Management, thy name is woman: in SDA Bocconi’s classes they are 46 per cent

Women are good for business is not only something to believe in, but, for some, it has also been something to bet onto. Today, two years after SDA Bocconi launched a promotion in favor of female managerial training in open programs, this challenge has been won. The results of our survey of women participants in the School’s programs with a 20% reduction on the tuition fee confirm it. The promotion was created in view of actively supporting women in investing in their professional future and strengthening female management within companies and organizations.

And we can witness an almost unanimous appreciation for this initiative that fosters equal career opportunities, considering this is not a goal at hand in many contexts yet. Data on female presence in our programs support this opinion: when the promotional offer was introduced, 1 in 3 participants was a woman, now it’s almost 1 out of 2, with a higher percentage in some online programs. In a two-year span, over 2,600 women have decided to develop their managerial skills enjoying our promotional offer.

Surveyed female participants positively judge the value and impact of training even on a “qualitative” basis: many of them say they have broadened their competences and strengthened their know-how, “their perspective has expanded” and “they have developed their strategic thinking”, “they are more involved in decision-making” and are more “aware of where I am now at a professional level, and where I want/can go in 15 years, thinking three steps ahead”. “Interesting”, “useful” and “inspiring” are the most common expressions to define their experience, and some go for more enthusiastic terms such as “exciting” and “eye opening”. Almost each and every participant says she is willing to apply for new executive open programs leveraging the promotional offer still active until 8 March 2022, and in some cases even “regardless of the price”.

“Of course, this initiative would never pretend to overcome gender inequality. It aims at attracting the interest of individuals and organization so that they can set forth to invest more in female managerial education,” says Alessandro Polidori Vidal, head of Marketing & Communication at SDA Bocconi. “In this third year from its launch, we have seen the number of women participating in our executive programs gradually and steadily increase to reach an average 46% in our classes. And our project goes on.”




SDA Bocconi School of Management