Diversity is not a goal unto itself. Increasing the count of people from different genders, races, and geographies is important, but the real goal is to create communities that are substantially better because their diverse members share benefits and opportunities equally. To achieve real inclusion requires sharing responsibility, prestige, recognition, and power. We have learned from natural ecosystems that diversity is critical for sustainability and health, and that different populations need to contribute to the collective gene pool [171]. A healthy academic ecosystem depends on the introduction of new ideas and connections, and on the diverse voices that carry them.

Many factors contribute to the diversity of an academic ecosystem, such as the diversity of topics and disciplines, the gender, racial, and geographic make-up of its membership, and the dynamics of international research funding. There are many ways to measure individual empowerment, such as authorship, leadership, and recognition. In this chapter, we examine a range of diversity vectors through the lens of the IEEE VIS family of conferences, and explore how these interact with measures of recognition. To do so, we have analyzed data on many facets of our organization and its participants. We explore how the evolution of topics has created opportunities for the inclusion of new academic disciplines, and how topic diversity can promote gender diversity. We analyze how our members become empowered through their participation as authors and program committee members, and through awards for technical achievement. We examine patterns of international research and development spending as a backdrop for understanding the factors that contribute to geographical diversity, in general, and in our ecosystem, specifically. Our goal is to provide insight into the diversity of our ecosystem and how it has evolved, and to increase awareness of the sociological factors that underpin our future success.