Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Commitment Statement from our Diversity Branch

Women in Business is committed to recruiting and supporting a diverse group of members made up of self-identifying women. We promise to identify, respect and honor the unique experiences and perspectives of our applicants, members and stakeholders. By instilling diversity, equity and inclusion as core values of our organization, we strive to build a safe, welcoming environment where all identities can be accepted, heard and listened to. To do so, we place a large emphasis on inclusion education in order to build a foundation of understanding of the challenges faced by BIPOC and other minority groups both on campus and beyond.

While we recognize that there is still progress to be made within our DEI efforts, we are working towards implementing several new initiatives in order to respectfully recruit and retain diverse talent within our organization. In our prioritization of DEI, we promise to maximize communication regarding our internal processes and efforts. Please check back to this page as we will be posting updates regarding our progress routinely.

Be sure to check out our News tab for updates on WIB DEI throughout the semester!

Contact our DEI team at womeninbusiness.uwmadison@gmail.com with the subject line ATTN: DEI

Long-Term Initiatives

To meet the organization goal of empowering women of all identities, WIB is currently implementing the following initiatives for the leadership team and our members.

1. Leadership diversity and inclusion recruitment training

2. Implementing more equitable and inclusive recruitment policies and practices after each semester

3. Mandatory DEI events incorporated into member programming, including external speaker events and internal discussions

4. Providing point accommodations for members that are having challenging semesters or other needs

5. Open internal communication on organizational diversity and inclusion recommendations, complaints, and questions through anonymous surveys

6. Open external communication on diversity and inclusion suggestions through feedback form

CHanGes in-the-making

WIB is committed to improving our organization. Below are some changes we are working on.

1. Create a complete evaluation process of post-recruitment, including feedback opportunities for applicants through anonymous survey and thorough review with leadership

2. Collaborate with the Wisconsin School of Business and other on-campus organizations to advocate for DEI and gain DEI learning opportunities for members

3. Create more major/career specific programs for members to have resources within their interests

A note on Recruitment

Women in Business (WIB) strives to further improve its recruitment process in terms of diversity, equality, and inclusion every semester. As part of our recruitment process, our DEI branch created an outreach program in which we made recruiting diverse talent a goal as WIB believes that our organization can improve on our representation of these students and their perspectives. Our VP of DEI works with the New Member Directors in reaching out to scholarship and academic programs and speak on behalf of WIB to express our desire to recruit their scholars.

In addition, WIB does not solely recruit business majors. While most of our members’ majors are housed within the Wisconsin School of Business, we do have members who belong to other schools and colleges or have certificates in other non-business departments. In an effort to continue to recruit new perspectives, we reached out to the School of Human Ecology, the College of Letter and Science and certificate programs such as, Chicana/Latinx Studies and Global Health.

We also implement blind applications and have a comprehensive rubric against which to determine candidate’s admission. We have prioritized bolstering the inclusivity and equity of our application process. Prior to reading applications and interviews, we have implemented a mandatory workshop conducted by the Office of Inclusion Education for our entire leadership team to learn about unconscious biases and how to avoid in decision making. Additionally, we revamped our interview process and implemented a new set of criteria to decide which applicants are admitted into the organization. We will now be assessing candidates based on their ambition, commitment, curiosity, inclusivity, and self-awareness.

We recognize these changes are only the first step in effecting change within our organization. We are looking forward to seeing a competitive applicant pool this semester and to continue to better our organization within our recruitment process.

Provide Us With Feedback

Women in Business understands the importance and power of having a diverse organization to learn from and is constantly reevaluating our internal process in order to do better. To that end, we would love to hear your feedback regarding WIB’s DEI efforts. The form is anonymous, and responses are being checked regularly. Please fill out this form if you have any feedback, concerns or questions regarding our policies or practices.