inside the organisation, those who are strong institution builders. I see many schools where women carry a lot of the institutional responsibilities; not necessarily with the spotlight on them, nor with the titles associated with it. Moreover, they will not always raise their hand and be active candidates when a recruitment search starts. Keeping an eye out for talent that is already inside the organisation and not being blinded by confident, external, visible candidates can help fill the pipeline.” Wendy Loretto “Getting more women to stay in the pipeline, to get through to professorial level, is one thing all deans, male or female, should be focusing on. I would like to think we’re getting slightly better at it because when we do accreditation visits, you do see the percentage of female professors increasing. We can change the status quo by saying, ‘You don’t have to do things the same way’. Sometimes a barrier to promotion to chair level is not having an international reputation because you haven’t been travelling – if you’ve got any sort of caring responsibilities, those opportunities may be limited. We need to challenge promotion criteria to say there are other ways of developing an international presence – it doesn’t have to mean you’re never home.” Barbara Stöttinger “One of the excuses I often hear is, ‘Where are all these women? We would like to appoint them, but can’t find them.’ Research and my personal experience suggest that women need two types of networks: one that’s mixed and in their industry and one that’s purely female, where you can talk about issues, exchange ideas and support each other as role models. This is something that gives females in management and leadership positions greater visibility. Then if we are asked, ‘Is there anybody in your network that you can suggest?’, you have a very wide pool of trusted individuals you can put forward. The excuse of ‘there aren’t any suitable women’ is simply not valid anymore.” How best can we ensure there are more women at board level in business? Wendy Loretto “I think better progress has probably been made on corporate boards than in business schools, so perhaps we could learn from that. For example, there’s the 30% Club and high-profile lobbyists who really make
certain way [due to the lack of female representation] and people think they can use that situation for their own political agenda. Be aware of the fact that you’re in the spotlight; everybody is looking at us and they don’t all appreciate that we’re here. We are probably stepping on some people’s toes and we might get more attention because we are female deans, rather than if a male colleague were to do the same thing. Another very important strategy, I’ve found, is resilience.” What strategies can business schools employ to attract a greater number of female deans? Cathy Cassell “I think being a business school dean is a great job; I really enjoy it. What worries me is sometimes we might put other people off by the way we talk about it. Women assume the role has long hours, that it doesn’t fit very well with having a family. It’s really important that, as role models, we talk about it positively. We need to let them know how wonderful it is being a dean and how great it is to work internationally, be passionate about your school and interact with really talented people. We female deans need to talk about being deans in a way that makes it sound appealing to women. The fact that all of us are doing it shows that it’s attractive and that women can do it.” Delphine Manceau “Relatable role models are key, especially for younger colleagues. I also think it’s important to develop mentoring for female faculty from any generation. Personally, I have a rule when we have a search committee that there should be male and female candidates in the proposal. I think this changes the perspective of search committee members and they realise it is possible. For any recruitment process, for any job with responsibility, it’s important to have a diversity of profiles – and not just gender‑based diversity.” challenges that women face. Among other things, I don’t think we should focus on care responsibilities as specifically related to women – there are lots of women who choose not to take on that kind of responsibility and an increasingly large number of men taking on childcare and other family duties, often by stepping back in their own careers. Again, I think a mission-driven focus and our ability to make a difference as deans is an extremely attractive part of this job – it makes the compromises and intensity that the role requires worth it.” Catherine Duggan “We need to expand our notion of the opportunities and Marion Debruyne “I’m a first-generation student, so becoming a business school dean is like science fiction for me. My recommendation to search committees would be to look at the women who are already
sure businesses pay attention. But that’s still not enough and maybe part of the solution is getting ourselves as deans on boards, bringing in some of the things we’ve already talked about: being role models and mentoring other
14 | Ambition | MAY 2024
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