Cornell Johnson LGBT Community Helping Students Succeed
Cornell’s Johnson School of Management recently highlighted several of its LGBT student organizations and fellowships that actively challenge attitudes in the workplace and help LGBT MBAs feel more supported.
The article cites a 2013 Deloitte and Kenji Yoshino study entitled Uncovering Talent, which finds that 83 percent of LGBT employees covered their identities at work, a practice that “decreases employees’ loyalty and commitment to their organization.” Compare this figure to “79 percent of blacks, 66 percent of women, 63 percent of Hispanics, and 45 percent of white heterosexual men.”
“LGBT employees may feel conflicted if they have to lead double lives in fear of being passed over for a job promotion or fired for being who they are. Today, employers in 28 states can terminate workers for self-identifying as LGBT,” explained Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) Fellow Brian Tsui, MBA ’18.
“People on the outside wonder about your status, and the LGBT person, whether out or not, can be constantly managing their image and behaviors,” adds Ryan Armstrong, MBA ’17.
Photo via Cornell Johnson
In addition to the Out for Business student group, Johnson offers two fellowships in conjunction with ROMBA, a 20-year-old organization that helps students “find sincerely welcoming communities.”
“ROMBA was originally meant to build a stronger network of LGBT peers who would go into well-paid, high-powered jobs, and be able to look after each other as a network,” says ROMBA executive director Matt Kidd.
ROMBA promotes LGBT business school leadership and “provides information about the LGBT status of business schools worldwide, application and job prep and guidance, and conferences and treks to help students find environments that are right for them.”
”I’ve had many doors open because I had an introduction from someone within the LGBT community,” said ROMBA Fellow Sara Johnson, MBA ’18.
Tsui adds, “I found the courage to be proud and vocal after finding support at the annual ROMBA conference. LGBT alumni from MBA programs proved to me that I could be successful in my career and authentic at the same time.”
You can read more about the student organizations at Cornell’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management here.
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LBS MBA Student Named Future LGBT Leader By Financial Times
London Business School student Dr. Nicholas Deakin, ‘17 MBA, was among the honorees named to this year’s Financial Times “2016 OUTstanding LGBT + Future Leaders” list, coming in at an impressive fifth overall.
Dr. Deakin has already made a long-standing positive impact in the LGBT community as an acting co-president of the LBS Out In Business Club and volunteer member of the school’s Diversity Role Models program. He was one of three LBS alumni named to the “Future Leaders” list, alongside Samuel Rensing, ‘16 MBA, and Emmeline Tang ‘15 MBA. Elliot Vaughn, a ‘05 LBS graduate and current partner and managing director at the Boston Consulting Group, was named to the “Top 100 LGBT Executives” list as well.
“Diversity is part and parcel of life at London Business School, whether you look at the professional backgrounds, nationalities, genders or the sexuality of LBS students,” Deakin told LBS after earning the honor. “We are united by difference and represent the truly cosmopolitan nature of London.”
Co-leading the school’s Out In Business Club, Dr. Deakin helped land the school’s largest ever LGBT student intake in 2015.
“The Out in Business Club has developed into one of the most active clubs on campus, driven by corporate support from the school’s biggest recruiters and buy in from the very highest levels of the School including faculty,” he noted.
“We are tremendously grateful to LBS for providing the funding for our first ever LGBT+ scholarship candidate. Sitting between the school and the professional community, we connect our students with the most forward-thinking recruiters, current LGBT+ leaders and professional organisations who are demonstrating the return on diversity in business.”
The Financial Times’ methodology behind this year’s “Future Leaders” ranking weighed performance and potential, with a strong focus on LGBT inclusion. Those honored on both the “Future Leaders” and “Top 100 LGBT Executives” list were nominated by their peers explicitly with permission that they be published, hence why Apple CEO Tim Cook is curiously missing from the latter. Gigi Chao, executive vice-chairman, Cheuk Nang Holdings Ltd. led the “Top 100 LGBT Executives” ranking—the first time an Asian executive has earned the top honor.
This year’s “2016 OUTstanding LGBT + Future Leaders” list can be read here.
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