Cisco Systems begins offering career support to multicultural women when they’re still in college, granting $5,000 scholarships to qualifying female engineering students with diverse backgrounds and granting them interviews with hiring managers.

Everyone at this information technology and networking company submits an annual diversity and inclusion goal to their managers, which could encompass anything from heading up one of its 11 employee resource groups (several of which are dedicated to multicultural workers) to mentoring someone with a different racial or ethnic background, or maintaining a blog about diversity issues. To help its workforce do well, the company offers up to $10,000 in annual tuition assistance, plus free courses on management, technical and professional subjects. Multicultural women can request job rotations or foreign assignments to broaden their horizons, and those who are entry­-level managers may participate in the nine­-month JUMP program, which sharpens their leadership skills. Diverse managers and directors are also eligible to take part in 18-month programs that pair them with senior advocates, who explain the company’s unwritten rules and provide exposure to important contacts.

Chairman & CEO: John Chambers

CDO: Sandy Hoffman

Multicultural women represent…

13% of total employees

5% of corporate executives

5% of senior managers

7% of the top fifth of all earners

10% of all promotions to manager, senior manager or corporate executive in 2011

0% of the board of directors in 2011
 

What percentage of multicultural women employees participated in mentoring in 2011? Not answered

What percentage of multicultural women employees participated in affinity groups in 2011? 36%