As a Business Lab for Society, Grenoble Ecole de Management has made its mission to defend several major causes, including gender equality!
The Women@GEM program, launch in 2017, targets the four main stakeholders of GEM: Students, Employees, Alumni and Society. On Women's Day, Women@GEM exhibits portraits of inspiring women, on its Paris and Berlin Campus.
Nino ZAMBAKHIDZE - GEM MBA 2016
Chairwoman of Georgian Farmers Association - Georgia
How do you imagine the workplace in 2050?
The future of the workplace is about adapting to increasing dependency on mobile devices and IT technologies, being open to innovations and new perspectives. The workplace in 2050 to me is the one that can take advantage of new trends and requirements, provides responsive working “smart” environment and is employee-centric. It allows more work from home thus downsizing office space and providing flexibility in delivering results.
What needs to change to achieve gender equality?
What advice have you found the most useful during your career?
The advice I received from a friend of mine, Gvantsa Meladze, who was a 2nd intake of Grenoble Ecole de Management was the most useful in my career. My MBA has backed up the practice by theory, which I lacked. The education I received in Georgia after the breakup of the Soviet period was well behind the contemporary methods of teaching and learning and was not of good quality. Therefore, studying at Grenoble Ecole de Management has widened my horizon and deepened the knowledge I had, as well as providing new insights into the topics I was interested in.
The second advice also received from a friend and colleague of mine was related to creating a Georgian Farmers’ Association. I’ve been supporting the farmers throughout Georgia by delivering the services they require and, most importantly, lobbying for their rights. I thus managed to change for the better the lives of the member farmers, which I believe is crucial both for them and for the country’s development in general. The energy and enthusiasm I’ve been putting into this work is immense and has been beneficial for both the farmers and myself it has helped me to grow both personally and professionally and provided more incentives to do more.
Lina GONZALEZ - GEM MIB 2008
Strategy Director for Retail and Banking - CMC Analytics - Colombia
How do you imagine the workplace in 2050?
The workplace would probably be home, we are already seeing a shift in mentality there. The share of remote workers should be larger and thus the entire workplace idea is being redesigned. We may need to connect with colleagues face to face for very specific situations and types of jobs. Lawyers may always need to go to court, but now even doctors are able to work remotely with the aid of technology.
What needs to change to achieve gender equality?
Gender equality has always been a puzzle to me. I think that if we do what we are supposed to our gender should just be a part of our traits, like height, eye color; it should not pose a bias at work. Thus, when we discuss gender equality it goes further than that because we touch on matters of race, culture, look. There is no place for a line of thought where a
certain trait such as gender should define success. Female, male, transgender, undefined now there are many more variations to that definition, and we should not let it determine how we act. Mentoring the young who dream and work towards success should be the turning point for a more inclusive society.
What advice have you found the most useful during your career?
I have worked in banking and technology, both are male dominated environments where I live. A friend once asked me why I liked to be in such positions and how I managed to thrive regardless. And the truth is I never thought of it that way, I knew there were more males than females in leadership positions, however I have always focused on my performance, strategy and where I want my actions to get me.
While I worked in a Bank my boss, also a female, told me that no one ever regretted being brave. We always talked out the issues and road blockers, but being relentless in what I wanted to achieve, combined with active listening plus not being afraid to speak up always helped.
Ana LABORDE - GEM MIB 2007
CEO Founder - BioSolutions - Mexico
How do you imagine the workplace in 2050?
I imagine a place where I can provide a lot of jobs to multi-skilled people, where they can feel happy, complete and that can provide a good quality of life.
What needs to change to achieve gender equality?
I think that in order to achieve gender equality, it is very important first, to acknowledge that all the people living in the world are different and unique, each one of us has characteristics that make us unique. We all have different personality, gender, religion, race, manners, thoughts and dreams, but the common denominator is that all of us are PEOPLE sharing a world… Therefore all of us we should be treated the same, and have the same rights, respecting about each one’s uniqueness.
What advice have you found the most useful during your career?
Be loyal and sincere. Always think about doing good, respecting others, and don’t do what you would not like to be done to you.
If you are around GEM's campus in Paris or Berlin, do not miss the WoMen@GEM exhibitions :
- Paris on March 9th
- Berlin on March 26th
Join the WoMen@GEM Alumni community:
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