Women in Business Chair

SCIENCES PO LAUNCHES THE WOMEN IN BUSINESS CHAIR

Sciences Po Entrepreneurship Centre launched the Women in Business Chair. This new research and teaching chair aims to develop and scientifically evaluate measures to reduce the barriers women face in business careers, whether in terms of access to leadership positions or of starting new business ventures. The chair’s activities will benefit women students who may be discouraged from entrepreneurship, business leaders seeking guidance on effective measures to put in place and public authorities wanting to raise awareness of best practices.

The chair will develop activities in three areas, led by Sciences Po Entrepreneurship Centre and LIEPP:

• Research: studies in experimental economics, sociology and social psychology focused on developing measures to reduce the obstacles that discourage women from starting a business or, more broadly, from reaching senior management positions.
• Teaching: using the research findings to create new courses and specific workshops that help women develop essential career skills for a changing labour market.
• Knowledge dissemination: informing wider society about effective measures to foster women’s entrepreneurship and leadership.

"After several years of research on gender and gender stereotypes, this chair will allow us to take the analysis of possible measures further so that we can propose truly effective solutions for promoting women’s leadership", explained Anne Boring, head of the chair and LIEPP affiliated.

Building on the expertise of LIEPP and PRESAGE and informing universities, business and public authorities

The chair will draw on the unique evaluation expertise developed at Sciences Po’s Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP), a Labex (laboratory of excellence) established in 2011.

The chair’s research will be part of the LIEPP’s Discrimination and Social Inequalities research group, which aims to contribute to public debate by assessing the extent and evolution of discrimination in France and by analysing the public policy challenges it poses in terms of reducing social inequalities.

The chair’s research programme also builds on gender equality research conducted at Sciences Po, particularly through PRESAGE, an academic and research programme on gender thinking. 

Thanks to this expertise, the chair will be able to produce research outputs that aim to inform universities, businesses and public authorities. The research will focus on evaluating measures to reduce the impact of gender stereotypes and biases that limit women’s career ambitions. The programme will help advance research on the best approaches for fostering women’s entrepreneurial skills (expertise and soft skills). The first policy brief will focus on the issue of women’s public speaking and measures to help women develop their skills in this area.

The Chair receive the support of founding sponsors : CHANEL Foundation, Goldman Sachs and AXA Research Fund.

For further information