March 8th is International Women’s Day and the theme this year is ‘Generation Equality’. In honour of this, PRiMEtime will focus in on several schools celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality. In their most recent SIP report, Munich Business School in Germany outlines several specific initiatives in place to support and promote women not just within their own campus but in their wider community as well. Here are a selection of these initiatives.
- Women on campus: At Munich Business School, the proportion of female students and staff has been on a high and balanced level for years. In the fall term of 2018-2019, 47% of all enrolled students and 46% of all professors and lectures were female. Furthermore, two thirds of the leading and managing positions in the school’s administration are held by women. Further details on measures put in place with regard to diversity and equality are outlined in their report including measures assuring the compatibility of family and career and measuring assuring compatibility of family and studies. The school also has a Women in Leadership Scholarship awarded every year.
- Unemployed women: Munich Business School supports the employment initiative “JOBFIT fürs Office” (translated jobfit for office) which is part of a municipal government project. The initiative currently assists and qualifies more than 2,500 permanently unemployed women with experience in the field of administrative work, helping them to re-enter the employment market. From 2013 until now, more than 20 women have successfully completed an internship at MBS.
- Preparing immigrant and unemployed women: The business school supports another project translated as “Women at work and school”. It supports female immigrants in achieving their professional goals through consulting, orientation and qualification. The target group includes women trying to re-enter the job market after their maternal leave, women seeking their first job in Germany, women seeking further education as well as unemployed women. In this context, four women have already completed her internship at MBS. In July 2019, 32 currently unemployed women with migration background took part in various MBS workshops focused on personal and professional development and had the opportunity to network with and learn from MBS staff.
- Preparing female graduates: In March 2019, Munich Business School announced its new partnership with Wellesley College, an all-female private liberal arts university located in the USA. Part of the cooperation includes the opportunity for female MBS students to participate in the summer program of the Contemporary Women’s Leadership (CWL) Institute designed to support undergraduates in their transition from the classroom to the working world. Participating students choose two courses, and then apply their learnings through a hands-on experiential week with professionals in fields ranging from tech to politics to business. Just recently, Munich Business School awarded the first Wellesley full scholarship to one of its Bachelor The scholarship provides room and board during the above-mentioned summer program and also includes an internship at Wellesley College.
- Women in Leadership Initiative: Initiated in 2017 by former MBA student and MBS employee Dima Raffi, the project plays an increasingly important role in empowering (future) female leaders and raising awareness for the importance of equal opportunities in the business community. One of the events was a Women in Leadership Podium with panellists from the business and academic world discussing diversity in management positions and how this is key to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Another event was Girl’s Day, an opportunity for female pupils from a local school to visit Munich Business School to learn more about typically male-dominated subjects such as finance.
- Participating in community events: Faculty at MBS visited an event called Female Speak Up Night which showcases female entrepreneurs, business founders, and inspiring women in general who each share their success strategies, challenges and insights into their everyday professional life with the audience. They used this as an opportunity to gain some in-depth insights into the Women in Leadership topic as well as get in touch with some women in leadership. MBS has become a member of the Diversity Circle München, an employer’s initiative launched by SIXT.
- Speaking events: In the framework of the Women in Leadership initiative, MBS hosted the a number of speaking events including “Come as you are, love what you do”, featuring Anna Kopp, IT Director Germany at Microsoft, “How Diversity Drives Innovation” hosted by MBS professor Prof. Dr. Ellen Schmid, a book presentation of “Women and salary – How to negotiate calmly and successfully: by Claudia Irsfeld and a Business Breakfast with Anne-Kristin Streichele, Head of Regional Marketing at EY.
For more read Munich Business School’s latest Sharing Information on Progress Report
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