Oxford has a long history of educating women leaders. Among our famous alumnae are Indira Gandhi, former prime minister of India, Dorothy Hodgkin, Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com, Susan Rice, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader, Burmese National League for Democracy and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Female alumnae of the Saïd Business School have gone on to work in a wide range of roles and industries all around the world. They include Sally Fan from China, now a vice president at Deutsche Bank in New York, Kuntha Chelvanathan from Australia, a senior consultant with Roland Berger in London, Sarita James from the US, who worked for McKinsey and was named a White House Fellow in 2008, and Keely Stevenson from the US who now is an executive at Bamboo Finance, a global investment advisory firm specializing in financing social entrepreneurship, based in Geneva.
The following initiatives take place at the School and aim to support women in business.
• Special Interest Group for Women in Business
The Women's OBN provides a forum where women can exchange ideas, share experiences and expand our networks. Whether the goal is to climb the corporate ladder, run your own business or successfully balance a career and family, the group’s mission is to create a supportive and interactive community that addresses topics specific to women in today's business world.
The group organises several events throughout the year which offer an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others and to network with students, alumni and staff. Some examples of these events include, the McKinsey women as leader; panel discussions and workshops or round table discussions with Janet Riccio, Executive Vice President, Omnicom Group, to name but a few.
Follow the link to learn more about the Special Interest Group for Women in Business.
• Inspiring Women in Leadership and Learning
The Saïd Business School is committed to encouraging and developing women in their many roles in business, in both developing and developed countries. The Inspiring Women in Leadership and Learning initiative supports this goal.
This initiative combines events, workshops and research to open up opportunities to inspire women to become a significant force in their business communities. Click here to find out more.
As well as the initiatives mentioned above, there are numerous groups in Oxford that support the women community, please follow the links below to find out more.
- Oxford Women in Business: designed to empower enterprising young women of Oxford University to expand and sharpen their understanding of business and entrepreneurship.
- Oxford Women in Politics: a group launched with the aim of tackling the gender disparity evident in political organisations within and outside Oxford
- WomCam: a vibrant, discussion and action forum for all women in the University, both graduate and undergraduate.
- Oxford Women’s Network: committed to enhancing the quality of life for the community of women within the collegiate University.