From Tufts to Diversity and Inclusion Leadership

Now, he’s working with Tufts Chief Diversity Officer on diversity and inclusion initiatives across campus.

As our world becomes more globally connected and increasingly diverse, companies are investing in positions that focus specifically on diversity and inclusion. Abhishek Verma, a first-year student in the Master of Arts in Diversity and Inclusion Leadership, witnessed this trend firsthand. Before coming to Tufts, Abhishek worked in the Human Resources Department at HCL Technologies as a diversity and inclusion practitioner at the company’s headquarters in Noida, India.

“I think when I started in HR in 2014, at that time diversity and inclusion used to be just one part of the responsibilities of HR, but, increasingly, the field is evolving, sometimes becoming a unique department altogether—a lot of companies are now establishing their own separate diversity and inclusion departments.”

Indeed, a well-known career and job search website estimates that the demand for such roles has increased by nearly 20% between 2017 and 2018.

Tufts began the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership master’s program in Fall 2017 in response to the growing demand for professionals with this training. Abhishek joined the program’s second cohort and is expanding his academic background in the field as well as getting insight into the workings of diversity and inclusion divisions in the context of higher education.

Discovering A Passion and Finding Tufts

After completing his MBA with a focus on Human Resources in India in 2014, Abhishek says his entry into the field of diversity and inclusion was a bit of a coincidence. But as he delved into his first position, the focus on the subject was something he saw an important need for and he felt a strong personal connection towards the work.

“The role quite aligned with my personal life experiences and my experiences in society,” he says. “I identify as gay and I’m a person of color from a middle-class family. I am a person with intersecting identities and back in India I’ve seen marginalization happening around me in my home country and city as well.”

Until September 2018, homosexuality was illegal in India and Abhishek had faced intolerance from some members of his community when he came out to them a few years prior. Gender disparity is also a large issue, he says, with men holding the majority of leadership roles both in the workplace and at home.

Abhishek hoped to change some of these attitudes in his role. “The organization’s focus was on gender inclusion, disability inclusion, and cultural diversity. When we ran various initiatives and programs for empowering women, we initially faced pushback from the management and employees. But later on, with our consistent efforts, this got better,” he says.  

After four years in the role at HCL Technologies, he sought to grow further and began to research the possibility of getting an advanced degree in the subject in the U.S., which is how he found Tufts’ program. He says there was nothing quite like Tufts’ master’s program out there and it quickly became his first choice for his second master’s degree.

“The interdisciplinary nature of the program makes it quite unique. I think diversity and inclusion is something which cannot be taught by only one department. The nature of the field and the program is such that is has to be interdisciplinary.”

In addition to courses specific to the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership master’s, Abhishek, who is half-way through his first year, has taken courses in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and Psychology departments. He also says that the opportunity to take classes with both undergraduate and graduate students with a variety of academic focuses has been an enriching one.

By Gabrielle Otto