Better balance with International Women’s Day 2019

Since its beginnings in Denmark in 1911, the driving ethos behind International Women’s Day (IWD) has been to seek equality between genders in all aspects of life. The theme for 2019, #balanceforbetter, aims to reinforce the organisation’s push for a more gender-balanced world, with a particular focus on raising awareness against gender related bias in the workplace.

As many of us in the business world are acutely aware, gender balance is an issue which still requires a great deal of attention and focus. As the IWD website states: ‘The race is on for the gender-balanced boardroom, a gender-balanced government, gender-balanced media coverage, a gender-balance of employees, more gender-balance in wealth, gender-balanced sports coverage.’

Part of this focus lies in strengthening the roles of women in business, and in 2019 the IWD team is encouraging the adoption of a more harmonious workplace; reminding us that gender balance is an issue of equal importance to business and society as a whole, not only for women.

Balancing the books

Recent figures published by the McKinsey Global Institute suggest that 12 trillion dollars could be added to the global economy by 2025 by advancing the equality of women in the workplace and closing outdated gender gaps - representing an increase of 11% in global GDP. So, clearly, recognising and eradicating gender disbalance in the workplace is a route to a better world for us all.

If you’d like to follow in the footsteps of some of LSBF’s successful female business graduates, here are a few words to get you inspired:

“Earning my MBA degree while remaining part of the professional network at McKinsey was the only outcome I was prepared to settle for!”

Alex Hang Tran, Global MBA

“I think that having a broad mix of people from all points across the globe lends great value and great insight to this programme, because you have a real sense of studying within a community. This programme made me realise how important it is to open yourself up to other perspectives.”

Sue Freeman, MSc in Marketing

“In the meantime, I started my own business, and it was interesting to see that I can apply some of the knowledge I acquired in my own business to my studies. Now my company has 16 employees, and we are growing year on year.”

Ana Monika Stanel, MSc in Strategic Marketing

Don’t forget to support International Women’s Day on 08 March by using the hashtag #balanceforbetter. You can also find out more about IWD events that are taking place near you by following this link.