A Place at the Table

Ella Bell works to diversify corporate America’s top ranks

Multicultural women may form the largest segment of the entering workforce in the United States, yet when it comes to management positions they remain disproportionately underrepresented. Just 6.3 percent of U.S. corporate managers are women of color. At the board-directorship level of top Fortune-ranked companies, that figure drops to three percent.

An initiative by Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, associate professor of business administration at the Tuck School of Business, attempts to narrow this gap. ASCENT: Leading Multicultural Women to the Top is the first organization of its kind dedicated to advancing multicultural women in today’s corporate workforce. The national, nonprofit organization focuses on developing skills and talent through research, executive education, networking opportunities, and corporate sponsorships.

“ASCENT fills a void in positioning multicultural women,” says Bell. “And that means all women can take their place at the table with confidence, poise, and wisdom so they can rise within American companies as leaders.”

ASCENT’s timing is critical. Despite recent efforts by companies to retain women, the challenges facing multicultural women continue to go unnoticed.

“These women are more educated and better prepared to succeed in the corporate arena than at any other period in our history,” says Bell.

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