Romana

More than 600 Mexican women business managers and entrepreneurs took part in a conference entitled “Women, Business and Society,” organized by the IPADE Business School. Given the success of the gathering, IPADE has committed itself to organizing an Annual Forum for Women Managers and Entrepreneurs, in response to the need to reflect on the challenges confronting women today.

In his introductory words, Professor Alfonso Bolio Arciniega, IPADE’s General Director, emphasized that the feminine presence in the diverse sectors of human activity (financial, political, business, cultural, etc.) is evident in the programs at IPADE. In its MBA program, for example, thirty percent of the students are women. The inaugural address, given by Margarita Zavala, wife of Mexico’s President, highlighted the importance of women in the labor force. More than five million homes in Mexico depend entirely on the income earned by the mother. “Today one cannot talk about the development of a country without also talking about the development of women,” she said.

Mireia de las Heras, professor at the IESE Business School in Spain, spoke about some of the social, business and family consequences of the integration of work and family. She pointed out three very important needs: forming socially responsible enterprises, creating blocks of time that are independent and balanced for one’s family and work, and applying the techniques of innovation proper to management in one’s personal and family life.

At the end of each of the sessions, the speakers exchanged comments with the participants and received from Professor Bolio a copy of a book commemorating the first 40 years of IPADE, written by Carlos Rossell, a professor emeritus at the School.