LBS aligns with business to back women in business

London Business School pledges to admit 30 per cent females on to its MBA programme

London Business School has announced that it is aiming for at least 30 per cent of its MBA programme to be women.

The School's target is in line with that of the 30 Per Cent Club, which has set a goal for 30% of British boardroom members to be female by 2015.

The number of female board members at FTSE 100 companies is on the rise, with 22% of appointments being women since 1 March 2011. The figure is just shy of the recommendation set out by Lord Davies of Abersoch in February who set a target of 25% participation of women at boardroom level.

Diane Morgan, Associate Dean, Degree Programmes and Career Services, London Business School, said: “We, as a school, are committed to seeing more women in business. When we looked at how to achieve that, we decided that ensuring our own MBA student intake was 30 per cent female would be one way of doing it”.

Helena Morrisey, who founded the 30 Per Cent Club, said that London Business School's support of the scheme shows that the campaign is gathering momentum and has made a real impact in the business education world. She said: "To have such a strong academic institution striving to achieve this goal shows how far this topic has come into the academic and business consciousness. We support all avenues that promote female talent, and while there is still a long way to go we are extremely encouraged by London Business School's pioneering steps."

Stephen Chadwick, MBA Programme Director, London Business School, said: “A key focus for us at London Business School has always been to ensure a diverse and international experience for our students. Gender diversity is part of that. We’ve just completed our five yearly review of the MBA programme and on the back of it we have committed to ensuring that there are at least two females in each study group”.