Online Executive Education for Women Leaders

Abstract

Women today are increasingly becoming an integral part of the corporate world, as seen in the
rising number of women assuming senior global leadership positions that were previously held
by men. These women leaders are at the forefront of the business, political, societal, and
multicultural scene, giving them a chance to create the type of world that they would like to live
in and transform the position of women in the society. Despite the increase of women in the
workforce, they continue to be underrepresented in managerial positions. It is critical that
businesses take responsibility for creating a culture that values diversity and developing its
women talent pipeline at all levels of management. This paper discusses the importance of
women leaders and the various initiatives that companies can undertake to advance the careers of
women in the workplace. The paper presents some findings of an online executive education
course created specifically for women managers. The findings showed that the women
participants were highly satisfied with the program. A significant part of the participants’
learning came from the industry guest speakers who were successful female managers invited by
the sponsor organization to share their experiences of moving through the ranks to senior level
positions. The paper further examines the implications of the findings and concludes with
possible future research.