Pillar 4

Rice Business faculty are advancing academic knowledge and managerial practice related to diversity, equity and inclusion.*

Accounting

K. Ramesh

(left)

Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Accounting

Karthik Balakrishnan

(right)

Professor of Accounting
Faculty Lead of Undergraduate Business Programs

• “Racial Diversity Exposure and Firm Responses Following the Murder of George Floyd”

Finance

Alex Butler

(left)

Jesse H. Jones Professor of Finance

James Weston

(right)

Harmon Whittington Professor of Finance

• “Racial Disparities in the Auto Loan Market"

David Zhang

Assistant Professor of Finance

• “Mortgage prepayment, race, and monetary policy”

Marketing

Ajay Kalra

Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Marketing

• “It's Good to be Different: How Diversity Impacts Judgments of Moral Behavior"

Vikas Mittal

J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Management – Marketing

• “Reaching for rigor and relevance: better marketing research for a better world”
• “Investigating the academic performance and disciplinary consequences of school district internet access spending”

Organizational Behavior

Daan van Knippenberg

Houston Endowment Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior

• “Agree to disagree if you want to create synergy from diversity” 
• “You may need to change how you manage diversity, equity, and inclusion”  
• "Interacting Elements of Leadership: Key to Integration But Looking for Integrative Theory"
• "Keeping Employees Safe During Health Crises: The Effects of Media Exposure, HR Practices, and Age"
• “A diversity mindset perspective on inclusive leadership”  
• “Team members' reactions to a gender-dissimilar leader: Competence monitoring and influence”  
• “Team leadership and team cultural diversity: The moderating effects of leader cultural background and leader team tenure”  
• “Minority status, access to distributed information, and individual performance”  
• “How diversity promotes team creativity: Two bumpy roads to collective inspiration.”  
• “Racial biases in the publication process: Exploring expressions and solutions”  

Jing Zhou

Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management and Psychology
Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs

• Hoever, I., Betancourt, N., Chen, G., & Zhou, J. How others light the creative spark: When and why diverse environments trigger creativity through inspiration. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Accepted for publication.

Sora Jun

Assistant Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior

• “The Missing Middle: Asian Employees’ Experience of Workplace Discrimination and Pro-Black Allyship”
• “Chronic frames of social inequality: How mainstream media frame race, gender, and wealth inequality”
• “Barriers and boosts: Expanding the lens on mechanisms of demographic inequity in organizations”
• “The equal opportunity jerk defense: Rudeness can obfuscate gender bias”
• “Why benefitting from discrimination is less recognized as discrimination”
• “Words that hurt: Leaders’ use of anti-Asian communication and employee outcomes”

Siyu Yu

Assistant Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior

• “The role of resources in the success or failure of diverse teams: Resource scarcity activates negative performance-detracting resource dynamics in social category diverse teams"

Michelle “Mikki” Hebl

Professor of Psychology and Management – Organizational Behavior

• “Facing an Unexpected Negotiation Partner: the Impact of Hiring Manager Gender Role Violation on Job Candidates”
• “Post-traumatic stress disorder and hiring: The role of social media disclosures on stigma and hiring assessments of veterans”
• “The Influence of Social Norms on the Expression of Anti-Black Bias”
• "The impact of organizational statements of support for the Black community in the wake of a racial mega-threat on organizational attraction and revenue”
• “A call to action: The imperative of supporting women scholars in academia through pregnancy, postpartum, and caregiving demands” (in press)
• “Social inequalities in leadership: shifting the focus from deficient followers to destructive leaders"
• “Do employees’ tattoos leave a mark on customers’ reactions to products and organizations?"
• “Now protected or still stigmatized? A 25 year outlook on the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act”
• “Subtle discrimination overtakes cognitive resources and undermines performance”
• “Experimental sleep loss, racial bias, and the decision criterion to shoot in the police officer’s dilemma task”
• “How behavior science can inform policies to prevent discrimination against the Asian community in the era of COVID-19.”
• “Anti-racist actions and accountability: Not more empty promises”

Strategy and Environment

Douglas Schuler

Professor of Business and Public Policy

• “Addressing the Interlinkages of Social Problems: Food For Change as Social Entrepreneurship”

Laszlo Tihanyi

William Alexander Kirkland Professor of Strategic Management

• “Publishing practical and responsible research in AMJ."

Duane Windsor

Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Management – Strategic Management
Ph.D. Area Advisor

• “The Ethics of Employee Diversity in Different Kinds of Businesses"

Alessandro Piazza

Jones School Distinguished Assistant Professor of Strategic Management

• “Gender Inequity in Entrepreneurship: Understanding Barriers, Boundary Conditions, and Opportunities” 

^{*Note: Rice Business faculty are highlighted in this section but many publications are co-authored with non-Rice Business faculty. Click the links below each listing to see a full list of authors and other publication details.}

Communication

Ginger Koto Vaughn

Lecturer in Communication

• Greentown Houston’s Accelerating Clean Energy Transition in the Energy Capital of World
  Ginger Vaughn moderated a dialogue on increasing participation from underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship and elections (June 2023).

Entrepreneurship

Robert Franklin

Lecturer in Management – Entrepreneurship

• Co-Creating the Future:  An African Startup Symposium
  Robert Franklin was a featured panelist (June 20 2023).

Marketing

Constance Elise Porter

Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Associate Clinical Professor of Marketing

• Women in leadership: A Conversation on Equity
  A moderated a panel discussion sponsored by Marathon Women's Network, KPMG Network of Women, and Women at Microsoft (Spring 2023).
• Campus diversity after affirmative action, Houston Public Media
• Texas lawmaker files bill to ban affirmative action after SCOTUS ruling, KXAN NBC Austin

Organizational Behavior

Minjae Kim

Assistant Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior

• The Economics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workshop
  Minjae Kim facilitated a DEI focused workshop with the Oliver Wyman management consulting firm. Over a hundred consultants from the firm’s North American offices participated in the workshop (April 28, 2023).

Strategy and Environment

Laszlo Tihanyi

William Alexander Kirkland Professor of Strategic Management
Ph.D. Area Advisor

• Fostering Inclusion: A Workshop to Advance Research on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  Laszlo Tihanyi presented to nearly ninety workshop attendees at the conference. The conference goals are to mentor doctoral students and assistant professors from underrepresented minority groups and to bring journal editors and academics together on DEI scholarship at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business. Learn More
  
  As a former Editor-in-Chief of the Academy of Management Journal, Laszlo Tihanyi continues his work of making scientific management journals more inclusive. In addition to the conference presentation, he and other journal editors discussed journal policy improvements. The editors continue involvement on several DEI initiatives.

Career Development Office Staff

Jennifer Applebee

Associate Director, Recruiting and Employer Relations, Career Development Office

• MBA Careers Services and Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) Virtual DEI Summit
  Jennifer Applebee served as the DE&I Resource Group Co-chair/lead (2022-present) and as a DE&I Summit Committee member to develop a four-hour virtual summit for school and employer MBA CSEA members and non-members. She hosted a networking virtual session prior to the summit to promote participant engagement and highlight efforts within the DE&I Resource Group (February 2022).
  
  Jennifer has been a member of the MBA CSEA DE&I Committee since 2021.

Director of Coaching

Ruth Reitmeier

Director of Coaching

• Fireside Chat with CohnResnick
  Ruth joined a leadership panel from Cohn Resnick LLP to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Roslyn Ro and Gena Ora interviewed Ruth about her work as a leadership coach and the three common myths that can create a “bamboo ceiling” for AAPI leaders (Spring 2023).
• Interview with Nancy Choi from Nike
  Ruth Reitmeier was interviewed by Nancy Choi, general manager at Nike and founder of Millennial Executive to discuss leader development, early career burnout and how DEI efforts in organizations are helping and hurting Asian and Asian-American employees (Summer 2022).
• Presentation to Asian Pacific American Forum at Baker Hughes
  Ruth was invited by Prasad Natarajan and Sujeev Chittipolu from Baker Hughes to talk about mentoring and managing Zillennial talent in organizations. The conversation explored how generational diversity in the workplace is bringing new challenges for managers and requiring new approaches for developing and retaining talent (Summer 2022).

Office for Diversity Equity and Inclusion Staff

Regina Edwards

DEI Specialist

• Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) Pride Panel
  Regina Edwards was a featured panelist at TDECU’s 2023 LGBTQ+ Pride Panel. This virtual panel centered around the importance of workplace inclusion for the LGBTQ+ Community and things to consider as businesses navigate to a more inclusive environment. The panelists included community advocates, championing efforts of inclusion in both corporate and educational circles (June 2023).

Sparking Success, our diversity, equity and inclusion conference, is designed to provide a forum for awareness, dialogue and skill-building around issues of diversity and inclusion as it relates to the business world.

At Rice Business, we endeavor to create a rich learning environment that considers and appreciates a multitude of perspectives that lead to enhanced decision-making. We consider this mindset a critical leadership skill in today’s increasingly global and inclusive workplace.

Rice Business Partners

Rice Business Partners (RBP) is a committed, partnership-based group of business professionals working to open doors, increase collaboration and build ties between Rice Business and the Houston business community.

RBP hosted two Thought Leadership Series events and one Faculty Roundtable for the 2022-23 academic year that highlighted our diverse Rice Business community.

• Thought Leadership Series - Savoring the Journey: Stories from Houston's Top Restaurateurs
  The first Thought Leadership panel was hosted at POST Houston and spotlighted restaurant entrepreneurs in the foodservice industry, including two diverse speakers: Ope Amosu, a Rice Business alumnus of West African descent who is the owner of ChòpnBlọk Houston, and Kiran Verma, chef and restaurateur of Kiran’s, whose daughter Puja graduated from the MBA program. The panel was moderated by Donald Anderson, an African American Rice Business alumnus, who is a partner at TD International and sits on the RBP board.
  

  
• Thought Leadership Series - Adapting to Globalization
  The second Thought Leadership Series speaker spotlighted Mexican native, Jaime Muguiro, president of CEMEX USA, who spoke about CEMEX’s strategy navigating geopolitical conflict, technological changes and climate change in a new era of globalization. This event was co-hosted with the Rice Business Strategy Symposium on Emerging Markets and was moderated by Anthea Zhang, the Fayez Sarofim Vanguard Chair Professor of Strategy at Rice Business. 
   
• Roundtable Series - How We Describe Social Inequality and Why It Matters
  RBP Faculty Roundtable featured Sora Jun, Assistant Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior at Rice Business. Professor Jun’s presentation focused on her research examining inequality frames and why they matter. She shared her research from two papers that investigated how popular media, scholars and lay people describe social inequality, and explained the practical implications for leaders and policy makers.
   

Alumni Relations

• Alumni Relations hosted two regional student/alumni events in conjunction with DEI conferences: an event in DC coinciding with Reaching Out MBA, for LGBTQ+, and an event in Atlanta coinciding with MBA Veterans (both in October).  
  

  
• Approved $830 in event sponsorship dollars for events run by DEI-focused student clubs: Out & Allied, Women in Energy and Black Business Student Association.
• Provided swag and invited alumni to Women’s History Month partio and Pride partio, as well as giving out swag and parking validations for panelists for Out & Allied and Rice Business Women’s Organization events.
  

  
• Provided alumni speakers for a Rice Women in Business event (undergraduate student club).
• Sponsored an event in Denver featuring Prof. Alex Butler who presented his research on racial disparities in the auto loan market on October 3, 2022.
• Collaborated with Career Development Office on identity and affinity focused events including: International Student Welcome Happy Hour (Fall 2022) and International MBA Networking Breakfast (Spring 2023).

The Rice Business Black alumni network is abound with talented and accomplished professionals across industries and sectors. As the network grows each year, there is an increased desire to intentionally connect students with the black alumni network. To address this need, Black Business Student Association (BBSA) and Black alumni leadership worked together to launch the Rice Business Black Alumni Gateway, a website featuring an easy-to-search directory of Black alumni profiles by industry and career, along with highlights of Black excellence, leadership and accomplishment.

“The Rice Business black alumni network's achievements are extraordinary, and our expanding network is a powerful asset to alumni, as well as current and prospective students. The Black Alumni Gateway, launched in 2021, is a great way to make our network more visible for ongoing inspiration, collaboration and engagement. Working on this project was a labor of love. I remember how important it was for me to see others who looked like me during the MBA application process. I appreciate Dean Peter Rodriguez, Senior Associate Dean Constance Porter, and the Rice Business staff for their support in bringing this vision to fruition, and I look forward to seeing its utility grow.”
Patra Brannon-Isaac ’11

2023 John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition

Rice Business MBA students advanced to the semi-finals of the John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition (JLCC). Semi-finalist team Equaliberty was charged with solving a problem related to racial justice and equality for a large corporation. The teammates are also first-year Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (CGSM) members.

Equaliberty: Ashley Ward, Dana Vazquez, Karen Verboski, Xavaier Oliphant, and Ashleigh Rogers (left to right)

JP Morgan Chase Houston College Diversity Day – Spring 2023

Hosted by JP Morgan Chase, Houston College Diversity Day offered twelve Rice University undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about working in a corporate environment and earning an internship at JP Morgan Chase.

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The marketing and communication team partners with students, staff, faculty and alumni to highlight the diversity in our community. Through digital advertising, videos, podcasts, blogs, articles in the Rice Business magazine and other print pieces we share the story of Rice Business: that you belong here and that diverse groups make the best decisions. We also know that representation matters. We are intentional on featuring our diversity within all our communications.  

In fiscal year '23, 28% of top performing posts across our social media channels — determined by highest engagement — mentioned diversity. In addition, 34% of our top social posts featured an underrepresented minority and 41% featured a woman.  

Examples of these posts look like: 

• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7039629433825071105
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7036457530776051712 
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7060724170405400576

In addition, an average of 62% of all our paid social ads featured underrepresented minorities and an average of 55% featured women. 

Our authentic approach to storytelling in the Owl Have You Know podcast generates awareness of the diverse experiences and perspectives of members of our community. In FY23, approximately 60% of our podcast episodes featured women, and approximately 30% featured underrepresented minorities. We produced six podcast episodes in FY23 that touched on topics of diversity, like how Amanda Stewart's Japanese-American background and the internment camps of WWII are central to her commitment to DEI work, Takeya Green's reflection on being a Black woman in STEM and overcoming the challenges she faced, and Raisha Smith's passion for helping women of color reach their full potential professionally. 

The team also produced seven admissions blog posts touching on diversity in programs, careers, ethnicity and sexuality: 

• My Journey Organizing the Women in Leadership Conference
  Empowering women in leadership: A journey from attendee to organizer. Discover how one MBA student's passion for gender equality led her from attending the Women in Leadership Conference (WILC) to helping organize it.
• Introducing Our Hybrid MBA
  In July, Rice Business will welcome its first cohort of students to the newly launched Hybrid MBA program. Dean Peter Rodriguez discusses the decision to build the program — and why the market was ripe for it at Rice.
• Managing Your Time as an MBA Student
  As an MBA student at Rice Business, you’re going to have lots of demands on your time: schoolwork, applying for internships and jobs, and extracurricular activities. Here, three full-time MBA students and our director of coaching share their top tips for success at Rice Business.
• Five Tips for Moving to the United States as an International MBA Student
  Rice Business attracts a lot of top talent from across the globe. While the process of starting a new adventure in the U.S. can be exciting, it can also be daunting. Hear from five Full-Time International MBA students on their advice for navigating the process.
• You Can Do The Hard Things
  Professional MBA '24 Emma Konet shares the reasons behind choosing to get a Rice MBA and reminds readers that, yes, you can do hard things.
• Empowering Others by Empowering Yourself
  During the last semester of business school, Megan Smith ‘22 added they/them pronouns to their email signature. It was part of a long journey from coming out as queer in college to finding their true identity as non-binary. Each leg of that journey shaped the person — and the leader — they would become.
• Finding a Sense of Belonging
  At Rice Business, our tagline is “You Belong Here.” This may mean different things to different people, but when Rachael Sweetman was looking for MBA programs, she chose a place where she could be herself. A place where she felt encouraged to speak up and could advocate for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

We are committed to highlighting the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives of the Rice Business community and living our motto — You Belong Here.