EDI in Action at Rady
The Rady School of Management values all voices within its community and respects the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. This means ensuring that clear and consistent ways of participating in all facets of the School are accessible to all members of its community.
At Rady, we prioritize inclusion and belonging. Together, we build an environment where we embrace diverse opinions, make room for everyone and honor the right to respectfully disagree. We acknowledge that equality and equity are not the same. We are committed to removing systemic barriers that impede equity, and providing opportunities for all to succeed and thrive.
We set out these tenets to guide us in creating the environment where we develop as conscientious leaders. Our current Strategic Plan - Ideas to Impact - has five strategic intents, one of which is “Ensuring Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” As a first order of business, we created a faculty and staff EDI Committee (2021) charged with strengthening the Rady community, ensuring it is grounded in diversity and striving to achieve equity and inclusion through proactive programming, policies, and diversity initiatives.
What steps have we taken to put this commitment into action?
Diversity
- In partnership with the other UC Business Schools, created the California Leadership Institute (CaLI) - an annual weekend program designed to engage California undergraduates historically underrepresented in business schools. (2023)
- Participating in a campus-wide Latinx Cluster Hire Initiative. (Expected 2024)
- Conducted an Inclusive Excellence search and hired six faculty members whose research is grounded in equity, diversity and inclusion. (2021-2023)
- Added a question to degree program applications asking students to discuss their demonstrable commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. (2022, ongoing)
- Hired a Rady EDI Program manager to promote programming and activities around pipeline development and other equity and inclusion initiatives. (2022, ongoing)
- Initiated summer internship opportunities for students from HBCUs. (2021, ongoing)
- Participate in development programs such as the Summer Institute for Emerging Managers and Leaders (SIEML, University of California) and the The PhD Project. (Ongoing)
Equity
- Offered ~20 MicroMBA fee waiver for students who contributed to equity, diversity and inclusion. (2022, 2023)
- Created a funded student fellowship to discover and advance EDI initiatives that would benefit the student body. (2021, ongoing)
- Instituted a Rady Staff Council to give staff a forum to learn about the School’s activities and raise concerns. (2020, ongoing)
- Offering three fellowships to students who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. (2022, ongoing)
- Created the Belonging Initiative to support students from underrepresented backgrounds in the business economics major with structured mentorship opportunities. (2022, ongoing)
- Increased Ph.D. stipend levels by nearly 25%. (2022)
- Provided UC San Diego staff scholarships for Rady Flex (MBA, MSBA) programs. (2021, ongoing)
Inclusion
- In partnership with the School of Global Policy and Strategy, created a 8-month experiential education workshop series centered on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion to help students gain greater cultural awareness and acquire a skill set for the global work environment. (Launch, Fall 2023)
- Facilitated student-lead inclusion activities, including a Lunar New Year Celebration. (2023)
- Provide information and skill-building workshops for students, faculty and staff, like Bye Bye, Binary; Allyship and Bystander training (2022)
- Created Voices of Rady blog featuring students, faculty and staff on the Rady website (2023, ongoing)
- Sponsor tables at UC San Diego Heritage Month Celebrations and invite students, staff and faculty to attend on behalf of the School (2022, ongoing)
- Instituted an EDI workshop for all degree program orientations (2022, ongoing)
- Launched a curriculum review tool to assist faculty members in annually reviewing their curriculum and course materials for inclusivity. (2021, ongoing)
- Instituted an Exemplary Staff Award to recognize excellence in service and collegiality. (2020, ongoing)
