* Employment
"Navigating a Consumer Marketing Career" panel discussion: A panel featuring consumer marketing careers, which attracted over 180 male and female students to hear four alumnae panelists discuss strategies and tactics on how to break into the consumer marketing field.
"Decisions in My Corporate Career": An event featuring four highly-successful corporate women and the choices they made throughout their careers.
"Career Strategies: A Woman's Perspective": A half-day student event focused on a variety of career-related panel presentations including; The Interviewer's Point of View, Executive Presence: The "It" in "She's Got It". Creative Strategies for Success in a Tough Market, Job Transition Success Stories and " How Do You Do It?" Work-Life Balance.
* Entrepreneurship
"Women in Family-Owned Businesses" (August 2003) : This ground-breaking first look at what makes woman-owned family businesses different was led by CWL and sponsored by MassMutual Life Insurance Company. The study compares and contrasts the businesses owned by women versus men. Highlights of the study show that woman-owned family businesses: h ave increased by 37% in the last five years, to 15.6% across the U.S; tend toward higher rates of productivity as well as philanthropy ; a nticipate a positive future for their companies (by a two-to-one ratio among respondents), despite a continued poor economy.
Gatekeepers of Venture Growth: The Role and Participation of Women in the Venture Capital Industry: Office Depot Women represent less than 10 percent of high-level venture capitalists, and they have been leaving the industry at twice the rate of men, according to a first-ever study released by the Kauffman Foundation at the Small Business Administration's entrepreneurship conference in Washington , DC . The study, Gatekeepers of Venture Growth , is the latest report of the Diana Project, a multi-year, multi-university study of women business owners and business growth opportunities. The research, coauthored by Undergraduate Dean Patricia Greene, ultimately seeks to determine whether having more women in decision-making roles in the venture capital industry would provide greater access to women entrepreneurs who seek funding.
The Top Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts : 2002 Results (November 2003): Research on over 225 woman-led businesses shows these firms leading the economic recovery:
* Revenues among the Top 100 woman-led businesses in the state exceeded $6.5 billion in 2002, with permanent employment of over 32,300 people.
* Woman-led businesses continue to thrive in professional services, high technology, and construction, industries that drive economic development.
* Growth at woman-led businesses has outpaced the general economy
"Women Building Businesses": a co-sponsored event with the Babson Entrepreneurial Exchange that brought dynamic female entrepreneurs to campus who discussed their journey and growing ventures.
* * Institutional Change
"Women Leading Change" Conference: A full-day conference focused on providing attendees with the tools they need to drive change, shape change, and lead change in their personal and business worlds.
* Work and Family
"Both Sides of Work and Family": A panel discussion with dual career couples on how they have achieved work/life balance.
New Research
Leveraging Women’s Networks for Strategic Value
Nan S. Langowitz, Professor and Founding Director of The Center for Women’s Leadership, and Anne Donnellon, Associate Professor and co-founder of The Center for Women’s Leadership, Babson College
The journal of Strategy and Leadership recently published (May/June 2009 Vol. 37, No. 3) findings by Babson professors Anne Donnellon and Nan Langowitz on corporate women’s networks. “Corporate women’s networks have existed for more than 25 years, with varying results. This study aims to provide new ways to assess and enhance the strategic value of women’s networks in terms of both talent and business development.” more>>>
For more on current research>>
By Gloria Thomas*
