April Sellers is the Pam Meyer Yttri Director of Kinsey-Kelley Center for Gender Equity in Business and a clinical professor of business law and ethics. She attended the (now) Maurer School of Law and Ohio Wesleyan University and joined the Kelley School of Business in 2015 after a career as a litigator with a large law firm.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
By far, my favorite part is connecting with students in a way where we learn from each other—not just in teaching them content, but by learning new ways of looking at things from class discussion. Over years of teaching the course, I’ve learned how eager students are to understand the law better. From reading the news or looking at legal documents, the law can seem very confusing and esoteric.
What can students expect from your Kelley Direct online MBA courses?
Kelley faculty are top-notch: experienced, knowledgeable in their field, and committed to students. Over years of teaching the course, I’ve learned how eager students are to understand the law better. From reading the news or looking at legal documents, the law can seem very confusing and esoteric. One goal of the class is to make it more relatable to the students’ everyday lives: for example, principles of contract law can be pretty abstract, but learning about what makes a non-compete enforceable (or not) is very useful and something most students can apply to their professional lives. Similarly, in the area of business ethics, by studying businesses that went through a crisis, students can learn some concrete skills for tough discussions in their careers. I love hearing students share their own stories about how they have learned what helps them make ethical decisions, or how they have spoken up at certain times when something concerned them.
What is some advice you would give to students about work/life balance? What do you tell your students how best to manage their time to be successful?
Let me know when you figure it out so I can follow it! I don’t think of a balance as a place to arrive at; it’s a daily battle to meet all of life’s obligations and it never really goes away. Instead, take it day-by-day, week-by-week. I love setting a timer all day long, for about 25 to 45-minute increments, to help stay focused. Decide for yourself why you’re in the program—write that down and remind yourself of that. It’s different for everyone.
Tell us about your work with the Kinsey-Kelley Center for Gender Equity in Business. Why is this important to you? How does it make an impact in equitability at Kelley and in their future business careers?
The Kinsey-Kelley Center for Gender Equity in Business works in three areas: research, student-facing initiatives, and outreach. I’m really proud of the regular faculty workshops we host at Kelley to highlight the impactful research happening in the area of gender and business: issues of the pay gap and pregnancy discrimination, for example. My colleagues and I have spoken to groups of students, as well as academic and organizational leaders about best practices surrounding gender in the workplace. As the Center approaches its second birthday, we’ve got a lot of initiatives planned for further ways to amplify the work that needs to be done. While more women are certainly represented in leadership, the gap remains enormous: only about 10 %t of Chief Operating or Chief Executive Officers are women; about 1 in 4 C-suite leaders are women, and only about 1 in 16 are women of color.
I love discussing these issues with students, and I’ve learned from students sharing their own stories of hoping to rise higher against obstacles in their own organizations.
How do you keep students engaged in an online classroom?
It’s not always easy to make, say, the law of contracts engaging. I rely a lot on current events; there are lots of unexpected connections to our material in the news or even in fiction. It’s helpful for students to jump into discussions during our online sessions.
What do you tell your students if/when they ask about accelerating their career?
When those conversations happen, we discuss why they are thinking of making a change or pursuing some particular path—again, it looks different for everyone. A theme, perhaps, is to make sure it’s their goal and not someone else’s.
I advise students to keep an eye on why they’re getting their MBA and, if they’re struggling, to explore exactly why. The curriculum can be challenging: if you’re doing it because someone else wants you to do it, you’re unlikely to be successful. And be aware of which topics are more likely to cause you to stumble: are you an excellent reader? Great with numbers? Are you having trouble finding focused time at home to do the work without interruption? All of that is understandable; but don’t ignore whatever a stumbling block might be, and let’s work on finding ways to improve it.
What is something people may not understand about online learning?
It does require pacing over time—it’s not a good idea to try to work ahead. Instead, think of yourself as learning in step with others over the long term.
What is something most people don’t know about you?
I love to bake and have a ridiculously (mostly useless) memory for cookbooks, which I sort of read like novels.
Your book recommendation for MBAs?
I love book recommendations! Some favorites are How Boards Work by Dambisa Moyo; any fiction by Zadie Smith or George Sanders (I think fiction teaches us a lot about life); and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman