This weekend’s Out on Bay Street conference will formally introduce LGBT business students to companies that have made them a priority.
The conference, organized by MBA students from U of T’s Rotman School of Management and York University’s Schulich School of Business, exists to connect LGBT students with businesses specifically seeking them out.
Andreas Kouremenos, co-chair of the event’s host, the Rotman Gay- Straight Alliance, said the workplace is frequently unsupportive of LGBT sexualities. “I worked in the financial sector this summer, and I didn’t feel a need to be out to the people I was working with. I definitely felt like it was very much an old boys’ club,” he said.
But while heterocentrism persists in business settings, some enterprising employees are capitalizing on their status as minorities.
“The buzzword really is diversity right now with businesses and industry in general […] companies are really smartening up and seeing that having a diverse workforce really adds to a company,” said Kouremenos.
What some might call tokenism translates to leverage.
“[Sexual diversity in hiring] is a fairly recent initiative for companies, and they’re starting to tackle it headon. And that’s why we’ve seen the support we have for the conference,” said Kouremenos. He reported that almost 50 students and 70 business insiders had signed on.
The conference’s itinerary unites the practical and the political. A career fair attended by 12 to 14 corporations will take place on Friday, followed on Saturday by speakers and workshops addressing issues of interest to jobseeking business students.
Student registrants cite a wide range of reasons to attend.
“I hope to see what companies out there support LGBT and provide a supportive environment for us,” said one Master of Mathematical Finance student who didn’t want to be outed. “I hope to build a network with people and companies that I want to work with, to increase my chance [of landing] a full-time job after I graduate.”
Kouremenos conceived OBS after attending the Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference in Fall of 2006, a similar event held by Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management in 1999. “They had an attendance of about 750 people down there, so I thought to myself, we might have the critical mass here in Canada,” he explained.
What careers should OBS attendees look for?
“I think finance is one of the most tolerant and LGBT-supportive industries,” said the MMF student. “Events like this one promote positive working environments […] and increase awareness of the fact that LGBT professionals indeed value a working environment in which we feel comfortable.”
The organizers, who have announced they hope to make OBS an annual event, have emphasized the importance of discourse between the communities involved. “I’m hoping that students ask the companies what they’re doing in the LGBT community, and I’m hoping that companies ask the students what they’re doing within their community at school.”
