22 April 2023
Ahmedabad Students Selected for Glasgow Caledonian New York College Fellowship in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
When interning with a leading hotel chain in Gujarat last year, Nandita Agarwal had the opportunity to be closely involved in a recruitment programme underpinning the importance of inclusivity in the workplace. A BBA (Hons) student majoring in Human Resources at Amrut Mody School of Management, Class of 2024, she found the experience very valuable. She says, “The programme was specially designed to recruit folks from the LGBTQI+ community, and I got a chance to closely engage with them, understanding the challenges they face in securing employment, and when employed, at the workplace.” This year, Nandita has been selected for the Glasgow Caledonian New York College (GCNYC) Fellowship in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) through a 14-week online programme. “This couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment. After my internship experience in the space of DEI, the GCNYC Fellowship has opened up a worldview on the subject.”
For Shashvi Shah, BBA (Hons) majoring in Finance and Economics, Class of 2023, also selected to the GCNYC Fellowship, this presents an opportunity to grow professionally as Fellows are offered enrollment in online graduate-level courses in the DEI Leadership programme. They will work with the Programme Director to design and execute a globally-minded externship project. She says, “Through this, I will get an opportunity to participate in the life of the College, inclusive of access to the community of faculty and alumni, the opportunity to grow professionally through applied mentorship and study, and the ability to work on a meaningful globally-minded project that can impact and enhance GCNYC’s work toward serving the common good.”
The Fellows have weekly readings and reflections on DEI as part of the Fellowship and an opportunity to lead class discussions. Sharing her experience so far, Shashvi says, “Besides the learning through mentorship, there is great peer learning as we understand people across the globe and their unique stories of racism or gender discrimination or other forms of discrimination. DEI needs to be discussed on larger platforms within the corporate world. Through the Fellowship, we discuss how discrimination is based on multiple factors and how businesses deal with the same. I hope to impact the DEI space in India with my takeaways from this Fellowship and through long-term engagement with the professionals I have met.”
Nandita says, “It is a rigorous programme that holds its Fellows to a high standard. We focus on making workspaces more equitable and thereby impacting society. Especially when I see myself entering the Human Resources domain in the real world, this experience is highly insightful.”