Following their pledge to stand against racism and social injustice, Stanford GSB leadership announced the Stanford GSB Action Plan for Racial Equity today. The plan’s initiatives include the goals of increased representation, building a culture of inclusion and belonging, making positive change beyond the school, and leadership accountability. Read on for how the school proposes to achieve these objectives.
Increased Representation
Representation matters, and Stanford GSB aims to improve the diversity of their faculty, students and staff. Faculty recruitment strategies will be bolstered, drawing on alumni’s input to identify talented lecturers who are Black, underrepresented minorities, or from other underrepresented backgrounds. The school has also launched new initiatives, including the Provostial IDEAL Fellows Program, Impacts of Race in America: Faculty Cluster Hire and more, to improve representation in their faculty.
Through more outreach to historically Black colleges and universities, as well as national groups, Stanford GSB intends to improve their recruitment of Black MBA students. For potential MBA students who may face financial hardship, Stanford GSB also announced plans to launch the Stanford BOLD Fellowship (Building Opportunities for Leadership Diversity) to augment need-based financial aid. Black staff representation should benefit from active outreach, removal of biases in the school’s hiring processes, and a staff internship program.
Culture of Inclusion and Belonging
Another hallmark of the Stanford GSB Action Plan for Racial Equity is creating a welcoming, supportive community. MBA students can look forward to a new course, called Leadership for Society: Race and Power. The course will cover racial injustice and inequality, which leadership hopes will help inspire future leaders to make positive change. New guest speakers and cases about Black and underrepresented minority leaders will also be integrated into the curriculum.
Beyond Stanford GSB
The Stanford leadership also intends to eliminate bias and anti-Black racism outside of the Palo Alto campus. Calls to action for this mission include creating the Stanford GSB Racial Equity Initiative. The school will put together a task force and partner with alumni to increase representation, strengthen leadership, and foster economic inclusion. Additionally, over the next five years, the Stanford GSB Alumni Consulting Team will undertake 50 projects that are committed to inclusion and racial equity. Executive education will also receive resources, as Stanford aims to create a Supporting Black Business Leadership program.
Leadership Accountability
At the conclusion of the Stanford GSB Action Plan for Racial Equity, Stanford leadership identified two means of measuring their effectiveness. First, they will bring together faculty, staff and students to comprise a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council, which will ensure continued progress towards Black representation and inclusion. They also plan to bolster the Stanford GSB Annual DEI Report with the addition of metrics regarding representation and inclusion. The school will also continue to support the IDEAL dashboard, which shows the composition of the Stanford community.
For the full announcement from Stanford GSB, see here.
