PhD Project Aims To Diversify Business Leadership

Dr. Stephani Mason, Associate Professor of Accounting at DePaul University, got connected to PhD Project while she was looking for a career change. They assisted her in pursuing her doctoral degree. Now, she is a member of the PhD Project Advisory Council. PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEKKY MEDIA.
Dr. Stephani Mason, Associate Professor of Accounting at DePaul University, got connected to PhD Project while she was looking for a career change. They assisted her in pursuing her doctoral degree. Now, she is a member of the PhD Project Advisory Council. PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEKKY MEDIA.

PhD Project Aims To Diversify Business Leadership

By Tia Carol Jones

A national nonprofit organization is aiming to improve campus diversity by promoting diversity through increasing the representation of faculty of color at colleges and universities. The PhD Project provides support to people from diverse backgrounds as they pursue their PhD, with the hope they can inspire and teach business leaders in the next generation.

The PhD Project was founded in 1994 with a goal to diversify corporate America through diversifying business school faculty. Its vision is to have a larger pipeline of Black, African American, Latino, Hispanic, Native American and Indigenous business leaders. Students who are interested in getting a doctorate in business receive assistance with the application process, receive support on campus through student groups and receive mentoring when they are faculty on college campuses. There also is the Tenure Project to help guide participants through the tenure process, as well as the Aspiring Leaders Group for those considering going into administration.

Dr. Stephani Mason is an Associate Professor of Accounting at DePaul University. She teaches advanced undergraduate and graduate accounting and valuation courses. Mason became involved with the PhD Project because she wanted to make a transition from her Wall Street career and was looking for something more meaningful. She attended the PhD Project Conference and knew getting a PhD was the path she wanted to take.

“So much was given to me as a doctoral student, this is the time that I am obliged by the grace that I’ve been afforded to be able to pay forward some of what was poured into me,” Mason said, adding that if it had not been for the Project, she might not have gotten to the point where she is in her career.

Mason said the journey toward getting a PhD is often isolating. Oftentimes students in PhD programs are one of two people in their cohort, and they might be the only person of color in their cohort. In addition to the challenges all PhD students face, there also are unique cultural things the students might face. Mason faced this during her PhD journey when she experienced the loss of her father. While her professor didn’t understand why she needed to go home to her family, the people in the PhD project did understand and she was able to rely on them for comfort. Senior faculty members were also able to advise her on how to engage her institution about her situation.

“Because I was in the PhD Project that I was able to navigate some of that stuff through the advice and counsel of senior faculty,” she said.

When Mason sees her students of color going through the microagressions they are facing on campus, she recognizes things that have happened in her own life and is sensitive to life circumstances they might be going through and can support them through it. Also, as world events seep onto college campuses, Mason was able to provide safe spaces for her students to talk about how they were feeling. Members of the Project have been supporting each other so they can support the students.

Mason said that when students and parents are looking for colleges and universities, she advises them to look at who is on faculty and in the department where a student might major. She encourages parents and students to introduce themselves to faculty members. She said a faculty member can be the difference between a student thriving, surviving or leaving.

For more information about the PhD Project, visit www.phdproject.org.

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