Since the early 90’s, women are in the majority in most Canadian universities, however, the situation is not the same in management and leadership programs for senior executives, where women rarely represent more than 40 % of the student body, and often less than that. In leadership and executive positions as well as on boards, reaching gender equality is still a privilege, a rare occurrence.
This is why the EMBA McGill-HEC Montréal team is pleased to count, among its 12 cohorts, 2 that reached gender parity, including this year’s graduating class of 2020.
While it is a source of pride for the Executive MBA program, it is the women themselves who should be proud: senior leaders with impressive backgrounds and experience, making time in their busy schedules to develop themselves further.
The EMBA has been very fortunate. We’ve had many female applicants, with exceptional careers. We select our participants by focusing on diversity of backgrounds and experiences, without pushing for gender parity.
“We do not choose our participants based on their gender. The more than 400 leaders and entrepreneurs who completed the McGill-HEC Montreal EMBA program were simply the most qualified among the many candidates interviewed over the years. We were pleased to have so many great female and male candidates and hope to be as fortunate in the coming years!” explains Michel Filion, Director of Recruitment for the McGill-HEC Montréal Executive MBA.
Since the program’s inception in 2008, the EMBA has welcomed over 30% of women in each of its cohorts.
“We hope we are approaching the day when reaching gender parity in an Executive MBA will be the norm. For now, though, we very much appreciate being able to welcome so many seasoned, interesting women and men, each year, in our program. ”
says Marianne Vandenbosch, director of the McGill-HEC Montréal Executive MBA program.
