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52 September/October 2014 BizEd soft skills as other majors might be. We start the week before the semester begins, so they can use these skills throughout the year." Integrated Approach Raedy and many other roundtable attendees believe that the account- ing profession can't survive with- out doing more to take diversity into account. "We didn't have this mindset when I was in account- ing practice 20 years ago, but we don't have a choice anymore," Raedy says. "It's not enough for accountants to know debits and credits. They must also be able to work on teams with people from India, China, or Brazil. Account- ing has become a profession of communicators." Javidan agrees that it takes more than a single course to address issues of diversity. "Business schools have to design experiences, opportunities, and interventions that run through- out a student's entire accounting education," he says. "They must take integrative approaches." The biggest accounting firms need employees at all levels who have received true diversity train- ing one way or another, says Ken Bouyer, director of inclusiveness for EY Americas. Diversity training at the college and university level, he says, "has a ripple effect not only in schools, but in the broader busi- ness community, including diversity of senior leadership and corporate boards." If one school doesn't pro- vide graduates with that training, the major accounting firms might find—or help create—the programs that do. For more information on the Global Mindset Inventory, visit www.globalmindset.com. Q&A WITH EY's KEN BOUYER As Ernst & Young's director of inclusiveness recruiting for EY Americas, Ken Bouyer is focused on recruiting talent that is diverse by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, and age. Here, we asked Bouyer to speak in more detail about EY's diversity strategy. What skills does EY value most in new hires? We often use the term "inclusive leaders." We need inclusive leaders who can take advantage of differences among the people on their teams. Having a global mindset is also incredibly important, because new hires could start out in a U.S. office, but be working for a client in China or South America by their first or second year. In your role, how do you work with schools? We make a concerted effort to work closely with the schools where we recruit most to discover ways to diversify our firm from a campus hiring standpoint. I meet regularly with deans, accounting chairs, and faculty to talk about the firm's commitment to inclusivity and diver- sity. We also make inclusiveness recruiting visits to universities to meet with the dean and the provost to talk about what the university's challenges are and how EY can assist. In what ways does EY help schools increase diversity? We might fund a high school outreach program, provide scholarships, or help ensure that minority students feel welcome when they come to campus. We have an internship program for ethnically diverse students, many of whom are highly sought after by other majors. We also have our Launch program, in which we send recruiters to the campus to introduce promising freshmen and sophomores to the accounting profession and show them how they can learn and develop at our firm. What benefits have you seen so far? In 1993, 10 percent of our campus hires were considered minorities. Today that number is 36 percent. We've made headway, but we still have more work to do. But we cannot do this without working more closely with business schools—they're our pipeline for the talented students we need to bring into the profession. emotional intelligence, managing diversity, and understanding global diversity. First-year MBA students begin "Leadership" a week before the start of the fall semester. During the course, students hear from practitioners, such as an executive from a team-building firm, a chief diversity officer, and managers from EY. Students also complete two projects with team members of different nationalities, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds. At semester's end, they write reflec- tion papers, in which they discuss behaviors they want to start, those they want to stop, and those they want to continue. Raedy's goal is to incorporate her course's lessons into other core courses, including auditing and leadership. "These are accountants, so they're not as attuned to these