Written on 24 February 2021.
For most of modern history, the world of business has been dominated by a certain profile. Women, minorities, and those in the LGBTQ community have consistently been left out of industry and entrepreneurship.
In the last few decades, however, this narrative has slowly begun to change, with underrepresented communities breaking through the glass ceiling one by one and paving the way for others to follow suit.
Nowadays, current technology allows the modern-day, cultured professional to balance their work-life with their personal lives, providing them with opportunities for development and advancement like never before.
While many areas of industry have made significant improvement, there is still much growth which can be made. On average, for every 100 men who are promoted to manager positions, only 72 women get promoted and hired, and for black women, the number goes down to 58, according to a 2020 study Women in the Workplace.
In a similar study by the National LGBT Survey, nearly 20 percent of all employees in the UK confessed that they did not feel comfortable being open in their workplaces.
The number of women in C-level suite positions has increased over 10 percent in the last five years. Today, 87 percent of companies are highly committed to gender diversity, compared to just 56 percent in 2012.
A study published last year in the Journal of Business Ethics states that, in the US, anti-discriminatory policies prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity ultimately lead to higher firm performance. In 2019, the majority of new hires in the workforce belonged to minority groups.
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Opportunities are becoming increasingly available to all different groups of people, and that means that room for advancement and growth is higher than ever before. And a wider variety of profiles means a larger pool of experiences, backgrounds, and circumstances.
For many, returning to a traditional school to pursue a degree full time isnt a feasible option. Women, for example, are eight times more likely than men to look after sick children or manage their children’s schedules. Statistically, Hispanic and black students in the U.S. are around 20 percent less likely to graduate from traditional institutions than their white counterparts.
Non-traditional and online programmes are not prone to the same systems, rigidness, and time constraints as live, in-person programmes, and therefore are better able to meet the needs and goals of all types of advanced learning students.
There are many online programmes available for those seeking flexible study, but not all are created equal. For instance, EDHEC Business School offers a number of programmes which provide quality, creativity, and flexibility to any and all types of students looking to boost their professional profiles.
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EDHEC Business School is committed to bringing a wider array of voices to the table, and we understand that different backgrounds have different needs, work-life balance, goals, and learning styles. EDHEC Online:
Take it from our participants:
Its true that between professional life, family life, and education on top of that it can get really busy. Luckily the tools we used are really practical, says Camille, EDHEC alumna and property management agency director. For example, I had resources available on my smartphone and laptop, so I could continue studying even while travelling. I also studied mostly in the evenings once the children were in bed, or during the weekend when I had more downtime. It can be a bit of a challenge to get organised in the beginning, but once youve figured out a system that works for you, the learning process can go really smoothly.
Work your way towards breaking the glass ceiling with our online programmes today.