Next Scholars’ Hub @ Home event examines how advanced style influencers are confronting gendered ageism online
Share
Those who enjoy hearing about the latest thought-provoking research will not want to miss the next Scholars’ Hub @ Home speaker series event that will examine how advanced style influencers are confronting gendered ageism online.
Brought to you by York University’s Office of Alumni Engagement, the Scholars’ Hub @ Home speaker series features discussions on a broad range of topics, with engaging lectures from some of York’s best minds. Events are held in partnership with Vaughan Public Libraries, Markham Public Library and Aurora Public Library.
Ela Veresiu
Students, alumni and all members of the community are invited to attend. All sessions take place at noon via Zoom.
For the Aug. 4 edition of Scholars’ Hub @ Home, Associate Professor Ela Veresiu from York’s Schulich School of Business will host a discussion titled “#AdvancedStyle: Confronting gendered ageism online.”
Attendees will learn how advanced style influencers (aged 50-plus) are using Instagram to fight the gendered ageism that has become rampant in North America’s fashion and beauty industries. Veresiu’s presentation is based on her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada study that was recently published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.
Meet the recipients of the 2021 Alumni Awards and Scholarships
Share
The York University Alumni Board has recognized four distinguished York students with 2021 Alumni Awards and Scholarships for their academic excellence and leadership.
The Alumni Awards and Scholarships started in 2009 and are adjudicated by the York University Alumni Board every year. Awards include the Silver Jubilee Scholarship, the Alumni Golden GRADitude Award and the Harry Arthurs Alumni Families Entrance Scholarship.
Alumni Silver Jubilee Scholarship
Meena Shanmuganathan
The Alumni Silver Jubilee Scholarship is awarded each year to a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence both in and out of the classroom. This year’s recipient, Meena Shanmuganathan (iBBA ’21), has been recognized for her significant contributions within the Tamil community and the considerable leadership she displayed during her time as an international bachelor of business administration (iBBA) student at the Schulich School of Business.
“Schulich placed a lot of emphasis on excelling outside of the classroom as well as inside,” she says. “There were so many opportunities in the last four years to participate in case competitions and research studies, and not just go to school and come home.”
In 2020, Shanmuganathan became vice-president of academics for the iBBA program and faced the challenge of making Schulich still feel like Schulich for students, despite the global pandemic. This involved planning the school’s annual flagship conference virtually for the first time, which saw 125 delegates and 100 alumni successfully come together in an online environment.
Outside of York, Shanmuganathan has been a member of the Tamil Cultural and Academic Society of Durham since 2009, working to educate communities about Tamil culture in an effort to preserve it for future generations. Most recently, she helped spearhead the first month-long Tamil mental health awareness campaign, which included planning four successful events and securing over $3,000 in sponsorships.
In September, Shanmuganathan will attend the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law to pursue her interest in human rights.
“It is such a big honour to be recognized, not just within the Schulich community but the York community as well,” she says about her scholarship win.
Alumni Golden GRADitude Award
Anjelica Ramsewack
The Alumni Golden GRADitude Award recognizes graduating students who leave York University a better place thanks to the significant leadership they demonstrated during their time on campus. This year, there are two recipients of this award.
Communications studies graduate Anjelica Ramsewack (BA ’21) has been recognized for her vast contributions to the student community during her time at Glendon College.
Ramsewack held various senior positions within Glendon College Student Union, including vice-president of communications and vice-president of operations. In her role as vice-president of bilingual affairs, she became a key voice at York and Glendon by advocating for the importance of bilingual services and communications across the University to serve both francophone and anglophone students on campus.
In addition to her involvement in student governance, Ramsewack was co-secretary general of the Glendon Model United Nations, helping to develop and execute the first-ever bilingual conference for high-school students. Her experience in student government and clubs led her to establish the Glendon Communications Student Association, of which she was also president.
“Being a part of these organizations and being able to contribute significantly to the school and the students brought me joy during my time at Glendon,” she says. “I was able to grow as an individual and that is something I will take away with me.”
In September, Ramsewack will be returning to York to pursue a master of management at the Schulich School of Business, with the hopes of building a career in business management or marketing.
“The energy I spent during my time at Glendon was worth it,” she says, regarding her Alumni Golden GRADitude Award win, “and this puts into perspective for me that my work was valuable to the community.”
Moboluwajidide Joseph
Moboluwajidide Joseph (BA ’21), a communications studies graduate and former president of the Glendon College Student Union, has been recognized for his noteworthy contributions to student life at Glendon College and York.
A vocal supporter of the Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education on campus, Joseph assisted with campaigns and initiatives that aimed to tackle toxic masculinity on campus. He was also a student representative on the Sexual Violence and Policy Advisory Committee for two years.
As a national executive representative for the Canadian Federation of Students’ Black Caucus, Joseph has been a key voice in student-led and student-centred responses to the anti-Black racism framework development processes and lobbying efforts.
“My time at Glendon has been amazing and wondrous,” he says. “One of the reasons I wanted to go to university was to discover myself and figure out who I was, what my values and principles were and how these coincided with my goals and ambitions. Glendon created space for me to do that.”
This fall, Joseph looks forward to joining the University of Toronto as an MA candidate in geography.
“I hope to specifically focus on Black geographies and the experience of Black communities in Toronto when they come under surveillance and how that impacts their lived experiences,” he says. “I’ve always believed that research should have a practical impact on day-to-day life, and being given this opportunity to do this research at such an institution is beyond my wildest dreams and hopes.”
Harry Arthurs Alumni Families Entrance Scholarship
Ishi Madan
The Harry Arthurs Alumni Families Entrance Scholarship is awarded to an incoming undergraduate student who is the child, sibling or grandchild of a York University graduate and who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and accomplishments in community service, volunteerism or other endeavours.
Incoming Schulich School of Business student Ishi Madan has been awarded this year’s scholarship. She follows in her brother’s footsteps as she joins the Bachelor of Business Administration program at Schulich for the Fall 2021 semester.
Madan immigrated to Canada in 2017 and learned to adapt to a whole new educational system.
“Coming here to Canada in Grade 9 was really tough for me,” she shares. “I had to adjust to a lot of changes. The guidance counsellors and teachers at my school were very helpful and I think my drive comes from within myself. You can find support from unexpected corners.”
Outside of school, Madan has been a regular volunteer in her community. Harnessing her own experiences, she became a peer mentor for the World of Welcome program to help newly immigrated students acclimate and adapt to their new academic system. Most recently, Madan created an online community response group to combat the isolation created by the pandemic, while also co-ordinating food bank distributions. Having played piano for the past 14 years and earning her first class honours from the Royal Conservatory of Music, she regularly performs before live audiences and volunteers to teach piano to younger students in her community.
Madan looks forward to developing her critical thinking skills and exploring her personal and ethical values while studying at one of Canada’s best business schools this fall.
Schulich collaborates on study of peer effects in corporate governance practices
Share
Photo by SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS from Pexels
A new study that York University’s Schulich School of Business has collaborated on finds that corporations that share board members with other firms tend to have similar corporate governance practices due to a phenomenon known as “board interlocking.”
Pouyan Foroughi
The findings are presented in a research paper titled “Peer Effects in Corporate Governance Practices: Evidence from Universal Demand Laws,” forthcoming in Review of Financial Studies. The article is co-authored by Pouyan Foroughi, assistant professor of finance at Schulich; Alan Marcus, professor of finance at Boston College; Vinh Nguyen, assistant professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong; and Hassan Tehranian, professor of finance at Boston College.
“The study shows that firms not subject to new legislation nevertheless change corporate practice when they are board-interlocked with peer firms that become subject to that legislation,” said Foroughi. “The specific transmission mechanism for this propagation of practice across firms is the interlocking board network.”
The research paper included a number of key findings. First, firms with boards composed of directors with greater experience, especially experience in takeover attempts, appear less influenced by the impact of their interlocked directors. Second, governance policy is most affected by board interlocks when the interlocking directors serve on the governance committee in particular. Third, firms with busier boards seem more influenced by the presence of interlocking directors. And lastly, directors serving at firms whose governance practice most changed following the implementation of universal demand laws, which impose restrictions on shareholder litigation rights, have a greater impact on their interlocked firms.
The complete paper is available for download here.
Schulich study examines how supply disruption influences supplier selection
Share
A new study from York University’s Schulich School of Business has found that irrational feelings of guilt can play a larger than suspected role when it comes to selecting suppliers.
The study, titled “Supplier Selection in the Aftermath of a Supply Disruption and Guilt: Once Bitten, Twice (Not So) Shy,” showed that sourcing professionals who were responsible for selecting a supplier that had caused a supply disruption were more likely to recommend a higher-risk, higher-reward supplier next time around.
M. Johnny Rungtusanatham
The study, which is forthcoming in the journal Decision Sciences, was co-authored by M. Johnny Rungtusanatham, Canada Research Chair in Supply Chain Management at the Schulich School of Business, together with Thomas J. Kull and Mikaella Polyviou from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
As part of the study, the researchers invited sourcing professionals to participate in an experiment in which they were asked to choose between two suppliers for a new outsourcing opportunity following a consequential supply disruption for a different, previously outsourced component. Analyses of the experimental data revealed the following: sourcing professionals who were responsible for selecting the previously outsourced component that resulted in a supply disruption felt guilty and this guilt motivated them to recommend a higher-risk, higher-reward supplier over a lower-risk, lower-reward supplier.
“With data, models, and checks-and-balances in place, it is easy to fall into the trap of viewing supplier selection as a purely rational decision, unaffected by past events,” said Rungtusanatham. “But our research questions both premises. We should be mindful that decisions are still made by humans. To reduce exposure to future supply disruption risks, sourcing firms must ensure that the selection of a higher-risk, higher-reward supplier over other lower-risk, lower-reward options by a human decision-maker is not due to guilt over his or her previous supplier decision gone awry.”
Supplier selection remains a critical decision for effective supply management, added Rungtusanatham. “While there is plenty of advice on how to select suppliers, the task of supplier selection is not foolproof,” said Rungtusanatham. “Our research shows that once bitten by a disrupted supplier, sourcing professionals are not ‘twice shy’ about favouring riskier, more advantageous suppliers for new sourcing opportunities.”
The Schulich Executive Education Centre has partnered with the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) to offer a mini-MBA program to members of their community network.
The ONWA is a not-for-profit organization with a goal to empower and support all Indigenous women and their families in the province of Ontario through research, advocacy, policy development and programs that focus on local, regional and provincial activities.
The Schulich Executive Education Centre (SEEC) approached ONWA to offer a customized version of its nine-day Schulich Mini-MBA: Essentials of Management program designed for the specific needs of Indigenous leaders. SEEC’s mini-MBA delivers current MBA subjects in a practical time frame for busy managers. The modules of the mini-MBA provide essential, current knowledge in the top 13 MBA subjects – from marketing to finance and HR – in a practical time frame. To further customize the course so that it is relevant for Indigenous leaders, SEEC Program Director Wissam AlHussaini, professor of strategy in the Schulich School of Business, added sessions in policy and government, political acuity, community centricity and grant writing.
Rami Mayer, SEEC executive director, said working with OWNA was an important project that highlights SEEC’s efforts to work with diverse organizations. “Programs that have a positive impact on the community are important to us. This collaboration is special, and we will continue to support organizations such as ONWA because of their mission and incredible ability to reach out to the indigenous community.”
The program was successfully delivered to 28 participants from multiple Indigenous-based associations across Ontario. They included board members from ONWA, executive directors from Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, the Native Women’s Centre Hamilton-Wentworth Chapter of Native Women Incorporated, Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, Sunset Women’s Aboriginal Circle, Orillia Native Women’s Group, Beendigen, Kenora Anishinawbekweg, Moosonee Family Resource Centre, Nookomisnaang Shelter for Victims of Family Violence and the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle. Participants were challenged with a group capstone project designed to make a community impact. Some of the Capstone projects included innovative community-development solutions to help address housing, community infrastructure, local business development, food security, domestic violence, women and youth services.
“From my personal perspective I think that a powerful driver in how SEEC delivers 21st century learning is that they truly understand the challenges their students face,” said Andre Morriseau, communications manager for the OWNA. “Indigenous people have had to play catch-up for so long in a system that locked them out of the joy and accomplishment of higher education. By designing classes that included the comfort of culture while building classes into their students’ daily work lives supported by their employers, higher learning became something to look forward to rather than a burden.
“SEEC’s virtual learning platform offered a link to new ideas while keeping a pace that said these people are serious about education,” added Morriseau. “There was no time to linger or daydream. When you’re working in a Schulich virtual classroom environment you better be committed to learning because you don’t want to waste a moment of the opportunity.”
Schulich School of Business ranked among world’s Top 20 in CNN ranking
Share
The Schulich School of Business at York University was ranked 17th in the world and No. 1 in Canada in the annual global MBA survey conducted by CNN Expansión.
In addition to placing 17th overall, Schulich finished ninth among business schools in North America. Harvard ranked first overall in the 2021 survey, with the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago taking second spot and INSEAD placing third.
The CNN Expansión “Best Global MBAs” is the premier global survey conducted by a Latin American-based business media outlet. The survey rates leading MBA programs from around the world using a broad range of criteria, including Academic Quality, Return on Investment and Global Value. The survey employs a predominantly statistical-based methodology to rank business schools, with points awarded in key areas of measurement such as international scope and orientation, average GMAT, post-MBA average salary and average salary percentage increase, and faculty research output.
“We’re pleased to have been rated by a major global survey as one of the top 20 business schools in the world,” said Schulich Dean Detlev Zwick. “(The) CNN Expansión survey results mark the fifth time this past year that one of Schulich’s MBA or EMBA programs has been ranked No. 1 in Canada in a global survey.”
York University’s Schulich Leader Scholarship recipients share passion for solving global challenges
Share
Two graduating high-school students from the Greater Toronto Area are headed to York University this fall to begin their studies in engineering with the help of the Schulich Leader Scholarship program.
Above, from left: Aryan Soni and Kiara Mavalwala
Incoming Lassonde School of Engineering students Aryan Soni and Kiara Mavalwala are among the 100 students chosen from across Canada this year to receive the Schulich Leader Scholarship for undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). There were 1,400 nominations this year, from a larger pool of 350,000 high-school candidates. The Schulich Leader Scholarship is awarded to students entering university studies in science, technology, engineering or math who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, charisma and creativity.
Soni is receiving $80,000 over four years to pursue computer science studies at Lassonde. As student body president at Heart Lake Secondary School, he launched a school-wide charitable initiative in collaboration with Samsung to support SickKids. He also co-founded a charity that sponsors underprivileged students in India, raising enough funds to sponsor tuition for 15 students to date. In 2020 he founded Ultrain Athletics, an e-commerce business that addressed the rising demand for at-home fitness products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Soni hopes to one day launch an artificial intelligence startup to democratize algorithmic investing.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the Schulich Foundation, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Lassonde School of Engineering for this incredible opportunity,” said Soni. “With the backing of this scholarship, I look forward to employing my passion for computer science to facilitate positive change.”
Mavalwala is receiving $100,000 over four years to pursue engineering, also at Lassonde. A graduate of St. Augustine Catholic High School, Mavalwala was an executive at her school’s chapter of Best Buddies and was instrumental in transitioning its activities online. This ensured students with and without disabilities remained engaged at a time when they most needed an inclusive space. In her role as president at youth organization Project 5K, she championed several volunteer events, resulting in more than 70 students participating in free online tutoring, more than 850 items being donated to local shelters and 1,200 Valentine’s Day cards being sent to essential workers – all while challenged with the pandemic. A decade from now, Mavalwala hopes to be working as an engineer and to be the CEO of an engineering startup to eradicate water advisories in Indigenous communities across Canada.
“I’m excited to be working alongside bright minds at the Lassonde School of Engineering where the sky is the limit,” said Mavalwala.
“We are proud to celebrate 10 years of Schulich Leader Scholarships, the premiere STEM scholarship program in Canada and the world,” said the program’s founder Seymour Schulich. “This group of 100 outstanding students will represent the best and brightest Canada has to offer and will make great contributions to society, both on a national and global scale. With their university expenses covered, they can focus their time on their studies, research projects, extracurriculars and entrepreneurial ventures. They are the next generation of entrepreneurial-minded technology innovators.”
Schulich Leader Scholarships Canada
Recognizing the increasing importance and impact that STEM disciplines will have on the prosperity of future generations, businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich established this $100+ million scholarship fund in 2012 to encourage our best and brightest students to become Schulich Leader Scholars: the next generation of entrepreneurial-minded technology innovators.
Through the Schulich Foundation, these prestigious entrance scholarships were awarded to 100 high-school graduates this year, enrolling in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics undergraduate program at 20 partner universities in Canada. Every high school in Canada can submit one Schulich Leader nominee per academic year based on academic excellence in STEM, entrepreneurial leadership and financial need.
Lisa de Wilde appointed Schulich’s Bell Media Professor in Media Management
Share
Lisa de Wilde
Lisa de Wilde
Media and business executive Lisa de Wilde has been appointed Bell Media Professor in Media Management in the Arts, Media and Entertainment Management (AM&E) program at the Schulich School of Business at York University. The appointment by Interim Dean Detlev Zwick is effective July 1 and was announced by program co-directors Ken Rogers and Trina McQueen.
She succeeds McQueen, who in the role initiated the Bell Media Chair in 2004. McQueen will continue her service to AM&E as co-director of the program.
De Wilde’s Order of Canada citation calls her work in media “transformative.” She has been a pioneer in both television and digital media, most recently leading a fundamental reset of TV Ontario (TVO) as its CEO. The creator of TV Ontario, former premier William Davis, called her “a pivotal leader … who transformed TVO into a modern digital, online and on-demand leader in learning and current affairs, at a time of significant transition for the entire broadcast and educational sectors.” At TVO, de Wilde also set and achieved significant objectives for diversity, in programming and in staffing.
Earlier in her career, at Astral Television Networks, she played a central role in the development of Canada’s pay TV system with the introduction of movie channels and the launch of pay-per-view products.
As a current board member of TELUS Inc., she is part of critical decisions that are shaping Canadian access to the digital world.
“The world’s next great set of leaders in digital, media and creative industries are emerging from programs like the AM&E MBA at Schulich,” says de Wilde. “To have the opportunity to learn with, work with and grow with these outstanding future leaders is something I have looked forward to. Thank you to Schulich and to those who’ve come before us here to help establish such a world-class program.”
After graduating from McGill Law School, de Wilde joined the legal department of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission and after seven years left to join a major law firm, before moving to Astral.
She has been a strong advocate for Canadian cultural industries, and served for 19 years on the Board of the Toronto International Film Festival, including a three-year term as Chair of the Board. Her current board memberships include the Asia Pacific Foundations of Canada, Toronto global and École de danse comtemporaine de Montreal. She is regularly called on as an adviser to industry groups.
De Wilde was named to the Order of Canada in 2016, and has received two honorary LLDs from Ryerson University and Brandon University. Other honours include WXN “Most Powerful Women: Top 100” and the Queen Elizabeth 11 Diamond Jubilee Award.
“The appointment of Professor de Wilde brings a tremendous amount of talent to the table,” said Rogers. “Her breadth of knowledge combined with her extensive experience and creativity will inspire students, enrich our program, forge fresh relationships with the arts and media community, and help take the program in exciting new directions.”
Schulich MBA students earn second place at national competition
Share
Abhay Punia (MBA ’22) and Rohan Gupta (MBA ‘22)
MBA students Abhay Punia and Rohan Gupta at York University’s Schulich School of Business placed second at this year’s nationwide competition for visualization and data storytelling, the Deloitte, Tableau and CIBC Data VizArt Student Challenge.
MBA students Abhay Punia and Rohan Gupta
This case competition brought together students from institutions across Canada with talent in STEM, arts, communications and business. The competition was held in three phases: a preliminary round consisting of online submissions; a qualifying round for the top five submissions; and a final pitch presentation to the panel of judges. Powered by Tableau Software, sponsored by CIBC and Deloitte, each team was judged for their innovation, design, storytelling, analytical and presentation skills.
“Harnessing the power of data visualization allows executives to communicate clear and meaningful messages about the relationships between the data,” said Joe Fayt, marketing instructor and case competition coach. “We are grateful to Tableau, CIBC and Deloitte for making this learning opportunity available to our students.”
“The Schulich MBA gave us the right tools, insights, and aptitude to problem-solve and stand out against our competitors,” said Abhay. “Throughout our courses, we learned how to reframe a problem in a way that could lead to a logical solution that would not have been thought of by prima facie looking at the problem.”
Study finds businesses in cities with severe air pollution more likely to inflate bottom line
Share
A new study co-authored by Charles H. Cho, professor of accounting and the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business and Sustainability at York University’s Schulich School of Business, has found that businesses located in cities with severe air pollution are more likely to cook the books.
The study, titled “Contaminated Heart: Does Air Pollution Harm Business Ethics?,” showed that companies operating in cities with elevated levels of air pollution exhibit a greater likelihood of restating their financial statements and manipulating earnings to inflate their bottom line.
Charles Cho
The research paper is co-authored Cho together with Zhongwei Huang, senior lecturer at City, University of London’s Cass Business School; Siyi Liu, assistant professor of accounting at the University of International Business and Economics; and Daoguang Yang, assistant professor of accounting at the University of International Business and Economics.
The study, which is forthcoming in the Journal of Business Ethics, revealed how the ecological environment can shape business ethics and analyzed data from a large number of companies in China.
“Air pollution is one of the greatest challenges faced by business and society,” said Cho, the study’s lead author. “We wanted to analyze how environmental degradation – in this case, air pollution – carries with it ethical, economic and social costs. These costs can negatively impact capital allocation and social welfare.
“Given that unethical financial reporting has an adverse effect on the value of a business as well as the public’s trust in that business, our research has relevant implications for shareholders and other market participants,” added Cho.
