By Keith Coe '97
On Thursday, January 23rd, Out for Business (Out4Biz), the GSB's gay and lesbian group, sponsored a career panel of gay and lesbian GSB alumni. The eight panelists represented a broad range of industries and backgrounds: management consulting, investment banking, manufacturing, retailing, hotels, investment management, non-profits, and start-ups. Over 30 students and faculty members from the Business, Law, and Engineering schools attended. The panel was moderated by Anne Cascells (GSB `85), who was an executive at Goldman Sachs prior to joining the Stanford Management Company last year as a Manager Director.
During the panel, each alumnus shared their experiences with being "in" and "out of the closet" during past and current jobs. Coming out is a difficult decision -- each alum had to weigh the costs and benefits of coming out to others, including colleagues. Many panelists related the huge amount of energy consumed by not mentioning or even hiding their sexuality at work. Numerous opportunities to develop personal relationships with colleagues were missed. Each panelist's approach to coming out was as unique as his or her personality. However, there were some common themes: having a strategy for coming out, seeking out sympathetic as well as other gay and lesbian colleagues, and being sincere with colleagues. The panelists stressed the importance of being in the control of the issue.
All of the panelists had positive experiences in coming out at work and gained a strong sense of empowerment. However, being MBAs, their stories were also mixed with pragmatism. Certain industries, regions within the U.S., and foreign countries can be less than friendly environments toward gays and lesbians. The panelists also discussed the importance of volunteer work as a way to give back to the community and to network. Two GSB alumni founded the two largest AIDS service organizations in the Bay Area.
A common theme during the panel was how much the atmosphere toward gay and lesbian employees has changed over the past decade. Many companies now openly recruit gay and lesbian students in order to gain a more diverse work environment and to be able to better market to this audience. This year, McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Group held recruiting dinners for gay and lesbian students from the business and law schools. Noting this change at the GSB, Anne Cascells pointed out that when the Out4Biz alumni career panel first took place in 1985, the event had to be held at a house off-campus in order to get students and alumni to participate. Overall, the alumni panel delivered an optimistic message regarding workplace attitudes toward gays and lesbians.