Diversity in Programs
We are steadily improving diversity in our degree programs, aiming towards gender parity. These efforts are supported by scholarships. For the MBA, four external donor scholarships were focused on female candidates: the Nestlé Scholarship for Women, the Forté Scholarship, the Hilti Scholarship for Women, and the BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women.
Diversity and Scholarships
MBA 2022
“When I speak to some of my classmates, some of the most brilliant ones who come from countries who really are not at a financial par with Europe, or with the cost of living here, and they have received a scholarship, they feel the same sense of gratefulness. And they feel this urgency to sort of give back to similar people who are back home in their countries who want these kinds of opportunities as well.”
Satarupa Barma, MBA 2022
In 2023, the MBA program will promote greater diversity by:
- Reinforcing its Leaders in Africa scholarship
- Continuing its Women Leaders Challenge, an assessment day for women with a CHF 40,000 scholarship for the winner and a place in the MBA program
- Ensuring the Admissions Committee places special focus on supporting women applicants with scholarships
- Focusing on communication and marketing that represent gender diversity at parity
In our EMBA program, which is aimed at senior management, we are working to steadily increase gender equity and feature a more diverse set of faculty, cases, and guest speakers. In 2022, 33% of our EMBA graduates were female compared to 31% the previous year.
EMBA % female graduating participants
In 2023, we will offer partial scholarships to increase participation among exceptional EMBA candidates who may have previously been unable to afford a top-tier business education. The scholarship categories are emerging market economy leaders, women leaders, sustainability/tech leaders, not-for-profit leaders, and entrepreneurs.
The EMBA Women Leader scholarship supported Dr Renee Pazdan, Captain (Retired) US Public Health Service, Veteran, US Army Medical Corps:
“The scholarship empowered me to share with my classmates the joys and challenges of being a female leader. This openness and vulnerability were shared by others in the class, and we broached difficult topics with sensitivity and curiosity. There is still work to be done, but I can honestly say that IMD has demonstrated action in a very meaningful and personal way for me and supports honest conversations about Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.”
Dr Renee Pazdan (EMBA, 2023)