Dr. Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti first realized the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in an unlikely place: Kansas.
“It sounds strange to say that I moved from California to Kansas and got interested in DEI,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “But that’s sort of what happened.”
Teramoto Pedrotti was born into a biracial family, hailing from Japanese-American and white descendants. She grew up in the Bay Area around other children who looked like her from families that were similar to hers.
Teramoto Pedrotti’s story shifted as she pursued education beyond her bachelor’s degrees. After studying psychology and English at UC Davis, she went to graduate school at the University of Kansas. There, she got master’s and doctoral degrees in counseling psychology.
“I thought I had been pretty settled on my identity as a biracial person,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “Going there had folks asking me what country I was from, or commenting on my good English or things like that, which had never happened to me before.”
Through her new experiences that caused reflection on her racial identity, Teramoto Pedrotti discovered a new passion and urgency to integrate diversity issues into her career and research.
“They say in Ph.D. programs, especially in psychology, that you often study yourself,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “So, I started thinking, ‘How am I going to work this into what I’m doing?’ I couldn’t be the only person who’s experiencing this.”
After her time at the University of Kansas, Teramoto Pedrotti and her husband knew they wanted to return to California. She applied to six universities and Cal Poly was the first to give her an offer.
“We put all our eggs in one basket and gave it a shot,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “Cal Poly was the first one that responded. It was beautiful here and I got the offer, so I turned down the other interviews and accepted this position.”
Starting on Feb. 1, she officially began as Cal Poly’s Associate Vice President for DEI Academic Initiatives – a position she has held interim for the past three years.
Beginning as a psychology and child development professor, Teramoto Pedrotti has been at Cal Poly for 20 years. Since 2017, she has worked as the College of Liberal Arts’s associate dean for diversity and curriculum.
Throughout her career, Teramoto Pedrotti has published works on studying the effects of embedding diversity into psychology. Recently, she co-wrote “Multicultural Psychology: Self, Society, and Social Change” with Interim Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Denise A. Isom.
“Working with Dr. Teramoto Pedrotti on the textbook was a rich learning and truly collaborative experience,” Isom said. “Through that process, I learned more about a colleague who is incredibly thoughtful, hardworking, research focused. [She is] driven by a passion for social justice/equity and education as a transformational enterprise.”
Since starting as CLA Dean five years ago, Phillip Williams also witnessed Teramoto Pedrotti’s impact first-hand.
“[Teramoto Pedrotti] has been a pioneer in the [DEI] efforts in this college,” Dean Williams said. “It’s a big loss for the college, but we obviously are happy that she’s being elevated to this new role. We see it as also benefiting us in this college.”
Within CLA, Teramoto Pedrotti has worked to increase DEI prominence by introducing cluster hiring rounds aimed at hiring professors with experience in DEI research and instruction, which has since been adopted by nearly every college, according to Dean Williams.
The retention rate for professors hired in this type of cluster hire process is on par with the retention rate of professors traditionally hired, according to Teramoto Pedrotti. She says one reason for this is the community that is built between the new faculty members.
“The cluster hires overall are heavily folks who are underrepresented [people] either in terms of race or in terms of other kinds of identities,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “Folks that are focused on DEI scholarship also will be a diverse group of folks in terms of diversity of race and diversity of other identities. In addition to research collaborations, friendships will be built.”
But Dean Williams says there is more to it: he thinks the process of cluster hiring is successful because of Teramoto Pedrotti’s guidance and mentorship.
“[Teramoto Pedrotti] focused on mentoring those faculty,” Dean Williams said. “Supporting their success and sense of belonging but also connecting them creating activities that would support their progress towards tenure and promotion.”
Teramoto Pedrotti also worked on creating programs that specifically encourage DEI initiatives and expansion, including BEACoN Research Scholars, which she developed with Professor Emeritus Dr. Robert Flores and Associate Dean for Student Success Dr. Camille O’Bryant.
BEACoN, which stands for “Believe, Educate & Empower, Advocate, Collaborate and Nurture, Research Scholars,” offers students from underrepresented backgrounds the opportunity to receive mentorships.
“When we first met, the slate was clean,” Flores said. “There was nothing in terms of a BEACoN program. Our job was to come up with a vision, come up with a mission and try to figure out, ‘How is this going to work?’”
At the time, Teramoto Pedrotti, Flores and O’Bryant were professors from different colleges. Although he never had an experience with her prior, Flores said Teramoto Pedrotti was delightful to work with and is glad she was selected for Associate VP for DEI Academic Initiatives.
“[Teramoto Pedrotti] cares about people,” Flores said. “I think that’s number one: You have to care about people, so, she’s going to do whatever it takes to bring people together and to help to work towards a common goal.”
While the BEACoN program started as a simple mentoring opportunity, BEACoN Research Scholars has evolved into a research-focused program with stipends offered for faculty and students since the Office of University Diversity and Inclusion began operating the program.
“I’m so proud of where it’s gone, and [the Office of University Diversity and Inclusion has] turned it into this phenomenal program that helps so many students every year,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “We’ve had students who have had two or three jobs at a pizza place or something, but then they get a BEACoN mentor position instead. These are things that could lead them on for graduate school or for a career.”
The growth of programs like BEACoN and seeing Cal Poly’s diversity measures evolve first-hand fuel her motivation to continue her work, Teramoto Pedrotti said.
“I’m a very optimistic person,” Teramoto Pedrotti said. “I think you have to be an optimistic and hopeful person to do this work. I believe change can happen, and that’s something that motivates me.”