From Left to Right: Patty Kruiswijk, Manuela Roth (RSM ‘10), Dianne Bevelander, Camilla Bjorkqvist (RSM ‘10), Eleonore Breukel, Saskia Trurniet, and Ursula van Rozemeijer.

Women comprise about 30% of the students in the OneMBA and the percentage of women faculty is even less. While there are complex factors that might explain this, members of the 2010 and 2011 classes have decided to put women on the agenda.

The effort lead in large part by Camilla Björkqvist and Manuela Roth has focused on securing eminent business women to speak at OneMBA residencies. By connecting with women across the OneMBA community as well as the European Professional Women’s Network( EPWN), the kick-off on during the Spring 2009 RSM Residency featured Mirella Visser, Owner of the Center for Inclusive Leadership and the EuropeanPWN President. This conversation was continued when the class went to Istanbul and met with local women business leaders.

In September 2009 another panel took place with a group of Dutch women executives on the topics of “Women – the saviors of our economy?” With several courageous men participating in the audience, there was a lively and honest discussion.

At the EGADE Residency in November 2009, a Cemex executive, Irma Gomez shared her perspective on women, employment, and the economy in Mexico.

Events are in the works for Hong Kong and the the U.S. All alumni are invited to attend a session at the RSM Residency on April 8 2010 with Carien van der Laan, co-owner of Women Capital, and executive search firm specialized in women and placing them on top level positions. Van der Laan will address what to do with once you get an MBA and the value that women add in the executive ranks.

Some interesting statistics from the United States are worth sharing. According to the report The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States by the American Center for Women’s Business Research and funded by the National Women’s Business Council and Wal-Mart, women-owned businesses contribute nearly $3 trillion to the U.S. economy and create or maintain 23 million jobs. If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Anecdotally, many women say that they start their own business because they want to balance work and family and that they cannot break into the traditional male-dominated positions—or do not want to.

Members of the 2011 class are taking leadership to continue the discussion of the women in the OneMBA. Anyone in the OneMBA community can join the events organized by Women@OneMBA, men included. If you would like to know more about this initiative, please contact Manuela Roth or Camilla Bjorkqvist in the OneMBA2010 class.

For more news about the one MBA programs and to see the full newsletter click through to the one MBA website.

The following is a report on the occasion of the second main event held by EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam at Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel on 4 February 2010. We thank Mary Jane Roy for her generous contribution towards this report.

The second main event of EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam for 2010 was held on 4 February 2010. The topic of the evening was: “Are you communicating what you want, secrets to interacting effectively in male-dominated environments.” We were privileged to welcome Richard Kwakernaak, founder of the Institute for Communication Psychology and Transformation (ICPT). As many as 70 members and guests met in Amsterdam for drinks, followed by Richard’s key-note address.

Richard explained that in business, on the domestic front and in our social lives, we all stand to benefit from more effective communication skills. He added that the greater your awareness is of how it all works, the more effective your communication can be.

In our training sessions, we regularly receive this type of question from participants: “Why is my Russian colleague always so negative? Is it something I did wrong?” asks Tom from London. Our answer is: “On the contrary Tom, your Russian colleague trusts you enough to share his concerns with you. Actually he is trying to be friends and bond with you.”

Bonding by complaining

In Western Russia, many Eastern European cultures and various cultures in Southern Europe and Latin America, people try to bond with others by complaining. Complaints about the boss or about tasks to be performed or simply about the food, places people ‘together’ in a common situation in which they can relate to each other - bonding with the suffering majority. These complaints are usually expressed with emotion. However, it is passive and is not followed by an action to change the situation that is complained about. An outsider will get the impression that something terrible has happened and that the complainer is deeply unhappy. This however is not the case. There are many reasons for such behavior depending on the context. Some of the underlying reasons may be uncertainty, risk avoidance, xenophobia, fatalism and the feeling of not being in charge as well as being unable to create or accept change.

Misunderstandings, irritations, feelings of exclusion and a sense of inferiority, are daily challenges for non-native English speakers trying to communicate in the language of global business. What exactly happens and how can global organizations help employees become more effective in this intercultural language and its various communication styles?

Vast amounts of skill, expertise and knowledge remains hidden in organizations because of language and cultural barriers. Native Spanish, German, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia speakers all make a daily effort to understand, speak and write English. Native English speakers try to understand the many variants of non-native speakers.

Together we try to get used to each other’s accents and accept the language mistakes inevitably made. We try to figure out what a good translation would be for a particular expression and how the words are to be interpreted and valued in our own language. We get lost in translation.

On many occasions the native English speakers form the majority at international meetings. They patiently watch how non-native speakers demolish their native language and still praise them on their command of English. Are native English speakers aware of the difficulties non-native speakers face and how this affects their feelings and the dynamics of a discussion or debate?

An exciting and successful 2009 comes to an end and we want to use the holidays to thank you for your participation, support and dedication for EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam. Only with active members like you, were we able to host 12 main events, 6 workshops and many borrels in Amsterdam & The Hague.

EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam: a Diverse and Industrious Community

Speed Networking with Stephanie Ward

When our organization in Amsterdam was originally founded in 1986 as “the Women’s International Network (W.I.N.)”, there were about two dozen (predominantly English speaking) members.  One third of the participants were “Dutch”, one third Americans and one third “other English Speakers”.  In anticipation of our 25^th anniversary in 2011 it has been interesting to look at the history of the organization locally and to look at membership trends and changes.

On 10 September 2009 Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) hosted the event: “Female Entrepreneurs – The Saviours Of Our Economy?” in which three very experienced Dutch women shared their experiences on managing their business.

This event was the second organised by the female members of the RSM OneMBA Class of 2010 and on this occasion in cooperation with the European Professional Women’s Network (EPWN) and the School itself, hosted on the RSM campus.

AGM MEETING EuropeanPWN 2009

On June 26-27 2009 the EuropeanPWN board and presidents of all networks gathered in Nice for the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In a 1 ½ day session they looked back on past achievements, exchanged best practices and developed plans for the next year. Organized this year by the team of Nice Cote d’Azur’s president Susanne Forsman-Hey, participants were warmly welcomed by Team Cote D’Azur’s Ségolène Pin-Monsaingeon.

Electronics & Automation 2009

High Tech Heels, from design to manufacturing

Buzzing with anticipation and energy! You know that type of event, nothing has happened yet – and the room is electric. That was the sort of environment pre-existing in the Croesezaal at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on the 29^th of May. While I do experience that feeling on a regular basis at EuropeanPWN events, I don’t often come across it in my work conferences.