Cass increases MBA scholarships for women

Having increased the number of women on their full-time MBA programme to 45 per cent for 2011, City University’s Cass Business School will be offering four Women in Business scholarships next year.

Erica Hensens, Cass MBA programme director, explains that though diversity has always been a valuable part of their MBA programme, 2012 will signal an even bigger focus on gender equality. “We want to show more women that an MBA is something they can do,” she says. “Women tend to take longer than men deciding whether to apply; there’s more hesitation and so we want to assist with this process.”

So far the school has hosted a series of MBA Women as Leaders seminars, which examine the dynamics of leadership from a female perspective. The school has also been promoting the proportion of female academics on their MBA teaching staff who are equally successful in the business world. “We do as we say,” emphasises Ms Hensens, who has worked as a business manager at Body Talk, a training events company. Another faculty member, Sionade Robinson, director of Cass’s full time MBA course, is co-founder of customer loyalty consultancy Cape Consulting, and has 15 years of experience in helping consumer and business-to-business companies to create service strategies.

Each scholarship is worth £17,250 - with total MBA tuition fees for 2012 currently set at £34,500 and is open to women who demonstrate potential to excel on the course and in their ensuing career. The school believes the full time programme model fits these type of women well. “It is an intense programme and a challenge but it is also only one year out of the workplace,” says Ms Hensens.

www.cass.city.ac.uk