The campaign to close the MBA gender gap continues to gather pace, with the University of Sydney Business School the latest organisation to offer a scholarship to complete the degree.
The School, together with the UN Women National Committee Australia, have once again partnered to offer a $60,000 MBA scholarship in a “united effort to promote women in leadership at the most senior levels of the nation’s public, corporate and not-for-profit sectors”.
READ: Australia’s Top Business Schools Join To Fight MBA Gender Imbalance
Applications for the scholarship for Semester 1, 2016 close 17 January 2016. Find out more and apply for the scholarship.
Women average between 30 – 35 percent of MBA participants in Australia and worldwide. A number of business schools have moved to address the gap with scholarships targeting women.
“Access to education is crucial to gender equality and the University of Sydney Business School has an opportunity to influence the gender equality agenda,” said Executive Director of the Australian National Committee for UN Women, Julie McKay.
“The Australian National Committee for UN Women is proud to partner with the Business School, and we are excited to be offering this scholarship for the fourth consecutive semester.
MBA Gender Gap Driven By ‘Alpha Males’
University of Sydney MBA Director Professor Guy Ford said many women believed that MBA programs were dominated by ‘alpha males’ and oriented towards technical skills such as accounting, finance and operations management
“We have tackled these stereotypes by striking a balance between personal, interpersonal and technical skill development and by focusing on experiential learning with regular and ongoing feedback on the student’s specific leadership skills and competencies,” Professor Ford said.
A significant milestone was achieved in July this year when the Business School attracted more women than men in the semester 2 commencing cohort – a first for business schools in Australia and for many around the world.
Dr Kim Johnstone, NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s Principal Demographer, was awarded the scholarship in July 2015.
She has worked extensively with women’s support services across Australia and is currently Vice-President of the Family Planning Association of NSW and the Australian Population Association.
“The UN Women Scholarship provides me with a platform for advocacy about gender equity and women’s issues – not just for women’s leadership, but for women’s rights generally,” Dr Johnstone said.
“I am developing the tools to apply my experience across a range of sectors in Australia and the Pacific,” she continued. “My ambition for the future is one where being a woman does not make it less likely to be a CEO, and where equity of gender, disability and ethnicity is a norm across workplaces, the home and society.
