AUB’s diversity policy
The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/Title IX at AUB is committed to cultivating a vibrant and inclusive campus community that celebrates and respects the diverse identities, experiences, and perspectives of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Our dedication to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is deeply embedded in our mission and core values, and it plays a vital role in fostering educational excellence, enhancing employment opportunities, thereby effectively advancing our institutional goals.
As part of AUB’s commitment to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment, the Office of the President developed policies addressing Sexual Harassment, Non-Discrimination and Anti Discriminatory Harassment, and Consensual Sexual or Romantic Relationships. The policies aim at promoting a safe, respectful and ethical work and academic environment in which members of the AUB community are free from discrimination and discriminatory harassment related to a Protected Trait, and from sexual harassment of all types. They also address and aim at regulating consensual sexual or romantic relationships that may give rise to a conflict of interest, to actual or apparent favouritism, negative bias, or exploitation.
To reflect its commitment to DEI, the Olayan School of Business adopted a DEI commitment statement: “The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut is committed to fostering an inclusive community which promotes a culture of diversity, equality, equity and inclusion. We strive to uphold an environment in which the rights and dignity of all its faculty, staff and students are respected. In order for OSB to remain a leading business school, we strive to continue making the above values embedded in all of our activities. We are committed to the implementation of transparent policies, practices and procedures that allow everyone to grow, flourish and develop a sense of belonging. We count on the support of the OSB community to ensure an inclusive workplace for all.”
The structure and function of AUB’s GEO
The GEO is an independent body at the Olayan School of Business and reports directly to the Dean. The GEO also liaises with other bodies at the university level such as the DEI/Title IX office. The long-term plan for the GEO is to institutionalise it within the Office of the Provost so that its functions cover the whole university, and not just the business school.
The main function of the GEO is to help OSB develop policies for equality between women and men, by supporting the development of Gender Equality plans, the monitoring of the implementation and the evaluation of the impact on the ground. The GEO is also in charge of increasing the visibility of the progress towards gender equality, in promoting knowledge exchanges, and sharing of best practices between the partner institutions within the global GEO network. The GEO benefits from the support of the senior and middle-level management at OSB and AUB who committed to put the necessary structures and resources in place to ensure continuity of actions beyond the scope of the TARGETED-MPI project. The GEO will also be responsible for the dissemination and exploitation of results to multiple internal and external stakeholders.
The GEO liaises with other bodies at the university such as the equity/Title IX office, and the newly established DEI office to make sure that the implementation goes smoothly.
Some of the Observatory’s functions include:
- Designing, evaluating and promoting equality policies within OSB. To this end, the GEO develops and monitors the implementation and evaluation of the GEP at OSB.
- Overseeing the yearly sex-disaggregated data collection and analysing results to identify areas that need to be addressed.
- Promoting the inclusion of the gender perspective in OSB research and teaching.
- Networking with civil society associations, institutes, observatories, government bodies and public institutions in the promotion of gender equality, representing OSB in these spaces.
- Increasing the awareness on gender equality among internal and external stakeholders and providing related training to OSB faculty, staff and students.
- Disseminating research and publications on gender and feminism.
- Monitoring the communication office work to promote GEPs implementation progress on the business school website, as well as on the Center of Inclusive Business and Leadership for Women social media accounts.
- Updating the business faculty and department chairs’ guidebooks to include the GEP policy recommendations.
- Preparing unconscious bias training to be offered to multiple audiences.
AUB’s GEO members and expertise
The GEO members are Dr. Fida Afiouni (Chair), Dr. Yasmeen Makarem (secretary), Ms. Mitra Tauk, Ms. Boushra Rahal, and Ms. Abir Sinno.
Dr. Fida Afiouni is an Associate Provost at AUB, a Professor of HRM, and an expert in gender, careers, and inclusive HR systems.
Dr. Yasmeen Makarem is the coordinator of the Master in HRM program and an Assistant Professor at AUB and an HRD and gender expert.
Ms. Mitra Tauk is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at AUB as well as Equity/Title IX Coordinator at AUB. She was recently promoted to DEI officer following AUB’s commitment to DEI.
Ms. Boushra Rahal is the Assistant to Provost for Academic Affairs and the Director of Institutional Accreditation at AUB.
Ms. Abir Sinno is the Manager of Strategic Initiatives at OSB.
Contact: For any questions about OSB’s GEO, please contact Prof. Fida Afiouni by email fa16@aub.edu.lb or by phone +9611350000 Ext. 2524
Upcoming GEO events
Date: March 2026
Title: Advancing Gender Equality in Business Schools in the MENA and Beyond
Target Audience: Educators, administrators, students, industry leaders, policy makers, NGOs, and CSOs.
Description: This event is meant to be an engaging and impactful online event dedicated to exploring and promoting gender equality in business schools across the MENA region and beyond. The event will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to share insights, strategies, and best practices for fostering an inclusive and equitable academic environment.
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