Shivanshi points to her diverse MSc cohort that she worked with over the one-year program, graduating in 2019.
“Two years ago, I hadn’t left India before, and now I feel like I’ve travelled the entire world just by sitting in that MSc Management class,” she says. “I made friends from all over the world, learning about their cultures firsthand. It was fantastic.” Most importantly, a lot of them were women.
Confidence is key
There are a lot of initiatives in businesses and business schools around the world, but there remains a noticeable discrepancy in gender representation. Work still needs to be done. Both Kemi and Shivanshi believe it starts with the individual.
Kemi has centered her whole career around changing how women think and approach business. “I am on a mission to––not dismantle––but field a new narrative and introduce women to their own inner strength.” She particularly wants to push for more representation of black women in c-suite roles.
“Women need to be confident in themselves,” Shivanshi agrees. “Don’t sell yourself short––your work will speak for itself.”
The resources are there, it’s a question of encouraging more women to make use of them, Kemi concludes. Both women have proven that gender is a non-issue if you have confidence in your skill-set and approach to business. They just want to see more women in business adopt the same mentality.
“There are more men than women in business right now because we allow it, not because it’s a given,” Kemi concludes.
