Tinsley among representatives at White House convening on women in business

On Wednesday, August 5, Georgetown University Women’s Leadership Institute Executive Director and Center for Business and Public Policy Senior Scholar Catherine Tinsley, along with the McDonough School of Business Dean David Thomas, attended a convening of business schools hosted by the White House to discuss Expanding Opportunities for Women in Business. The Council on Women and Girls and the Council of Economic Advisers hosted the event, focusing on opportunities for the business community and business schools to work together to ensure success for women in business. The event brought together leaders from the business and business school communities as well as other stakeholders for a conversation on recruiting, training, and retaining leaders and the importance of implementing family-friendly policies.

This event at the White House offered an opportunity to address key issues facing women in business and discuss best practices for business schools to combat these issues. The topics discussed included that undergraduate women are currently about 30 percent less likely than male undergraduates to major in business. Additionally, while men and women in MBA programs have fairly similar earnings at graduation, after 5 years, men earn approximately 30 percent more than women, and after 10 or more years, this gap stretches to 60 percent. Best practices highlighted building a business school experience that prepares students for the workforce of tomorrow, ensures career services that go beyond the needs of traditional students, and exemplifies how organizations should be run.

“It was extraordinarily gratifying for me to see the critical importance of getting more women into business and business schools being discussed at the highest levels of both business and government. As we continue to brainstorm ways in which to change both the structure and content of business school curricula I am confident that we will attract more women and deliver a better experience for both genders.” – Catherine Tinsley, GUWLI Executive Director