New UOWD scholarship for women

dubai — The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) announced a new “Executive MBA Women in Leadership Gender Parity Scholarship” as part of its strategy to advance women’s leadership in the upper tiers of the corporate structure in the UAE.

The scholarships will be available to a selected number of eligible women in the UAE who are in middle-management positions and aspire to develop their cross-functional and strategic understanding of business, to be able to contribute to the UAE’s vision in impactful ways as part of senior leadership teams.

In an increasingly diverse and competitive business environment, gender parity is a business imperative. Leadership capacity development through ongoing business education is a significant contributor to the process of building leadership capacity, and towards ensuring that women continue to contribute to the economy in meaningful and sustainable ways. Professor Barry O’Mahony, Dean of the Faculty of Business, said: “The scholarship reflects the University of Wollongong in Dubai’s commitment to its values and principles of fairness, inclusiveness and respect, and strongly supports the UAE’s aim to become one of the top 25 countries in the world for gender equality by investing in the development of women to become powerful, influential and transformational leaders.”

UOWD is at the forefront of research efforts and practice, promoting women empowerment in the region, with sustainable collaborations and endorsement from esteemed institutions, including the Dubai Business Women’s Council, headed by Dr Raja Al Gurg, an inspirational role model for women within the region and the world and with the UN. Projects jointly hosted in collaboration with DBWC and the UN with a focus on UN sustainable development goal #5 (gender parity), include the highly-impactful Women and Leadership Seminar Series and Best Practices Forums. “Societies, academic institutions and public and private sectors must work together in a unified and integrated manner, towards building and managing talent, and these scholarships are a significant step forward, towards achieving this goal,” said Dr Jayashree Payyazhi, associate dean (education) and principle investigator behind the UOWD-DBWC-UN Women and Leadership Research.