UCW’s Women in Leadership MBA Award nominated for an award

University Canada West (UCW) has been nominated for a Lead5050 Women in International Education Award.

UCW is one of three finalists for the Charitable Endeavour of the Year Award for its Women in Leadership MBA Award.

The Lead5050 annual awards recognize innovative individual and organizational initiatives that address the advancement of women and show a commitment to gender equality in the workplace.

UCW announced the Women in Leadership MBA Award in the spring. Recognizing the impact of women on the economy and the importance of equal opportunities in the workplace, the University created the award to empower more women to earn an MBA.

“With all the economic uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to empower women leaders,” said Cyndi McLeod, CEO of Global University Systems (GUS) Canada.

“This scholarship will enable more women to reach their academic, career and personal goals, which is something that’s close to my heart and priority for GUS.”

UCW has allocated $585,000 to provide full and half scholarships to women in emerging leadership positions to take the MBA program at UCW in 2020 and 2021. This commitment means 45 women will be financially supported in earning their degrees.

“This is an important initiative for UCW and aligns with our goals to empower women to become business and community leaders,” UCW President Brock Dykeman said in June.

“We hope to help develop future leaders through this unique initiative by providing them with the industry-relevant skills that employers are looking for in the fast-changing business and technology landscape.”

Research shows that communities thrive and grow when women advance in their careers and start their own businesses. If we had greater gender equality in the workplace, the global annual GDP could increase by an extra $38 trillion by 2025, according to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Here in Canada alone, that could mean an added $150 billion to our national GDP by 2026.

In Canada, women currently hold just 21.3% of corporate director positions and globally, only 37 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women – up from 15 in 2010. Although there are more women in leadership positions today than in the past, progress has been slow, and women continue to be underrepresented when it comes to leadership roles.

Women in corporate Canada are still less likely than men to get promoted to the next level at almost every stage of their careers.

UCW created the Women in Leadership MBA Award to help more women take the next step and take on more leadership roles at more businesses and organizations in Canada.

The Lead5050 Women in International Education Award winners will be announced on Oct. 30.