It is no secret that in most major corporations you rarely see non-Anglo-Saxon executives. The diversity as you climb the corporate ladder diminishes the higher you climb. Removing ethnicity out of the equation, let’s understand what are the roadblocks that hinder minorities from excelling.
Laszlo Bock, VP of People Operations for Google states, “GPA (grade point average) are worthless as criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless . . . five hiring attributes that Google looks at in determining new hires: general cognitive ability, emergent leadership, intellectual humility, ownership and the least attribute is expertise”. Many low to medium income families lack these five attributes. For decades these classes of families have been trained to work. It’s the blue-collar way of life.
Since its inception in Spring 2014 the Student Leadership Apprentice Program (SLAP) has taken on the task of transitioning a blue-collar bred and raised student in to a white-collar leader, focusing on the qualities and attributes needed to compete
in their industry.
With the direction and coaching of Executive Leadership Mentors, Peer Mentors and SLAProgram Management, students who participate in the program are challenged with core content that are believed to be essential skills necessary to obtain leadership roles.
Conceptualized by Danielle Hairston-Green, the SLAP to date has impacted over 10 Prairie View A&M University students. Smith and Hairston-Green played the role of SLAP Advisors on the management team, providing direction with the program’s growth.
Presently, SLAP is available at Prairie View A&M University, but students at Alcorn University have shown interest in SLAP.