Executive education for women is gaining ground in Spain. That is the conclusion that can be drawn from the progress made on gender equality at the country’s business schools, especially ESADE, whose MBA was named best in Spain and Europe for future female executives this year by the Financial Times. This milestone came in a year in which the school saw record enrolment by women on its executive MBA, where they account for 40% of all students, 10% more than the global average, according to the 2017 Executive MBA Council Survey.

The Top 50 MBAs for Women list is based on the gender-diversity results of the newspaper’s global MBA ranking. In this year’s edition, ESADE ranked first in Spain and Europe, and 11th worldwide, due, in part, to the salary increases of its women graduates (#3 in Europe), their career development (#4 in Europe and #10 in the world) and their international mobility (#10 in the world). FT also recognised the programme’s academic excellence, ranking it #3 in the world in the percentage of women on the faculty.

According to Eugenia Bieto, an associate professor in ESADE’s Department of Strategy and General Management, ‘Although times are changing, society in general has not advanced enough in terms of women’s access to positions of responsibility under equal conditions.’ ‘Women account for the majority of undergraduate students,’ she continued, ‘but the percentage of female students deciding to pursue an MBA or any type of management degree remains very low.’ She added, ‘I invite women to take the step and demonstrate their readiness to hold positions of great responsibility.’

ESADE Women

At ESADE specifically, the gender gap is shrinking. Women currently account for 32% of students on the school’s Full-Time MBA programme and 40% of students on its Executive MBA programme. The institution is also carrying out numerous projects to promote gender equality both inside and outside the classroom. One such project is ESADE’s participation, for the sixth consecutive year, as an academic partner in Promociona, a joint initiative of the Women’s Institute for Equal Opportunities and the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Associations (CEOE). The initiative is intended to strengthen participants’ leadership skills and competencies. To date, more than 400 women have taken part in its classes. 

In the area of research and social debate, this year also saw the publication of the second edition of the ESADE Gender Monitor, a survey on gender balance in the business world. The latest edition of the survey focuses on the importance of professional networks in the development of women’s executive careers. Another key achievement was the presentation of the ESADE Institute for Social Innovation report Investment with a Gender Perspective, which analysed the funding formulas used by social enterprises founded by women throughout Europe.

Contribution to social debate

In addition, ESADE has endorsed the #DóndeEstánEllas protocol, which the European Parliament  is using to promote gender equality at public events. ESADE is the only business school involved in the initiative, which brings together various think tanks, institutions, associations and civil-society organisations with the aim of encouraging women to participate in public debates, lectures and communication events, whilst also increasing the visibility of their role and their contribution to the progress of the European Union. “There are spaces in the professional world in which women are conspicuously absent. Our duty is to put an end to this situation and to provide increasingly more role models for the professional women of today and tomorrow’, said Bieto. 

In 2016, ESADE also joined the #HeForShe campaign, an initiative launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that promotes the advancement of women in various spheres of society.