DEIB Recruiting Kit

Thank you for your interest in recruiting our outstanding students and alumni at the University of Miami! Many employers tell us that they choose to recruit at the University of Miami because of the diversity of our student body. Unfortunately, recruiting teams that visit campus (in person and virtually) do not always represent diverse backgrounds, and this sends hollow and conflicting messages. We have created our Employer DEIB Kit to provide tools and resources for employers as you develop and elevate your initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). It is no longer something to consider; it is a moral imperative.

The Toppel Career Center team is dedicated to educating students, employers, and each other about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our society, and specifically, in the workplace. We will continue to listen, learn, educate, and challenge ourselves to promote and stand for anti-racism in support of UM students, alumni, and the employers who recruit at the U. We are also committed to providing our students with opportunities to connect with organizations that value diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We expect that recruiters do the following:

  • Create safe spaces during the recruiting process where candidates feel valued for the unique identities they bring to the table
  • Serve as an advocate for candidates by supporting diverse perspectives and ideas
  • Educate yourself and your colleagues and ask questions when you’re unsure

Please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions or concerns. We are here to support you every step of the way!

Ali Rodriguez
Executive Director, Employer Engagement


Getting Started

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  • UM Student Diversity

    As of 2021, the University of Miami enrolled approximately 12,000 students in 9 colleges and schools at the undergraduate level.

    52% of U Miami students come from out of state, and 11% are international students. 49% of our students are from underrepresented race/ethnic backgrounds.

    To learn more about our students, review “Why Recruit at the U” and the University of Miami Fact Finder.

  • Getting Started

    Understand DEI terminology & vocabulary. 

    Avarna Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity Vocab

  • Evaluate and Develop a Strong Recruiting Strategy

    Why is it important?

    With the changing demographics of our student population and national workforce, it is imperative that employers seeking to hire University of Miami students have the commitment, skills, and workplace environment needed to recruit and retain a diverse talent pool.

    Why Does it Matter?

    • By 2045, Census Projections predict that the US will have a more racially diverse population where white people will no longer be in the numerical majority
    • Racially and ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors, and those with gender diversity are 15% more likely to outperform their competitors
    • Diverse talent leads to increased creativity, higher innovation, better decision-making, and more
    • Highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability and the cost of turnover ranges from 10-30% of EACH lost employee's annual salary. These are facts that organizations cannot ignore if they want to succeed and excel in their mission and goals

     

    While we know diversity efforts can help organizations with profits, retention, and culture, there are still roadblocks that organizations face to support a diverse workforce well. This article in Forbes talks about strategies to overcome those challenges and one of the first steps is aligning their organizational diversity practices with their organizational goals. We recognize that each organization is at a different place in their journey and recommend this toolkit as a starting point for employers to begin (or expand) designing and implementing inclusive recruitment and retention practices. 

    Source: Forbes link: “Why Workplace Diversity is so Important and Why it’s so Hard to Achieve 

  • Best Practices

    Determine Opportunities for Diversifying Your Company’s Staff

    • What are the current and future needs of the office? Who do we serve?
    • What is the current make-up of the department/business unit?
    • How many and what type of positions are expected to be vacant?
    • Are any of these positions in an underutilized job group for underrepresented groups? 

    Evaluate Job Descriptions
    • Is the job description aligned with a commitment to staff diversity?
    • Does the job description use language that attracts diverse staff?
    • Does the job description include criteria such as "experience working with a diverse population?"
    • Does the job description accurately reflect the skills and education necessary for the position?
    • Are essential and marginal functions of the position clearly stated and consistent with the current needs and/or responsibilities of the position?
    • Does the job description include any biased language? Remember to use his or her, he/she, or s/he when you occasionally need to stress the action of an individual.


    Interviewing Applicants

    • Review the interview pool and ensure that it is inclusive of diverse candidates.
    • If a search committee is used, is it diverse?
    • Review proposed interview questions to ensure there are no illegal questions (e.g., age, disability, children, etc.).
    • Ensure that hiring managers understand the process to implement reasonable accommodations if necessary for the interview.
    • Bring recruiters and company representatives who represent our student population. It is important for students to "see themselves" in your organization and have an opportunity to interact with those of shared identities. It is also critical for organizations to display concrete examples of how they recruit, retain, and promote people of underrepresented backgrounds.


    Avoid Unconscious Bias

    Unconscious bias (also known as implicit bias) is the preferences and prejudices that we don't realize we have. These biases often come from our background and aren't necessarily apparent in our day-to-day interactions with others. However, they can inform the decisions we make about the people with whom we surround ourselves.

    Everyone has unconscious biases; many hiring panels might unwittingly lean toward hiring - or not hiring - candidates based on those implicit prejudices.

    Three common types of unconscious bias include:

    1. Affinity bias: This type refers to the tendency to prefer people who are similar to us in terms of race, gender, age, etc.
    2. Confirmation bias: This bias occurs when we pay greater attention to information that confirms pre-existing beliefs, thus essentially confirming stereotypes we hold.
    3. Conformity bias: This refers to being influenced by the opinions and behaviors of others, such as other colleagues on a hiring panel, in order to conform to "proper" behavior.

     

    What are some strategies to prevent and address these biases during the hiring process?

    You and your team can prevent and address these prejudices through consistent, strategic action. Try these 10 strategies:

    1. Identify your unconscious biases. You can use tools like the Implicit Association Test from Harvard to help you. Then, make sure these biases are top of mind throughout the interview and assessment process. We have to keep our prejudices front and center in order to fight them when they arise.
    2. Infuse inclusiveness into your communications, both internally and externally. For example, my recruitment company is starting to use a job description analysis tool that identifies gendered language in order to make job descriptions more inclusive.
    3. Require diversity training and ongoing education for all employees, particularly managers, recruiters and senior leaders.
    4. Make inclusion a regular part of your conversations regarding the brand and company culture. My team has found great success with our new diversity panel, which meets regularly to discuss challenges and set goals around diversity and inclusion.
    5. Implement mentorship programs across teams and demographics. Exposing team members to people from different backgrounds can promote greater understanding and empathy across the company culture, which I've found can significantly affect recruitment and retention efforts.
    6. Look at candidates' skills and talents before you consider anything else. You might accomplish this by requesting that a sample assignment be completed before the one-on-one interview.
    7. Always ask the same interview questions in the same order for every prospective candidate. Consider using a weighted scoring system on these questions, then compare candidates objectively based on their scores.
    8. Put a diverse hiring team in place. Make sure a wide range of people are represented, including multiple ages, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, personalities, backgrounds and talents.
    9. If you choose to work with a recruitment company, partner with one that specializes in diversity recruitment. As the CEO of a recruitment company, I recommend ensuring they can help match your open positions with a diverse range of talented, qualified candidates as well as provide greater guidance around addressing bias during screening.
    10. Commit to fighting explicit bias. This may take the form of new company procedures, training around addressing unacceptable behaviors such as sexual harassment, and a no-tolerance policy for hate speech or discriminatory language.

     

    Becoming familiar with our biases might be an uncomfortable process, but it is necessary to create a fairer and more inclusive recruitment process. And when we accomplish that, we start developing workplaces where professionals of all backgrounds can thrive.

    Source: Forbes, "Inclusive Hiring: How to Address Bias in the Recruiting Process"

Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining Diverse Talent

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Employer Tools and Resources

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University of Miami and Toppel Career Center Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Values

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  • University of Miami’s Commitment

    At the U, our mission is to transform lives through education, research, innovation and service. We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging where everyone at the University feels valued and has the opportunity to add value. Our core values of diversity, integrity, responsibility, excellence, compassion, creativity, and teamwork provide the foundation for all of our behaviors. Diversity is valuing and including people from all cultures and backgrounds in the pursuit of our common goals.

  • Toppel Career Center

    The Toppel Career Center empowers students in their career search by celebrating unique identities, preparing them for an increasingly diverse and global workforce, and advocating for individual needs.

  • Commitment to Anti-Racism

    The Toppel Career Center team will remain dedicated to educating students, employers, and each other about diversity, equity, and inclusion in our society, and specifically, in the workplace. We will continue to listen, learn, educate, and challenge ourselves to promote and stand for anti-racism in support of UM students, alumni, and the employers who recruit at the U. Toppel will continue and increase efforts that educate and challenge recruiters on diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as HireACane Academy.

  • Non-Discrimination Policy

    It is the policy of the University of Miami that no person within the jurisdiction thereof shall, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other protected factor be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination or harassment (including all forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence) under any program or activity of the University, regardless of whether such program or activity occurs on-campus or off-campus.   

    The Toppel Career Center adheres to this policy. As a result, we will provide access to UM students (via Handshake postings, information sessions, programs, and events), and make our facilities available only to recruiting organizations whose practices are consistent with this policy.

  • Toppel Values Wall

    Toppel’s Diversity and Inclusion Values Wall is prominently displayed among our vast Gapingvoid collection at the Toppel Career Center. The wall serves as a reminder of what we have committed to as a staff, and more importantly, to clearly show how each person who engages with us has a place in our center – both physically and virtually.

     

University of Miami Student Support Services

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  • Campus Partners

    The Toppel Career Center is proud to collaborate with these campus partners who provide programs and services designed to support students from diverse backgrounds.

    Empower Me First (Office of Academic Enhancement)

    The mission of Empower Me First is to assist underrepresented and first-generation students in their transition to college life and their pursuit of educational and career goals by providing academic advocacy, general advising, resource referral and academic support. Empower Me First is an active diversity and inclusion initiative in the university President's Access with Excellence Roadmap Initiative.

    International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS)

    ISSS facilitates enrollment, retention, and graduation for international students and ensures successful experiences for international scholars (faculty and researchers) by providing information, services, acclimation, and culturally relevant activities.

    LGBTQ Student Center

    The UM LGBTQ Student Center fosters inclusion and support of University of Miami students, faculty, staff, and alumni, inclusive of all genders, orientations, and expressions, and focuses on education, outreach, programming, intergroup engagement, empowerment, and advocacy for increased visibility in the university community.

    Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA)

    MSA strives to coordinate services and programs that challenge, motivate, and support ethnically diverse students in their development at the University of Miami. We also seek to bring issues of diversity and multiculturalism to the foreground of campus conversation by sponsoring programs that celebrate cultural differences and highlight similarities that connect us to each other. 

    The Office of Disability Services (ODS)

    ODS, part of the Camner Center for Academic Resources, provides academic accommodations and support to ensure that students with disabilities can access and participate in the opportunities available at the University of Miami.

  • Multicultural Student Organizations

    There are a variety of multicultural student organizations on campus. The Engage platform allows you to connect with student leaders from these organizations, including the following:

    • Asian American Students Association
    • Caribbean Students Organization
    • Council of International Students and Organizations
    • Federation of Cuban Students
    • Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
    • Society of Women Engineers
    • United Black Students

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