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MARCH | APRIL 2015 BizEd 41 BALANCE IN B-SCHOOLS The numbers show that women are still a minority among business school students, faculty, and administrators. But those num- bers only scratch the surface of a deeper problem—that business schools promote an ecosystem in which administrators, faculty, case study protagonists, guest speakers, and even textbook authors are predominant- ly male, says Dianne Bevelander, professor of management education at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus Univer- sity in the Netherlands. "Students get the impression that intellect and leadership are male-driven," she holds. While women make up 40 percent of the students at RSM, only a quarter of its faculty are female, of which only 10 percent are full professors, says Bevelander. In addition, "women constitute 77 percent of adminis- trative personnel, but senior administration remains largely Dutch male." To address the disparity, last September the university opened the Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO) as part of a universitywide effort to bring more women into academic leadership posi- tions. That effort has been driven largely by Pauline van der Meer Mohr, Erasmus University's president. "Since her appoint- ment we now have the first female dean of the Erasmus School of Law, and the pipeline of female academics and researchers has significantly improved," says Bevelander, the ECWO's executive director. The ECWO will serve as the official um- brella for many activities at RSM, including career coaching, workshops, and custom- ized leadership programs for executive women. It also is actively channeling faculty research to organizations—through work- shops, consulting, and master classes—to help them improve their understanding and handling of gender in the workplace. For ex- ample, one workshop, Women in Leadership, helps both men and women understand how "executives of both genders often swim in a sea of unrealized professional gender bias," says Bevelander. For instance, because women are seen as more caring than men, women often are expected to show more concern for others in the workplace. Those who don't risk being Dianne Bevelander perceived as cold or bossy; those who do often spend too much time on activities that don't advance their careers. Men and wom- en can choose either to ignore this bias or to respond to it, says Bevelander. Now under the aegis of the ECWO are the Successful Women in Business program and the MBA Kilimanjaro Leadership Project. Launched in 2013, Successful Women in Business is a suite of workshops designed to help women learn to trust their intelligence and creativity and empower themselves in the workplace. The Kilimanjaro project, started by Bevelander in 2011, challenges a group of women to climb to the top of Tan- zania's Mount Kilimanjaro. While the climb accommodates only 18 women each fall, the project has had a "multiplier" effect, inspiring discussion about gender issues throughout the school, she says. Bevelander also has been asked to speak about the project at companies, resulting in requests from sever- al female executives to join the group. Best of all, the school has seen an increase in the number of female students taking leadership positions in student clubs. RSM also has adopted a diversity policy for administrative staff and plans to appoint a diversity officer. Bevelander would like to see more busi- ness school deans, department chairs, and search committees address gender diver- sity in concrete ways, she says. "A diversity policy without commitment, concrete goals, and some form of accountability does not drive execution." In the end, Bevelander believes that busi- ness schools have not achieved gender par- ity because they simply have been focused on other areas. "Business schools that are committed to the cause of gender-based equality of opportunity have achieved an amazing amount," she says. For information about the ECWO, visit www.rsm.nl/ecwo. "A diversity policy without commitment, con- crete goals, and some form of accountability does not drive execution." —DIANNE BEVELANDER, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION AT THE ROTTERDAM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AT ERASMUS UNIVERSITY IN THE NETHERLANDS