Diversity is a Mason strength.
Like Mason, you know that a diverse talent core brings more perspective, creativity, and innovation to your organization's objectives.
With recruiting assistance, programs, and best-practice consultation with your industry advisor, you can build your recruiting pipeline to reach your DEI goals to help solve problems and drive innovation.
Connect with your Employer and Alumni Engagement Consultant for support in developing your diversity recruiting strategy at Mason.
Employer Best Practices
Our students have high expectations for employers and diversity recruiting.
Here are a few best practices to get you started:
- Demonstrate your organization's commitment not just to diversity, but more importantly to inclusion and equity.
- Reduce barriers. Employers with unpaid internships, GPA requirements, a narrow list of allowed majors, and a traditional workday structure are missing out on qualified candidates.
- Ensure that your recruitment team is trained in unconscious bias and has scrutinized what your organization means by “professionalism” and “culture fit.”
- Update your Handshake profile with examples of how your organization supports an inclusive and equitable work environment (e.g., affinity groups, mentoring programs, community engagement efforts, social justice benefits).
- Engage in a customized, multi-year strategy for each population you are seeking to recruit; it takes time to establish trust with historically marginalized communities, and a “one size fits all” approach will not work.
Mason's DEI Recognition Program
Many employers develop diversity statements, but our students know that a true commitment to DEI takes action. Students are searching for ways to identify employers with demonstrated cultures of equity and inclusion. The Demonstrated Employer Equity/Inclusion in Practice (D.E.E.P.) program helps organizations stand out to Mason's diverse and discerning talent pipeline.
Successful employers demonstrate practices such as:
- Unconscious bias training for recruitment teams and hiring managers
- All-Gender restrooms onsite
- Physical space is built with universal design principles
- Pay transparency/openly sharing salaries for all employees
- Advocate for pro-immigration/pro-H1B/pro-DACA legislation
Get Involved with the Early Identification Program
Invest in the future and build your diverse talent pipeline by getting involved with Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP).
EIP supports hundreds of first-generation college-bound students (58% Latino/a, 21% African American) with access to educational and career resources.
Resources
The National Association of Colleges and Employers and the Society for Human Resource Management have shared more best practices in diversity recruiting: