In the spirit of International Women’s Day, we want to highlight some of our female alumnae from a variety of backgrounds and what their thoughts are on women in the workplace. Additionally, they share why they believe our programmes, and commitment to diversity, helped them achieve their goals.
Saphina Zhuge, a Masters in Financial Analysis (MFA) 2017 graduate, believes that “the world needs more acceptance”, and that whilst society and the world of business is tolerant, “we need to step beyond that and embrace diversity”. Reflecting on her time studying the MFA, Saphina thinks that “it’s important that institutions like LBS advocate for women in finance because the gender split is not equal. Education is key. Pushing for women in higher education and helping to secure a future generation of strong female leaders who can then become role models is critical.”
Similarly to Saphina, Margarita Economides, one of our Masters in Finance (MiF) Part-Time alumnae believes that the education on unconscious biases is important: “When you look at what women have to overcome in the workplace, I’d say the biggest hurdles are unconscious biases – those hard-wired, unspoken assumptions held by both genders that can make women more prone to doubt their skills than men.” LBS are committed to challenging these hurdles in the workplace, especially unconscious biases as, “everything in the School is built around an openness and willingness to engage and exchange ideas, and this extends into the alumni community, too.” This openness and commitment to diversity at LBS helps our alumni in their studies but also beyond in their careers.
Eva-Maria Olbers, one of our Masters in Management (MiM) alumnae sheds light on the student network she gained from her time at LBS. Eva-Maria states that “I believe that women should hold together, giving and receiving support from each other. My LBS network works this way.”
The networks gained at LBS are so diverse that, as Brynne Herbert highlights, they can become a source of strength when pursuing new career options. Brynne Herbert, who is one of our MBA alumni, says that “London Business School, with its international outlook, diverse student body and entrepreneurial offerings, gave me the knowledge, and the courage, to pursue my start-up.”
The offerings at LBS are truly unique at all levels, from our Early Careers programmes to our Leadership programmes. Mariam Almoosawi, graduating from our 2020 Executive MBA Global – Americas and Europe (EMBA-Global) programme says that, “the EMBA-Global programme has provided me with the knowledge on how to plan, execute, and start running a business.”
LBS are committed to recruiting more women onto our range of degree programmes and helping them to advance their careers. To read more about how LBS supports women, please visit our women’s page. To find out more about our scholarships, please check our programme pages for more information.