For International Women’s Day, NEOMA Business School proposed that we stop for a moment’s reflexion on 10 March on the Reims and Rouen campuses. The aim? To develop awareness and fight against prejudice, so that everyone, whatever their sex, can be a leader in their own way.

As a leading international School, NEOMA Business School’s mission is to train flexible, innovative leaders, capable of going in new directions and upsetting the status quo.

But are men and women equal in the fact of this challenge? Does each sex have particular predispositions? Whet repercussions do these inequalities have on employability and career development?

Although in France, men and women are equal in terms of demography and education, substantial differences remain. The notorious salary gap – given equivalent skills and positions – stands at 21% in France, 15% in Europe and 25% in the rest of the world… Access to positions of responsibility, both in business and in politics, is also unequal. Finally, there is a difference between the sexes in terms of sector. Women are more attracted towards work with other people (HR, health, communication etc.) and are overrepresented in these areas.

Studies of the under-representation of women in leadership positions show that, apart from the prejudice that exists concerning the relative aptitudes of men and women, women are simply less inclined to promote themselves, negotiate and make use of their network.

Although NEOMA BS women students don’t yet feel the effects of the different ways men and women are treated professionally, they already experience them in the student societies they belong to. We can only encourage them to use the levers described in the different studies!

Speakers:

• Bénédicte DULAQUAIS, Management Coordinator, NEOMA Business School.
• Michelle BLIGH, NEOMA BS professor, specialising in leadership and gender.
• Hédia ZANNAD, NEOMA BS professor, specialising in career orientation and diversity management.
• Adeline THIRION, NEOMA BS graduate and member of the NEOMA women’s tribe, which aims to encourage career development for women graduates of NEOMA Business School throughout their career.
• Chloé NIEUWJAER, president of the student society On AirMS, Reims campus.
• Charlotte DESMIDT, member of the student committee and vice-president of the international association AIESEC, Reims campus.
• The student drama group NYMPROMANES, Rouen campus.
• The student media associations ROUEN’AIR and FBEYE, Rouen campus.