Stanford Graduate School of Business Releases Action Plan for Racial Equity

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) recently implemented an action plan to address racial inequality and bias. Under this plan, the school aims to increase representation, build a culture of inclusion and belonging, make positive change beyond the GSB, and hold themselves accountable.

Increasing Representation

As an extension of its ongoing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, Stanford GSB will increase the representation of Black and other under-represented minority (URM) teaching faculty, staff, and students. The school plans to improve recruitment strategies and processes and work with alumni to identify talented Black and URM lecturers. The GSB plans to increase the number of Black students pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees by recruiting from historically Black colleges and universities and organizations such as the Ph.D. Project.

Building a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging

To ensure that all members of the GSB community and guests feel welcome, the school will introduce two new courses this coming year: Leadership for Society: Race and Power, to educate future leaders about racial injustice and inequality and to inspire them to make positive change, and Blocking Bias in Academe, to teach Ph.D. students to be more effective professors and leaders in diverse university environments. The school will host a Stanford GSB Rising Scholars Conference for diverse Ph.D. students and postdocs to present their work and interact with faculty members from the GSB and other institutions. They will also designate resources and encourage faculty to identify new guest speakers, and to write and teach new cases on Black and URM leaders.

Making Positive Change Beyond the GSB

In an effort to make lasting, positive change toward eliminating bias and anti-Black racism, the school will create the GSB Racial Equity Initiative, in partnership with its alumni, to increase representation, strengthen leadership, and foster economic inclusion. They will also establish a task force to scope and secure the necessary resources to advance this initiative. They will support the GSB Alumni Consulting Team to aid 50 organizations that are committed to inclusion and racial equality over the next five years. The school plans to create a Supporting Black Business Leadership executive education program to accelerate and advance the careers of exceptional business leaders and to shape inclusive environments in which diverse leaders can thrive.

Holding Themselves Accountable

Stanford GSB will create a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council comprised of faculty, staff, and students to sustain momentum of their DEI goals and ensure that they achieve goals around Black representation and inclusion. The school will continue to publish its Annual DEI Report, adding additional metrics, including those designed to measure representation and their culture of inclusion, and will partner with the University to improve upon the IDEAL Dashboard.

For more information on the Stanford GSB plan for racial equity, visit their Web site.

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