Supporting the worldwide #PressForProgress theme chosen for this year’s International Women’s Day, London School of Business and Finance, Toronto School of Management (TSoM) and Hannover-based GISMA Business School will host interviews and blogs on their website featuring women in management, business and politics during International Women’s Week.

“We are honoured to be able to speak with such inspirational personalities to bring attention to the role of women in business,” Rathakrishnan Govind, Global CEO at LSBF, said.

The three institutions are part of Global University Systems and have campuses in Europe, Canada and Asia.

“Using education as a shared platform, we can bring attention and inform on many sensitive subjects”

GUS Canada CEO and co-founder of Global Women in Education Cyndi McLeod hopes that this initiative will foster discussion around gender equality not only in business but in the international education industry as well.

“While in my experience, the sector creates tremendous opportunities for women to own their own education related businesses, as well as grow in senior leadership roles in colleges and universities, there is a continuing need to address gender parity in the field,” she told The PIE News.

Sharing success stories, the institutions hope, will also give students inspirational role models.

“Students can gain precious insights from successful managers and business leaders. To hear about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them will give them great confidence for their future career,” Ehsan Safdari, Managing Director at TSoM, said.

According to McLeod, higher education institutions should not shy away from addressing timely and relevant issues and the international education industry is best placed to bring awareness on sensitive topics such as gender equality.

“The international education sector is well positioned to promote gender parity through sharing and expanding knowledge, promoting relevant topics and creating awareness. Using education as a shared platform, we can bring attention and inform on many sensitive subjects,” she told The PIE.