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Google Tops 2006 "IDEAL Diversity Employers" Ranking

Annual survey of more than 12,800 diverse students previewed in THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine

IMDiversity Staff

October 2006 - A sneak preview of new report, “IDEAL Employers 2006 – Diversity Edition” by Universum Communications, was recently published by IMDiversity, Inc. in THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine and its companion website, Black-collegian.com.  The full report, to be distributed on college campuses nationwide in December, is the result of the multinational research organization’s comprehensive survey of more than 12,800 diverse students pursuing higher degrees at both the undergraduate level and in MBA concentrations.

The annual survey asks students to share their views and experiences regarding employers in all sectors, as well as personal topics such as their career goals, work values, perspectives on recruitment approaches, favorite websites, and feelings about the concept and value of diversity.

This year for the first time, the resulting rankings of “IDEAL Diversity Employers” was topped by the search-engine titan, Google, “thanks to its innovative, progressive, young and anti-conservative culture.”  Other high-ranking players included Goldman-Sachs and McKinsey and Walt Disney.  Companies are ranked by respondents according to a variety of criteria, ranging from their recruitment outreach methods to website quality to their development programs.

Beyond the “horse-race” aspect of the employer ranking itself, the survey is of interest for what it indicates about the respondents’ comparative aspirations and preferences – within specific ethnic groups, as underrepresented minorities, or as members of general student generations – older Generation X MBAs or younger undergraduates Millennials, for example.

In reporting the viewpoints of Asian Americans, this year’s report follows the growing business trend of distinguishing between the Indian-American subgroup and others generally considered within the “Asian American” (in some cases, Pacific Islander designations were also accounted for) definition used by the Census, for example. Other groups surveyed include African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives, all divided by UG and MBA degrees.

Asked to define “diversity”, majorities in all survey groups, MBA and undergraduate, most frequently associated “ethnicity” with the term. This association was strongest for American Indian/Alaska Native MBA students (89%) and least commonly selected by Asian-Indian MBA students (67%).   “Gender” was the second most common association across the board for all survey groups. Among the groups, it was selected most frequently by American Indian/Alaska Native MBA students (78%) and least frequently by Asian-Indian undergraduates (43%).

Comparative highlights from other definitions: Latino/Hispanic undergraduates were most likely among all survey groups to associate “diversity” with “language skills” (15%); Asian-Indian undergraduates most frequently selected “religion” (16%) and “nationality” (48%); and American Indian/Alaska Native undergraduates most frequently selected “Age” (35%).

The full report preview can be seen at THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online’s “Top 100 Diversity Employers 2006,” a special section taken from the magazine’s October 2006 edition. The magazine is distributed to college students for free on college campuses, primarily through career centers.