Teaching equity, diversity, and inclusion in business schools
No Thumbnail Available
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Author
Date
2023
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
73
Series
Abstract
Previous research has touched upon the integration of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) on campus and into the course in higher education settings. There have also been many studies on EDI course instruction and outcomes, but few studies covered EDI courses in business schools. On the other hand, previous research emphasizes the importance of EDI management competency, while no research has tapped into business students’ EDI-related competency development. The present thesis explores how EDI courses could better equip business students as future leaders with relevant competencies. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study on business schools of the Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS), based on an analysis of 19 course syllabi and 3 interviews with course instructors. The findings of this study suggest that the EDI course organization in business schools is very flexible, with course instructors having the most influence over the courses. Most of the course content and learning objectives are related to organizational and societal development, with few focusing on individual development. While they are aligned with future leadership competencies, none of the courses cover all of the competencies. Moreover, the findings show that EDI course instruction and assessment in business schools are rather traditional, which mainly include lectures, class activities, individual and group assignments, case studies, and exams. In addition, the study also found that most course instructors have relevant academic backgrounds, such as business studies, cultural studies, and labor economics, and they are mainly female and White. As for the course participants, they are mainly local students, with more female students than male students enrolling. Several challenges for course instructors such as participants’ gender imbalance, balancing between practices and theories, students’ different levels of understanding, and teaching without making students defensive, were also identified in the study. This thesis provides both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the thesis highlighted that the context of business schools changed how EDI courses are taught, regarding the course content and learning objectives. The thesis also contributes to the theoretical understanding of critical pedagogy, by providing empirical evidence on how critical pedagogical approaches could be used in teaching EDI topics. It also confirmed some best practices on EDI training identified in previous research, including the length of training, using multiple pedagogical techniques, having participants reflect on their own thoughts and the attendance of training. The thesis links the learning objectives from EDI courses in business schools with EDI-related future leadership competencies and suggests that the current EDI courses could not fully prepare business students with the relevant competencies needed in their future leadership roles. As for practical implications, this study mainly provides best practices for EDI course instruction.Description
Thesis advisor
Piekkari, RebeccaKeywords
diversity, course organization, course instruction, leadership competency
