In her book, Development as Freedom, Nobel laureate Amartya
Sen argues that “the changing agency of women is
one of the major mediators of economic and social change….Nothing,
arguably, is as important today in the political economy
of development as adequate recognition of political, economic
and social participation and leadership of women.”
10,000 Women Educated
Arguably, investing in education for women may have the highest
social return of any investment.
Yet despite a growing recognition of the need, business and
management education for women in emerging economies has
received relatively little attention.
The 10,000 women project was created as a means to help
remove the existing barriers to women who are trying to reach
their potential as entrepreneurs and managers. Theoretically,
this in turn will generate a powerful effect on economic
growth, income gains, and the health and education of following
generations.
As part of this project, Goldman Sachs will support partnerships
with universities and development organizations to enable
10,000 women to receive a business and management education.
These partnerships will fund business and management education
certificates in many countries around the world to help open
doors for women whose financial and cultural circumstances
typically prevent them from receiving a traditional business
education.
Designed to be “pragmatic, flexible and shorter term,” these
certificate programs will provide women with the opportunity
to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan,
accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing
capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA
scholarships funded.
As announced by Goldman Sachs, this initiative has two goals:
to increase the number of underserved women receiving a business
and management education, and to improve the quality of business
education around the world.
An “engine of growth”
As commented by Nadereh Chamlou, the lead author of the 2007
World Bank Report, The Environment for Women’s Entrepreneurship
in the Middle East and North Africa, “Female entrepreneurs can become an engine of growth.”
Indeed, studies and research have long shown that female
education creates long-term economic growth. As confirmed
by recently
Goldman Sachs Economic Research, at a macroeconomic level,
female education is linked to “higher productivity,
higher returns on investment, higher agricultural yields,
and a more favourable demographic structure.”
A number of studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America
have also shown that women with more education tend to have
fewer children, and healthier, better-educated families.
Bringing more women into the labour force could substantially
boost GDP growth and per capita income. In BRIC and N-11
countries, for example, greater investments in female education
could raise GDP growth by 0.2% per year. Furthermore, narrowing
the gender gap in employment could increase income per capita
by as much as 14% by the year 2020, and as much as 20% higher
by 2030. (For reference, BRIC countries are: Brazil, Russia,
India and China; N-11 (for next 11) countries are: Bangladesh,
Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam.)
Female education is therefore considered the cornerstone
of economic growth and social change, not just in BRIC
and N-11 countries, but throughout the world. For this
reason, the 10,000 women initiative contains a number of
different components:
1) Give 10,000 women around the world a free business and
management education.
2) Build new partnerships with business schools and universities
in the United States and Europe and business schools in developing
and emerging economies.
3) Work with leading research and women’s development
organizations as a means to better understand the local challenges
girls and women must overcome to gain access to greater economic
opportunity.
4) Establish parallel programs and partnerships to provide
more business and management education for women in the
United States.
So far, the 10,000 women has partnered with Columbia Business
School, Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School
of Business, The Wharton School, American University of
Afghanistan, American University of Cairo, Indian School
of Business, and the University of Dar es Salaam, among
others.
For more information on the project, go to: http://www2.goldmansachs.com/
|
