI in service to the public interest through research

To recognize the DEIC’s progress over the past two years, I interviewed outgoing DEIC Chair Harrison Lin, FSA, MAAA. Lin shares insights into the DEIC’s initiatives and reflects on the current DEI landscape within the actuarial community.

Can you share some of the high-level projects that DEIC has worked on and the impact you hope they will have on the SOA?

The DEIC has worked on several projects these past few years that I hope will continue to make an impact in the future. We have developed a lot of these initiatives through the guidance of the SOA Board to make sure they support the long-term DEI targets we established for the SOA. Without these tactical initiatives, long-term goals and strategies may never be reached.

The DEI Champion Award is a new award established for 2024 as part of a group of volunteer awards. Different than other SOA awards, the DEI Champion Award seeks to recognize someone who advocates for DEI in either a volunteer or corporate space. We were excited to offer the award for the first time this past year. We hope that this award focuses attention on those who are promoting DEI in whatever volunteer opportunity they are participating in. Meet the 2024 Champions.

Another way we are spotlighting DEI is through the newly developed Employer Spotlight. DEI initiatives involve partnership, and we want to be able to spotlight companies that are using new ways to promote DEI in the workplace. We hope to continue to have more Employer Spotlights in the next year and have an opportunity to collaborate and share learnings because we are focused on one goal: making the actuarial profession a diverse, equitable and inclusive one.

To help organizations with their DEI efforts, the DEIC created the DEI Toolkit in the summer of 2023. Located on the SOA website, this toolkit aims to provide a one-stop shop for various DEI resources. Every year, the DEIC plans to refresh the toolkit to provide even more relevant and recent resources to help organizations bring DEI awareness and assistance. The resources are currently divided into five categories:

1. Inclusion
2. Recruiting
3. Career development
4. Biases
5. Additional resources

Having many of these resources in one location helps leaders in various organizations easily access them. The DEIC is also open to input on how we can continue to amend and add resources to the toolkit.

Within the actuarial profession, what do you see as continuing and emerging trends in diversity and inclusion?

Recently, there has been continued focus on increasing diversity in the hiring process—especially at the grassroots level. Many organizations are realizing the importance of making their pipeline more diverse and are reaching out to junior high and high school students to educate them about the opportunities in the actuarial profession. Many potential candidates in diverse populations don’t hear about the actuarial profession until much later in their educational or career journeys, so we are pursuing more ways to partner with tutoring programs or math-based education programs.

Also, partnerships with initiatives like STEM Stars Actuarial Scholars Program and Math Motivators (sponsored by The Actuarial Foundation) have increased, with many companies wanting to give back and help support the diversity of the profession while recognizing the potential of a centralized talent pool.

In addition, there has been a strong realization that diversity and inclusion are not only focused on a few key demographics (race, ethnicity, gender, etc.). Diversity has many facets, and it would be a mistake to focus only on major demographics. Aspects that have gotten more attention recently include:

• Introversion vs. extroversion
• Neurodiversity
• Ways of working

I continue to be impressed that organizational leaders are focused on trying to understand these nuances to make sure that everyone feels included in the organization where they work. Broadening the scope of personal traits that can be of value to an organization can also help mitigate “diversity fatigue” (emotional and mental exhaustion that individuals or organizations may experience when dealing with DEI initiatives over an extended period).

How have you seen a diverse environment enhance actuarial teams and professional environments?

I have seen many times where a diverse environment has enhanced actuarial teams and professional environments. I have been in rooms where we have tried to brainstorm a solution and where healthy conflict and diverse perspectives resulted in the best solution.

The SOA DEIC is one of the most prominent examples I can think of. We have a group of 10 motivated, engaged and diverse volunteers who want to come together to promote DEI in the actuarial profession. They are also involved in many different organizations, which helps them provide different perspectives as we discuss what initiatives are important. What impresses me the most about the DEIC is that even though we have a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, we all understand the importance of being unified in trying to accomplish our goals.

Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries or the respective authors’ employers.

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