Wal-Mart Becomes Sponsor of
Award-Winning Diversity Program
July, 2007— The PhD Project, an award-winning program
to increase diversity in America’s business schools is proud to announce
a two-year, $50,000 commitment from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the leading
U.S. employer of Hispanics, African-Americans, women, and seniors. With
this commitment, Wal-Mart Stores is now a co-sponsor of The Project along
with some of America’s largest corporations, foundations and academic
organizations.
The PhD Project was created to address the severe under-representation
of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans on
business school faculty. By diversifying the faculty, The PhD Project
will: 1) encourage more minorities to pursue business degrees,
and 2) better prepare all business students for today’s multicultural
work environment.
“As one of the country’s largest private
employers, Wal-Mart places having a diverse and multi-cultural workforce – at
all levels – among our top priorities,” said Michelle Whitehead,
senior director of professional recruitment. “We have long
maintained diversity initiatives which help Wal-Mart build and
retain a diverse workforce and supplier base, along with varied
community
outreach programs. We know that attracting diverse customers, associates
and suppliers is critical to our success. Because of this commitment
to diversity, we can better serve the millions of customers who
shop at Wal-Mart each week and provide a positive work environment
for
our 1.4 million U.S. associates.”
When The PhD Project was created, there were only 294
doctorate qualified African-American, Hispanic-American or Native American
minority business
professors in all U.S. business schools. Today there are 858 minority
business professors, an increase of more than 180%. Minority enrollment
in doctoral business programs continues to climb, with approximately
392 students currently enrolled.
“Wal-Mart's generous sponsorship of The PhD Project
sends a clear message to its employees, communities, vendors and suppliers,” said
Bernard J. Milano, The PhD Project’s founder and president
of the KPMG Foundation, the creator and lead sponsor of the program “The
message is that Wal-Mart is committed to serving its diverse client
base by supporting programs aimed at diversifying its corporate
ranks.” Some of America’s top companies and academic organizations
support The PhD Project along with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.. They are:
KPMG Foundation, Graduate Management Admission Council, 179 participating
universities, Citi Foundation, AACSB International, AICPA, Robert
K. Elliott, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Hewlett-Packard Company, The
Merck Company Foundation, DiversityInc and Act ?1.
For more information visit http://www.phdproject.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lisa King,
212-590-2314 (p)
917-591-6116
|
