WBS sponsors awards to boost female business leaders

Warwick Business School is proud to announce it is sponsoring WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star Awards as part of its Inspiring Women campaign. 

The Inspiring Women campaign is the School’s commitment to producing a more gender-balanced business world, with scholarships for its MBA and Executive Diploma programmes to encourage more women into leadership positions. 

The proportion of women on the UK’s FTSE 350 boards reached 40.2 per cent in 2023 according to the business-led FTSE Women Leaders Review, but it found UK companies were failing to appoint women to leadership positions below board level at the same rate, with only 33.5 per cent of executive committees or their direct reports being women. 

WBS has partnered with WeAreTheCity, a platform with 80,000 members that provides free career resources for working women across the globe, to continue its work to close the gender gap. 

The School is sponsoring the Education & Academia category at the Rising Star Awards, joining the likes of Warner Bros, HSBC, Bloomberg, and Visa in backing the campaign which honours exceptional women below management level in the UK. 

Karen Barker, Director of Stakeholder Engagement, said: “At Warwick Business School we are working to break down the physical, cultural, and mental barriers that women face through our research, education programmes, and our networks. 

“This will be the third year we have sponsored the Rising Star Awards, and we are proud to support this great initiative once again. 

“As a school we have recently been celebrating becoming the first business school in the UK to be awarded gold level Athena Swan status for our work on improving gender equality, but we know there is still a long way to go. 

“We are supporting and partnering WeAreTheCity because our values so strongly align, as we seek to highlight and celebrate the female Change Makers who are challenging the status quo, and trying to have a positive impact on their organisation and the world with their restless energy that inspires future generations.” 

Warwick Business School’s Full-time MBA student Angel Zhou was a winner in the Insurance category at a previous Rising Star Awards, while Warwick Executive Diploma in Digital Leadership graduate Sarah Slack was named among the best in the Digital category. They are two of 950 women that have won prizes since the awards began in 2015. 

Nominations are now open for this year’s Rising Star Awards, with the deadline for entries being March 21 and the ceremony being held on July 17. 

There are more than 20 categories including Global Award for Achievement, which honours international female talent, Company of the Year, Champions Award for outstanding support for the female pipeline, and Men for Gender Balance, which celebrates men driving gender equality. 

What is the Knowledge Sharing Day?

All the winners will be invited to a Knowledge Sharing Day hosted by the School at WBS London at The Shard in September. 

Winners will hear lectures on such topics as entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, and resilience from the School’s world-class academics, along with talks from leading industry figures and workshops as well as networking opportunities. 

Vanessa Vallely, CEO and Founder of WeAreTheCity and WeAreTechWomen, said: “We are thrilled to reveal our ongoing partnership with Warwick Business School and WeAreTheCity's Rising Star awards, now in its third year. 

“Our alignment in vision towards advancing women's progress and our shared commitment to nurturing talent and driving innovation form the cornerstone of this collaboration.  

“Through this collective effort, our award recipients not only celebrate their accomplishments but also embark on a journey of continuous learning and growth, thanks to the Knowledge Sharing Day thoughtfully crafted by Warwick Business School. 

“With Warwick's support, we have the privilege of broadening the horizons of our winners, introducing them to a plethora of executive development programs and encouraging them to pursue further education to propel their careers forward.” 

Visit the Rising Star Awards website to make a nomination.