Last week, Ross School of Business Dean Alison Davis-Blake attended sessions at the White House hosted by the White House Council on Women and Girls and the Council of Economic Advisers.
The White House believes this type of convening plays an important role in shaping the future of women in the business sector.
“The American workforce has changed dramatically over the past few decades and businesses are increasingly recognizing the benefits of attracting a diverse range of talent and supporting both men and women as they balance work and home responsibilities,” the White House website says. “Business schools and the business community as a whole have a critical role to play in helping prepare future leaders for a 21st century workplace.”
According to the Business School website, the sessions focused on finding ways for women to be a part of the future of business school and business school’s collaborations.
“The convening (focused) on opportunities for the business community and business schools to work together to adapt to the changing needs of the workforce by expanding opportunity for women in business,” the website states. “The convening (brought) together leaders from the business and business school communities as well as other stakeholders for a conversation on recruiting, training and retaining leaders for the 21st-century workplace and the importance of implementing policies that work for families.”
In an interview with the Daily, Davis-Blake said she believes the convening was successful.
“The major goal was to reaffirm the Ross school’s commitment to fully including women in business education and supporting them throughout their careers, and I think that goal was definitely attained,” Davis-Blake said.
At the convening, Davis-Blake spoke on a panel about the Business School’s continuing commitment to helping women in business in front of 150 business school deans and corporate leaders and also signed a pact with 47 other schools.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Ross School of Business faculty has the highest proportion of tenured or tenure track women (27 percent) among the top 10 business schools and 50 percent of the Business School’s senior faculty leadership are women. Davis-Blake said she is actively promoting the Business School’s support of women in business.
“We have a number of specialized programs that make women at Michigan and women who are thinking about Michigan more aware of careers in business,” Davis-Blake said. “We are also offering a wider variety of degrees for different points in life, some of which are particularly attractive to women.”