When beauty retailer Sephora undertook a major initiative to confront the impact of racial bias on its employees and customers, the company turned to Case Western Reserve University sociology professor Cassi Pittman Claytor. After all, she did write the book on the consumer experiences of the modern Black middle class.
In addition to creating training materials for its corporate and store-based employees, Pittman Claytor led a data-driven research effort to provide deep and rich insights into how racism affects the corporation’s customers and employees—and, ultimately, the bottomline.
Her research expertise landed her on Business Insider’s list of “100 people transforming business.”
At CWRU, Pittman Claytor teaches an undergraduate course on economic sociology and race and racism and tasks her students with becoming stronger critical thinkers.
“I want students to look at the data, to find patterns, and to use those insights to question and probe and be critical,” she says.
Transforming business AND providing a transformative education. Yes, please.