Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre
The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre – a hub for global thought leadership, fostering the necessary changes to ensure a gender balanced workforce.
Who we are
The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre (WLC) is committed to helping women realise and embrace their potential in order to become successful leaders. Part of Cambridge Judge Business School, we achieve meaningful global impact across a wide range of organisations: from large companies to small start-ups; within for-profit to non-profit sectors, from corporations to government agencies.
By supporting gender diversity in senior leadership positions, we nurture the next generation of leaders, expanding the pool of women with advanced management skills.
We are a dedicated group of University of Cambridge academics and researchers interested in gender and diversity. Collaborating with major corporations and not-for-profit organisations, we produce impactful reports addressing pertinent topics on gender diversity.
Passionate about improving gender balance through dialogue and action, we produce thought-provoking research, such as how gender and diversity issues are linked to corporate governance and firm performance. Our powerful seminar series showcases the latest academic research on gender diversity. We aim to ensure that the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre acts as an inclusive hub for activities, networking and research on women in business on a global scale.
What we do
Our research has garnered recognition across the world, with our talented executive team and research network producing papers in publications like Management Science. The popular press regularly discusses the work produced here, with papers like the Financial Times, the New York Times, Reuters, The Times (UK), and the Wall Street Journal covering the topics we highlight. Our innovative programmes explore gender inclusivity in dynamic new ways, as we take a multi-faceted approach to studying this challenging topic. Throughout the year, in addition to our research, we offer a wide variety of panel events, workshops as well as our flagship annual conference to foster thought leadership, dialogue and action. By engaging as many people as possible, we aim to increase the support base for gender diversity in the work environment.
Impactful research
Our cutting-edge research explores challenges within the work environment, generating practical solutions for these issues. This research enables us to make a meaningful difference in gender equality and women’s empowerment globally.
Programmes
Our research findings are the basis of our women’s leadership programmes, inspiring prospective female leaders and employers.
Inclusivity policy
The WLC is open to everyone, no matter their gender, age or position. We invite everyone to be a part of our community to help spread our message of diversity and create networks to promote open dialogue and offer successful solutions. This inclusive bottom-up platform is an important cornerstone of the WLC.
Our impact
The WLC has collaborated with major corporations and not-for-profit organisations to produce impactful reports that address pertinent topics on gender diversity. These reports provide novel insights and guide organisations in understanding the challenges and opportunities in building and retaining the talent pipeline. This research has been featured in top media outlets internationally, cited in government reports and has won several prestigious awards. Research based on these reports has been presented at leading academic conferences around the world.
The WLC produces several thought leadership papers based on cutting-edge research that offer new ways to thinking about key issues on gender and leadership. These white papers have also been featured in key media outlets and published in practitioner journals.
News and insights from WLC
Read the latest news and features from the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre. Stay up to date with our events, latest projects, report launches and news by signing up to our mailing list.
Programme news
Women in business: changing the landscape with Feryal Erhun
Professor Feryal Erhun, the new Academic Director of the Wo+Men's Leadership Centre and Professor of Operations and Technology Management at Cambridge Judge Business School, brings extensive expertise in operations management, healthcare operations, and socially responsible supply chains. Passionate about diversity, leadership, and practice-based research, she has collaborated with organisations like Intel Corporation and Stanford University Medical Center to drive impactful change. This article is part of our MBA Teaching Spotlight series.…
Research centre news
New report: how to tackle the gender gap and shape success
New report from Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School shares practical ways to tackle the gender gap and shape success from its recent conference.
We bring together two MBA alumnae to share insights on careers, their learning journey, empowerment in the workplace, diversity, being Black in Cambridge and so much more.