Women In, and Beyond, Business Schools

This important book in the EFMD series shines a light on women (and sometimes the absence of them) within business schools, as well as their contributions and impact across multiple spheres within and beyond their schools.

Despite the clear rationale for promoting sustainable gender equity, the experiences of women in business schools differs relative to male counterparts across geographies, student populations, faculty, professional staff and leaders in business schools. In this book, contributions from leading business school thinkers provide deep insight on gender equity to determine what hinders and accelerates progress in creating gender diverse and inclusive schools. Chapters both celebrate the progress of women in business schools and provide rich narratives that deepen insights into the lived experiences of women contributing both to, and beyond, business schools. At the same time, the volume serves as a sobering reminder business schools still have a long way to go before they can be used as exemplars in attracting diverse talents in all their forms and creating inclusive, equitable environments that role model the ideals that we advocate for business and society.

The breadth and depth of contributions made by women as leaders, scholars and practitioners serve as an inspiration and guide as to how business schools can become more gender equitable for business school deans and professors.

Eric Cornuel has been President of EFMD Global since 2000. An alumnus of Sciences Po Paris and HEC Paris, he earned his PhD from Paris Dauphine University. His influence extends to co-founding and governing various international organisations, such as PRME, CEIBS, GRLI, HigherEd, and ITP. Eric holds fellowships at esteemed institutes and has been honoured with Doctorate Honoris Causas from Koźmiński University and ESCP Business School.

Nicola Kleyn is an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in South Africa. Formerly she was Dean of GIBS and Dean of Executive Education at Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands. Nicola’s teaching and research are focused on corporate branding, reputation, and latterly, the theme of academic leadership.

Howard Thomas is an Emeritus Professor of Strategy at Singapore Management University (SMU) and former dean at leading business schools including SMU, Warwick Business School (UK) and the College of Business at UIUC (Illinois, USA). He is currently a special advisor to the CEO of EFMD.

Matthew Wood is the editor of Global Focus, an international business magazine and the flagship publication of EFMD. Prior to his various roles at EFMD, he was a project manager with the UK-based charity Operation Raleigh (in Namibia) and he has also held management positions in advertising (with the Omnicom Group) and in the service industry.