Christina Abdou: Creating a Multicultural Business Community
For Christina Abdou, even the task of selling cookies as a young Girl Scout became a family activity with her mom, dad and two younger sisters banding together to sell those iconic Girl Scout Cookies. Her mom even implemented a new sales tactic: selling four boxes for twenty dollars. The cost per box remained unchanged, but that small adjustment in language made sales skyrocket!
Seeking out community
Having been raised in a tight-knit family unit, Christina grew up understanding the intrinsic value of community. That sense of community, connection and support is something she continues to seek out in new opportunities and, now, she’s leaving a legacy of community right here at the University of San Diego.
As a senior at USD studying business administration and real estate, Christina is an active member of the Real Estate Society and Entrepreneurship Club, where she first began connecting with niche student communities on campus. She’s also gearing up to compete at a national collegiate sales competition this month with the Knauss School of Business’ Sales Team.
It’s clear that Christina is determined to make the most of her student experience at USD, but before she graduates in May, there’s one more project she felt compelled to undertake before heading out into the so-called “real world.” And that is spearheading a new community for business students — a community that encourages students to fully express their cultural identities and also teaches them about the role that identity and cultural norms play in business interactions.
The multicultural perspective
As a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Palestine, Christina has grown to understand the complexities of practicing Middle Eastern cultural traditions at home while also applying American norms at school and in the workplace.
“My first language was Arabic and I was really involved in my culture and its community. Being at USD has really highlighted for me the differences between American culture and the culture I was raised with. I realized that there were things I would do around my Middle Eastern friends that I wouldn’t do with my American friends,” says Christina.
Christina’s mother once explained to her the concept of a melting pot society versus a “tossed salad” community — a concept that really resonated with her. In a melting pot society, people assimilate into the dominant culture. By contrast, in a “tossed salad” society, individual cultural identities are preserved while also being part of a greater national identity. As she met new friends at USD who came from multicultural backgrounds, it was this latter concept that Christina kept in mind.
“I started to learn more about other cultures in my business classes such as Global Marketing. And I met friends here at USD who are from other countries or are first-generation Americans and they would share with me their stories about their cultures and experiences they’ve had in multicultural environments,” said Christina.
In the spirit of creating a space where individual identities are celebrated both in the classroom and in business, Christina founded the Minorities in Business student club. The club has two objectives: first, to educate students about intercultural exchanges in business and, second, to celebrate the cultures of their peers here at the Knauss School of Business.
Minorities in Business: a new club on campus
Last semester, Christina began laying the groundwork for Minorities in Business. She secured the club’s staff advisors, Maya Sykes and Gelsey Thomas, both student professional development managers in the Knauss School of Business’ Student Success Center. She registered the club with Torero Orgs and introduced it at this spring’s Alcalá Bazaar, where she quickly connected with many interested students.
What surprised her was the diversity of students who wanted to learn more. Not only were business students eager to join, but psychology majors, political science majors and graduate students were also asking Christina what the club was all about and how they could get involved. Although the club focuses on cross-cultural interactions in the business world, students of all majors and backgrounds are welcome to join, especially those who feel that their identity is underrepresented in business.
Although Christina will have graduated before getting to see the club up and running with a full roster of members, she is already looking forward to returning to campus next year as an alumna to support the club in any way she can.
Before she leaves USD, there are a couple more things she hopes to accomplish with Minorities in Business. Her first priority is working with the club’s advisors and executive board members to define a clear mission and develop a strong structure from which the club can flourish. She’s also speaking with faculty in hopes of putting together an event for students this semester featuring a panel of professors who will speak about cross-cultural communications and interactions in business.
Christina’s grand vision for the club is for it to be like an affinity group or employee resource group at a company, where such groups help employees develop tight-knit communities and support systems within a larger organization.
“My ultimate goal for the Minorities in Business club is for us to help USD become an even more inclusive, welcoming campus and to grow into a community that helps students feel connected and supported in business.”
USD students interested in joining Minorities in Business can sign up here: https://sandiego.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/minoritiesinbusiness
— Gabrielle Horta