MISB Bocconi, world’s only offshore presence of Università Bocconi, one of Europe’s premier universities recently launched a Women in leadership Scholarship Program.

In order to understand the thought behind this initiative, we initiated a conversation with Alessandro Giuliani, Managing Director of MISB Bocconi and this is what he shared with us:

1. What was the vision behind launching a scholarship program for female aspirants?

Aimed to encourage meritorious woman leaders to pursue their dreams, MISB Bocconi’s new scholarship program will help women leaders take advantage of the world class global education offered by the institute and have unfettered access to the Bocconi alumni network.

2. Does your current classroom have a healthy male – female ratio? How do you think this scholarship program can help?

Our current classroom already has a healthy 33% women ratio, and we believe this will further help this ratio, giving the class an enriching diversity. The women workforce in India is still facing gender disparity in terms of opportunities available to them. This scholarship aims to minimize the gender gap by providing a wonderful platform for woman leaders.

3. Why should more female working professionals opt for an MBA?

Female working professionals should opt more for an MBA because that would reduce the gap of educational training they still have in India. This in turn would help reduce faster the gap of female presence in the boardrooms and top jobs.

4. Does the glass ceiling still exist in India? How do you think corporates are trying to make workplaces better for female employees?

Glass ceiling still exists, though it is more as a heritage of the social structure of the past years. Things are changing fast, and only by filling the gap from the early stage education and then higher education will things really change the gap has to be filled from the very roots.

5. The number of women leading boardroom conversations and entrepreneurial ventures has been on an upswing like never before. What according to you will be the scenario five years down the line?

Hopefully the gap will be drastically reduced, though I believe this will only really happen if the female presence in MBAs and their real professional preparation is at par, thus not only relegated to reserved seats.

To connect with MISB Bocconi, click here.