In our hyper-polarized society, the role of business has become a fundamental issue made even more critical by recent research suggesting business is now the most trusted institution - and the *only* institution viewed as both ethical and competent - ahead of government, the media and even NGOs. Not only is public trust high in business, the data also show that the public is looking for business to help solve some of society’s most pressing challenges. 

Complicating this picture is the high degree of polarization in society, which ensures nearly every issue becomes politicized making it difficult to move forward. With one out of every two adults in the U.S. employed by business, companies have an important platform to reduce polarization itself and improve the conditions for civil discourse. Companies face increasing pressure to play a role in social issues or to take a public stand, so we must prepare future leaders to navigate within this context.

In response Fuqua is fostering an initiative to engage and activate the business community. The Dialogue Project at Duke is developing topical conversations between our faculty and business leaders, exploring the creation of case studies and other educational content, enabling access to senior executives for our students, gaining exposure to ideas and industry best practices, and identifying data for faculty research. 

The Dialogue Project at Duke

As we confront the long history of racism in the United States, Fuqua collectively committed to leading the way in our industry, our community and in each of our lives in being anti-racist. 

We believe accountability is essential to these efforts, and we have been examining all dimensions of our business practices as a result. Our Fuqua Anti-Racism (FAR) Initiative is a permanent team responsible for institutionalizing this work across our organization: Interim Dean Mary Frances Luce and Stephanie Robertson, Assistant Dean for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

We are reporting the school's progress on an annual basis, understanding that transparency will help us learn from one another. We hope other schools and businesses will choose to share  their efforts in a way that helps us all identify best practices in eliminating systemic biases.

Fuqua Research Insights

Business schools have the opportunity to make tremendous impact in how future leaders think about ensuring equal treatment in the workforce, and Fuqua has made this a priority in our own institution as well as across our industry.

We have been actively leading the charge for gender equity in business education since Fuqua first joined a small White House task force on the topic in 2014. A year later, that group identified best practices for business schools in supporting women and working families, adopted by about 50 business schools.

We have also taken deliberate action to make our programs more accessible to working families. Our students also work directly with our deans in finding ways to encourage more women to apply to our programs and to make sure they feel supported and included when they join our community.

We are fortunate to be guided by faculty expertise which has sparked conversations on these topics throughout the world.

Fuqua Research Insights

Innovation requires that the best and brightest talent can study – and ultimately work – where they choose. As a pipeline for talent to U.S. companies, the nation’s business schools have been early indicators of concerning trends in student mobility that have downstream implications for business itself. We are leading initiatives explaining the importance of immigration to economic competitiveness, and taking action to support our international students.