Canada-based Rotman School of Management is planning to forge new partnerships with both corporates and educational institutes for their Rotman Initiative for Women in Business. Beatrix Dart, associate Dean of executive degree programmes and executive director of the Rotman Initiative for Women in Business said that the school was looking to cater to the needs of the women in Indian corporations.
Rotman Initiative for Women in Business offers programs for women at every stage of their career, including Business Edge, a program for internationally trained professionals in Canada. Dart informed that Rotman School of Management was trying to get the programmes to India and customise them to suit the Indian needs.
“Our motive is to fastrack women into senior leadership positions and I believe that we will be able to help companies in India to expedite the process,” she said. The Toronto-headquartered management school will be announcing a partnership with an Indian B-School as a part of this initiative, helping corporates to increase and maintain their gender diversity ratios.
“One programme we are looking to launch is related to ‘Women on Corporate Boards’. We will partner will a management institute here soon, as part of this programme,” Dart added. Talking about the challenges faced in India, Dart said that women find it difficult to return to the workplace after taking a break.
“In Canada, our Back to Work programme has been very successful in helping women relaunch their careers successfully. This programme will be of great help for women in India, who are looking to return to their jobs after a prolonged period of absence,” she said. Rotman Initiative for Women in Business includes programmes such as Back to Work, Emerging Leaders, Business Edge for internationally educated professionals and Business Leadership for women lawyers.
The business school is looking to launch all of these programmes in India.
The school already has tie-ups with several Indian companies for this initiative and will be looking to increase the number in India. In terms of the steps needed to be taken by Indian corporates, Dart explained that companies should understand that diversity is good for business and to have an improved bottom-line.
“Not just corporates in general, but the male workers in a organisation should also understand the relevance of women initiatives and gender diversity. The Rotman School initiative will to a large extent cater to these specific need of women professionals,” she said.
