In a world filled with movements seeking equality within the workplace for people of all genders and ethnicities, conferences and summits are held to encourage people of all backgrounds to come together to work toward a common purpose. On Thursday, the inaugural Women in Leadership Summit was held at the Darla Moore School of Business. The summit was a five-hour event with eight panelists and guest speakers whose goal was to encourage women to aim for leadership positions.
Gail Morales, the U.S. Project Management Efficiency Executive at TD Bank, pointed to a study that claims gender, ethnicity and cultural diversity correlate with higher profitability for companies.
Morales is referring to a study by McKinsey & Company which studied more than 1,000 companies in the United States, United Kingdom and Latin America. McKinsey & Company claims that companies with more gender and racial diversity returned more revenue than companies without similar diversity.
“I would like for the United States of America to leverage the strengths of all Americans, male and female, every ethnic group, every cultural group,” Morales said.
Grace Williams, an International MBA graduate student who helped organized the event, was impressed by the study and viewed the Women Leadership Summit as a “conversation starter.”
“Having the facts and saying ... ‘companies that have diversity in their leadership teams really have better ideas, better bottom-lines’ ... it just goes to show that different ideas help us move forward,” Williams said.
The other panelists echoed the same idea of diversity, but not only diversity of gender.
“It’s diversity of thought, it’s diversity of backgrounds, it’s diversity of ethnicity and gender,” said Heidi Solomon, Corporate Strategy Director for Kimberly-Clark. “That’s where teamwork gets its magic.”
Panelist Solomon stressed the idea that not only do women need to participate in these discussions, but everyone else as well.
Solomon also discussed three things she believes are vital for women in the workplace: authenticity, credibility and hard work.
Beth Renninger, the Director of the Center for Sales Success at the Darla Moore School of Business and the moderator for the event, agreed with the panelist’s views on diversity.
“The end goal is just when business leadership, corporate leadership, looks like the general population. So that includes lots of different kinds of people,” said Renninger.
Renninger also had some advice for young women entering the workforce.
“Be as good a listener as you are, be less worried about talking early in your career and more of a listener and a learner,” said Renninger. Renninger began her professional career in male-dominated fields like information technology and operations, which she said helped her realize how to deal with all different types of people.
Kate Schaufelberger, an International MBA graduate student who helped organize the event, was enthusiastic about organizing the summit, marveling at the fact that the event was able to take place at the Darla Moore School of Business, a business school named after a woman.
“An event like this is a breath of fresh air of having a support system with women and that we are just as capable to do anything we put our mind to,” said Schaufelberger.
Kayla Murray, fourth-year marketing and management student, was inspired by the event. She believes open dialogue will expand into the future and reach goals that previous generations were not able to accomplish.
“Women are having a really pivotal moment where we’re getting a lot of opportunities that we didn’t used to and really taking advantage of it,” said Murray.