Centre for Women in Business

Welcome to the Centre for Women in Business at London Business School. Professor Laura Tyson established the Centre in January 2006 whilst Dean of the London Business School through a unique partnership with Lehman Brothers, our Founding Sponsors. The Centre's mission is to be the pre-eminent research centre for leadership and knowledge on women in business in Europe.

Dr Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School, is academic lead for the Centre's academic research in the area of gender diversity and the role of women in the workplace.  Professor Gratton's aim is to lead the debate on the emerging themes and to create a dynamic interface between academic thought leadership and corporate practitioners. The Centre leads discussions on its ground-breaking research and also showcases best practice on gender diversity in the business world.

London Business School has committed to using its unique position in academia, and within the European business arena, to create this vital bridge connecting academia and business.

The team, led by Professor Gratton, undertakes research that advances the understanding around the implicit biases and gender differences in attitudes, behaviours and preferences.

On 24th May 2007, the Centre published "Inspiring Women: Corporate Best Practice in Europe". This research describes the initiatives that European companies are taking to inspire women at work. The focus in the study is on the practices and processes that have a gender implication. This refers to those practices and processes that can have a specific impact on the experience of women, or have been designed to address a specific issue that women can potentially face.

"Innovative Potential: Men and Women in Teams" was published by the Centre on 1st November 2007. In companies around the world executives are putting the capacity for innovation top of their strategic agenda. At the heart of the innovation strategy are people prepared and able to work collaboratively in teams and to exchange and synthesise knowledge from many different sources. Whilst academic research has focused on the antecedents of innovation, there is very little work on the potential impact of gender on the innovation agenda. In this research we take a closer look at the role - if any - that gender plays in innovative teams, and make some recommendations about how companies can build and enhance their innovative capacity through team gender composition.

The Centre has gone from strength to strength since its research agenda was officially launched on 1st November 2006. We would be delighted to keep you up-to-date with our research reports and activities. Subscribe to the Centre's monthly newsletters by clicking here.