Women in Business Club
2019-Present
The COB faculty lead a Women in Business initiative, a voluntary and not-for-credit program. The program has developed into an undergraduate-focused developmental opportunity to empower female students. Women in Business invites influential women in all aspects of business, ranging from entrepreneurs, to executives, to politicians and more, to campus to interact with undergraduate female students. The dialog between the role-model and our students creates an environment to help our students recognize that they can set aspirational personal and professional goals and enter confidently into the business marketplace knowing that others are supporting them. The program’s meetings include a mixture of hearing success stories of women business leaders, providing networking opportunities between students and community members, discussing career options, and discussing critical topics to increase confidence and competence for long-term success.
Students are elected by the College of Business faculty to be part of the group. Students outside of those elected are also welcome and encouraged to come to meetings, but do not have a leadership role. Those who are elected serve as ambassadors for the program. The group, which has ranged in size from 13 to 20 students, meets monthly to discuss a topic of interest to the student members. Ambassadors work together to prepare a presentation and facilitate a discussion. This gives ambassadors practice and experience running meetings and encouraging discussion. Two to three women business leaders also attend the meetings to provide advice and feedback to students.
Sample topics include negotiation, having crucial one-on-one conversations, creating work-life balance, increasing confidence when speaking in large groups, and gaining respect in male-dominated environments. The meetings create a safe space for students to ask questions, present situations to one another, and learn from each other’s successes. A complete listing of the guest speakers for the Women in Business program can be found in Appendix P. A few metrics regarding WIB are:
- Number of women in the group: 2021–2022: 15; 2022–2023: 17; 2023 – 2024: 19
- Number of community members who attend meetings: 2021–2022: 12; 2022–2023: 13
- Number of students who attended the international women’s day event in 2023: 40+
- Women’s Day Trivia Night Survey Data Results: 86% said the event was advertised well and 91% said they are interested in attending more events like this.
- Number of Instagram followers (started in Spring 2023): Instagram handle: @umw_wib Followers: 136.