The Leon Hess Business School’s Student Advisory Council welcomed guest speaker Sherry Carroll, MBA, DBA, at a Black History Month event on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Caroll is a Candidate Manager of Strategic Health Programs at UnitedHealth Group, an insurance company ranked eighth on the Fortune 500 list in 2021.
Carroll introduced her presentation, titled “Taking Down Barriers,” by first discussing her professional background. “My career has taken place in the Fortune 500 arena, going so far as the ‘Fortune 10,’” she said. “It’s a different world when you work for a Fortune 500 company. They have rich resources, nonstop training, and varied talent.”
Carroll said that her experience in the corporate world, like that of many African American women, is marked by barriers ranging from lack of diversity to microaggressions. “There are instances where I experience subtle discrimination, but I always remain respectful,” she said. “Intersectionality is what one can refer to as ‘double jeopardy.’ For example, I’m black and I’m a woman. I don’t like that word phrase but that’s how it is.”
Throughout Carroll’s presentation, students were afforded the opportunity to ask the speaker questions. Leslie Cruz, an undergraduate business student, asked, “How do you overcome discrimination when it happens to you?” Carroll replied, “In regard to challenging stereotypes and barriers, I address it in that moment.” Caroll touched upon one of her own experiences, adding, “I had to speak out and didn’t get the response I hoped I would get. have seen that person pivot in meetings, and I continue to be professional.”
Janeth Merkle, Assistant Dean of the Leon Hess Business School, asked, “Is there any opportunity to form diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] into the workplace initiatives?” Carroll responded, “Most of the time when DEI’s are launched the budget is unknown and it is up to you to justify that budget. If you tie diversity into your core values, you get more attention, and it doesn’t cost you anything.”
Carroll further explained her view of diversity. “When we focus on diversity, we want to focus on diversity of thought. You can be in a room with all white men, diversity is there: it is diversity of thought. You could be in a room with all African Americans and there is diversity there: diversity of thought. We can’t always focus on diversity on the surface, we have to continue to recognize different forms of diversity,” she explained. “When I think about the dimensions of diversity, I think of an iceberg. What is visible is the tip that surfaces above water, and everything else about me is the core of the iceberg that is submerged.”
Before concluding the conversation, Carroll asked her audience, “What barriers have you faced in the workplace?” Cruz replied, “I regard having a lack of role models as a barrier…I realized that I have to restart that whole process because less than 5 percent of Latinas get an MBA. That is true for Latinas in the workforce and especially Latinas in finance.”
In response, Carroll advised, “Be proud, be proud of your differences. There are some people who want to assimilate like I did but enter the professional world like ‘I got this.’ Put it on a T-shirt and wear it everywhere.”
While reflecting on Carroll’s presentation as well as the open dialogue between the presenter and students, Merkle stated, “It was rewarding to host an event as part of our Black History Month celebration. Hearing from a speaker who had endured discrimination because she was a black African lady was inspiring and encouraging. I believe the event offered our students crucial insights into the issues minorities face in the workplace and the critical and gratifying outcomes of diversity.”
