Success Story

The Dow Chemical Company made a commitment to a multi-cultural environment many years ago, and by the 1970s it was actively recruiting underrepresented minorities. Hernan Cortes, Global Technical Leader in Analytical Sciences, Core Research and Development at Dow, is a reflection of the company's early efforts at recruiting minorities.

"In 1978, I was doing my undergraduate work at the Florida International University in Miami, which has a relatively high concentration of Hispanics. Dow made a conscious effort, even at this time, to recruit at universities that appear to have higher concentrations of underrepresented minorities."

Cortes says that Dow has been supportive of diversity since he first arrived more than 25 years ago, at which point there were already a number of Hispanics working at the company. Dow has since taken this commitment to diversity a step further by initiating six global networks to support underrepresented minorities. For example, there is a Hispanic Latin Network to which Cortes belongs. "These networks were initiated to promote the understanding of cultural differences, as well as to allow those underrepresented minorities to network with each other, help each other, and teach each other how to succeed within in the industry," says Cortes. "The networks have been supported very strongly from the very high levels of the company."

Kathy McDonald, Director of Global Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion, explains that these networks are active both inside and outside the company. Internally, they are the driving force behind many aspects of advocacy and instruction, including career development workshops. Externally, they fuel a breadth of community projects such as Habitat for Humanity "Blitz Build." They collaborate with other companies in establishing the Detroit Lions Academy, a school for talented high school students in the Detroit area. "These activities demonstrate that employee networks are fulfilling a critical need in our company today," says McDonald. "Employees are getting connected to each other and to the communities that support Dow locations...."

Cortes does not need any convincing about Dow's dedication to diversity. All he has to do is look at his own experience. He says that when he joined the company, he arrived as a baccalaureate degree scientist and then earned his Ph.D. while working full time. "It's not easy to get a Ph.D. while you are working full time," he points out, "but Dow was very supportive of my doing that."

"Dow has an interest in having underrepresented minorities in the company," says Cortes. "That is an ongoing endeavor and it has been since I joined."

Dow actively recruits from universities known to have a critical mass of underrepresented minorities. They are also actively involved in reaching out to public schools across the country to provide computers and other technical support that underrepresented minorities need to succeed in the sciences.

Dow's social responsibility policy focuses on the people it touches directly-its employees and the people in the communities in which it operates. Virtually every aspect of how Dow affects the employee's work experience has been reexamined and, where necessary, restructured. The company's businesses, functions, and area teams have diversity plans tailored to meet their specific needs by providing flexible work schedules and mentoring opportunities.

To help create a culture that welcomes and celebrates difference in people, six company-sponsored global employee networks also have been formed. These networks support underrepresented minorities-including Hispanics and African-Americans. Further, they offer a place where people with common bonds can grow professionally and personally. A senior executive sponsor is provided for each network to further encourage employees and teach them how to succeed within the industry.

Dow offers continuing education opportunities and career development workshops to all employees and supports those pursuing graduate degrees that are related to their field of work within Dow and supported by their employee development plan. For example, the e-Communications training workshops help employees better understand and utilize available tools and techniques in the workplace.

Dow is currently restructuring the company and evaluating the overall diversity infrastructure of the past, which included diversity leaders and site leadership teams. In the restructured organization, each section of the company will determine its needs and then implement goals and tracking mechanisms. Results will be monitored at the corporate level.