In celebration of Pride Month, we want to celebrate the students and schools who are demonstrating their commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ voices, rights, and representation in their communities.
LGBTQ+ rights have advanced dramatically over the past 20 years, and many workplaces have boosted LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion in the workplace – but there is still much more work that needs to be done.
According to McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace research, LGBTQ+ women, for example, are more underrepresented than women in America’s largest corporations. Only four openly LGBTQ+ CEOs lead these corporations, only one of whom is female and none of whom is trans. Forty percent of LGBTQ+ employees are also closeted at work.
To build more inclusive societies, it is crucial that higher education institutions embed inclusion into their own programs, as well as the culture they create for students in the classroom.
Whether it’s through events, student clubs, or programs, grad schools around the world are demonstrating their support and allyship to the LGBTQ+ communities within their schools. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
“EUROUT is Europe’s leading LGBTQ+ conference,” says Allie Fleder, Board Member of EUROUT and London Business School MBA graduate. “It’s entirely organized by students at London Business School and brings together almost 500 participants…It feels like a really professional event but the reality is it is completely student-run and it is a labor of love.” (0:16)
The three-day event aims to inspire diversity and inclusion in the business world and beyond, and serves as a valuable opportunity for LGBTQ+ professionals to network with thought leaders and top organizations from around the world.
Past speakers at EUROUT include Andrew Wilson (Chief Digital Officer at Microsoft), Gabrielle Novacek (Managing Director and Partner at BCG), Rodner Figueroa (television show host from Venezuela), and Anna Marsden (Co-Founder of Luminescence).
Representation matters: LGBTQ+ student clubs
As a historically underrepresented group, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to increase their presence in universities.
At leading schools across the globe, you’d be hard-pressed not to find an LGBTQ+ student club. Here are just a few:
These kinds of diversity and inclusion efforts from schools have a huge impact on students. “I feel like society is moving towards D&I being a fundamental part of the development of that institution,” Fordham University student Juan Villafrade tells us. “Of course, Fordham is not the exception. They’re pushing forward to continue creating equity and inclusion around the different groups that have been historically misrepresented.” (25:56)
