The underrepresentation of Black people and other minorities in the pinnacles of leadership is a disgrace. At Yale SOM, we are not exempt from this failing, and we must make greater efforts to welcome people from diverse backgrounds to our campus.
Actions
Increase Black representation in our student body to a nationally representative share
Announced Fall 2020
Efforts to increase diversity among our students will have to be broad based and unstinting.
- Update: New training specific to anti-bias/bias mitigation was customized and delivered to admissions interviewers in partnership with The Broad Center. Additional recent efforts have included securing funding for a diversity-focused position in the admissions group, which will help with outreach to underrepresented groups across SOM’s programs, and collaboration with QuestBridge and Admit Me Access, organizations striving to reduce barriers to business education and to increase the presence of underrepresented populations in business.
Increase the number of Black ladder faculty
Announced Fall 2020
This is a standing SOM and Yale University objective. All groups at the school are redoubling their efforts in this area and leveraging resources provided by the university.
- Update: Increasing the diversity of our faculty continues to be an important criteria in our recruiting efforts and has been emphasized in all open searches.
Increase the diversity of Yale SOM staff, across all groups and levels
Announced Fall 2020
Our staff are indispensable to creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We will redouble efforts to ensure we are hiring diverse staff across functions and levels of responsibility.
- Update: The school’s human resources group has worked with central Yale HR to implement an additional diversity screening in the hiring process. In addition, the school is investigating additional places to recruit diverse staff talent.
Foster diversity in research assistants and PhD programs at Yale SOM
Announced Fall 2020
The school aims to maximize the diversity and quality of research assistants who will work for our faculty and, eventually, apply to PhD programs and become faculty in economics departments and business schools around the country and the world.
- Update: Yale SOM has joined a consortium of universities committed to working together on this issue, called PREDOC. The school also increased its engagement with the PhD Project, an organization focused on increasing diversity in the PhD pipeline, by organizing a school information session with four faculty and a current student.