The Financial Times has recognised ESADE as the best business school in Spain and Europe for professional women in its list of the top 50 MBAs for women, which is based on the gender-diversity results of the newspaper’s global MBA ranking. ESADE’s position at #11 in the global ranking is due in particular to the salary increase (#3 in Europe), career development (#4 in Europe and #10 in the world) and international mobility (#10 in the world) of the school’s Full-Time MBA graduates. The British newspaper also recognised the academic excellence of the programme, ranking it #3 in the world in percentage of women on the faculty.

Eugenia Bieto, Director General of ESADE, commented that the new Financial Times ranking provides important recognition for business schools’ efforts in recent years to foster gender diversity. “Although times are changing, society in general has not advanced enough in terms of women’s access to positions of responsibility under equal conditions,” commented Dr. Bieto. “Although women account for a majority of university graduates, the percentage of female students who decide to pursue an MBA or any type of management degree remains very low.” She added: “I would like to invite women to take the step and demonstrate their readiness to occupy positions of great responsibility.”

ESADE Women

At ESADE specifically, the gender gap is shrinking. At present, women account for 32% of students in the Full-Time MBA and 40% in the Executive MBA. In addition, the institution is carrying out numerous projects to promote gender equality both inside and outside the classrooms. One such project is ESADE’s participation as an academic partner in Promociona, an initiative promoted and developed by the Women’s Institute for Equal Opportunities and the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Associations (CEOE). The objective of Promociona is to strengthen participants’ leadership skills and competencies. To date, a total of more than 400 women have taken part in this project.

“The future of women in business has no limits,” commented Helene Nordgreen, a graduate of the ESADE MBA programme and Director of the ESADE Women in Business Club. “The MBA provides competitive advantages, increases the visibility of your professional career and provides access to top companies.” In particular, she noted, ESADE’s MBA “emphasises teamwork, the spirit of collaboration, the combination of various teaching methodologies and small class size.”

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

In addition, ESADE has joined the #DondeEstánEllas protocol, which the European Parliament is using to promote gender equality in public events. ESADE is the only business school involved in this 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, while also increasing the visibility of their role and their contribution to the progress of the European Union. In 2016, ESADE joined #HeForShe, an initiative launched by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that promotes the advancement of women is various spheres of society.