For most people, our ratio of female-to-male staff is simply staggering, especially given that many organisations still struggle to hire close to 50 per cent of female professors. More than 61 per cent of our employees are female, while among the academic faculty in the rectorate we are five women and four men. Colleagues ask how we have managed to accomplish that. My answer is: our culture and growth. To create an environment conducive to female leadership, we emphasise collaboration over competition. We recognise that women highly value collaborative spaces that encourage personal and professional growth. SPATIAL FLEXIBILITY FOR REMOTE WORKING IS A KEY FACTOR IU’s culture thrives on spatial flexibility, enabling our professors, managers and administrative staff to work remotely from various locations. This is made possible, in part, because a large proportion of teaching at IU “By embracing remote working arrangements, we open doors for highly qualified women who would be unable to relocate to another city” F GENDER DIVERSITY takes place online, reducing the need for physical presence on campus. By embracing remote working arrangements, we open doors for highly qualified women in remote positions, who would be unable to relocate to another city for a teaching or research position. The result is a vibrant and talented workforce, enriching our institution with their unique insights and experiences. I have never worked alongside so many brilliant women as here at IU and I feel so lucky to be part of this community. Given our growth in recent years, we have been able to provide ample opportunity for individual growth. We did not have to wait for leaders to retire and make room for women to succeed, but instead we faced a dire need of people in leadership roles. Our growth presented us with new and unstructured problems that needed tackling. That way, many young and ambitious women with good ideas had a chance to rise up the ranks. We see leaders as people who achieve results, challenge the status quo, foster collaboration, go the extra mile, care for their team and achieve successful alignment with collaborators. For young female professionals seeking a rewarding career in higher education, I offer the following advice based on my own experiences. Try to embrace diverse opportunities and explore various job roles during your educational journey. I, too, was fairly entrepreneurial when I was in college. I always had a couple of student jobs. I was even lucky enough that one of these took me to work in London for a few months, while another had me work summers in Greek and Spanish seaside resorts. During that time I learned a lot, but I remained fascinated by education and hoped to, one day, merge a management job with higher education. I am still fascinated by higher education as a professional service. There is so much room to create a fantastic
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Business Impact • ISSUE 3 • 2023
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