Business School Eyes New Ways to Boost Diversity

Stripped of a major recruitment channel for underrepresented minorities, the Haas School of Business is looking at new ways to tackle one of its long-held problems: diversity.

Until last spring, the school relied on a nonprofit called the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management to bring in minority applicants. But UC legal counsel barred the school from the affiliation, saying it broke the statewide affirmative action ban.

But while private business schools can legally set minority recruitment goals, Haas is now limited to investigating ways to raise minority enrollment.

So Haas turned inward, forming two diversity committees-one on students and one on faculty-to work with state and federal legal framework on attracting a broader range of applicants.

Although boosting minority enrollment remains a top priority campuswide, at the school of business, underrepresentation is far more pronounced.

"It's no secret that in general that the number of minority students in the business has been lower in the business school in the last couple of years," said Richard Kurovsky, executive marketing director at Haas."Is there something that is making this harder for one set of people than another?"

Underrepresented students-African Americans, Latinos and American Indians-make up just under 5 percent of Haas' enrollment this semester.

"If America is pretty much diverse than corporate America should show that," said Luisa Carrasco, president of the Latino Business Student Association.

The disparities are not just apparent in the student body or in racial data alone. Men dominate the faculty, holding more than three-quarters of the positions.

But Haas professor Priya Raghubir, who chairs the faculty committee on diversity, says the numbers may come from more constraints in regards to raising children than an unwelcoming environment.

"I do not believe that the way in which UC Berkeley rewards its faculty may indirectly have biases against subcultures-such as women, Asians, Latinas-who are, on average less able and less culturally motivated to negotiate on salary and promotion issues," Raghubir said.

Raghubir teaches wearing saris daily, on the advice of male colleagues, who noticed that she wore saris on nonteaching days and business attire on teaching days.

"Even the men appear to be in touch with ‘their feminine side!'" joked Raghubir. "Maybe that is a Berkeley thing, and I would see it less at other business schools."

Another professor, Jennifer Chatman, said Haas had been flexible, allowing her to balance her family and professional life, but she said she was denied access to child-care facilities.

The committee has already released informal recommendations on child-care issues, but its confidential research remains in preliminary stages. Investigations are planned to run throughout the academic year.

Increasing child-care services and job sharing, and shifting hours to ease the burden on female faculty members will be examined, said Haas Dean Tom Campbell.

"It kind of really shows that they are really taking action to involve diverse students and to show that they really care about everyone, not just say that they are," Carrasco said.

Tags: