A recent MBA project at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School has unearthed insights into the dangers of humility at work. Clair Daly and Marie Fitzgibbon, executive MBA graduates of the school, sought to understand why female leaders are under-represented in certain industries, including technology, pharmaceuticals and finance, with the aim of exploring paths to a more equal environment for female professionals at the highest level. “Despite women making significant strides in various industries, their presence in top executive roles, especially in innovation-driven fields, is disproportionately low,” said Daly. “Our aim was to identify and understand the challenges women face ascending to these high‑level positions.” Their results support the findings of previous studies, indicating that men and women tend to exhibit different leadership styles. For example, men were seen to be confident and natural risk takers, while women were seen as being warm and considerate rather than authoritative. However, they also highlighted humbleness as a barrier for women. This trait was linked to a lack of confidence that prevents women from making big moves, scuppering their chances of being seen as a self-directed leader. “The revelation that humbleness is a significant barrier to female leadership was unexpected,” asserted Fitzgibbon. “This perception, tied to a lack of confidence, suggests that women might need to adopt more agentic, self-directed qualities to succeed in innovative environments. However, this is not about changing women’s inherent qualities but rather about fostering an environment that values diverse leadership styles.” The research project aims to raise self-awareness among aspiring female leaders and encourage companies to provide education, support and mentorship to close the leadership gap. It involved interviews with global leaders ranging from founders and CEOs to CROs, COOs and board members. The findings were published in a People Management article. EB HUMBLING FINDINGS ON THE GENDER GAP AT WORK UNCOVERED BY MBA PROJECT SCHOOL : UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School COUNTRY : Ireland
To boost financial inclusion and meet the needs of historically marginalised groups, policymakers must address the digital divide and widen access to high-quality internet services. That is the suggestion of new research centred on peer-to-peer lending providers in the US from Canada’s Schulich School of Business. “We found robust evidence that digital inclusion – a public policy designed to provide high-speed internet infrastructure for historically digitally excluded populations – is positively associated with greater access to capital by people from marginalised communities,” said study co‑author and accounting professor at Schulich Kiridaran Kanagaretnam. The paper’s headline finding is supported by a range of benefits associated with ramping up digital inclusion. For example, it found links to higher lending and faster loan approval rates among financial service providers, courtesy of an increase in the availability of information about prospective borrowers. It also observed a higher concentration of lending in areas underserved by traditional banks, as well as those home to sizeable minority populations. “These results suggest that digital inclusion plays a key role in financial inclusion, particularly in regions with more vulnerable and/or underserved populations,” inferred Kanagaretnam. Alongside the recommendations for policymakers, there are implications here for companies working in fintech and related areas, as the study notes. “Digital inclusion can empower financial service providers and other stakeholders to collaboratively fulfil their ethical and social responsibilities to meet the financial needs of historically marginalised groups.” Kanagaretnam co-authored the study with Xiaoran Jia, a former PhD student under his supervision at Schulich and now an assistant professor of accounting at Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics. It was published in the Journal of Business Ethics . TBD HOW DIGITAL INCLUSION CAN HELP TO PLUG GAPS IN ACCESS TO FINANCE SCHOOL : Schulich School of Business, York University COUNTRY : Canada
10 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024
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