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In a recent article in SvD one of Sweden’s only real elite universities, the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) , is put under scrutiny. Sweden is one of the most equal nations in the world, does the top business school reflect that?
As the article attests, 90% of SSE graduates are employed within 3 months of completing their degree, and they earn top salaries. The economics degree at SSE was ranked number 9 in the world by Financial Times in 2007, and the business school is ranked number 1 in Scandinavia. Only a decade ago, there were 37% women and 63% men at SSE. Today women are closing in on the men, with 42% women to 58% men. But, among the 33 professors at SSE, only one is a woman. Shocking? Economics has traditionally always been a male-dominated field. As the article points out, no woman has ever won a Nobel Prize in the subject. Is this about to change anytime soon?
Ten female students at SSE were asked about the climate at SSE from a gender perspective, and the overwhelming response was positive. Their belief is that as the men at SSE study together with so many talented and driven women, they will have greater difficulty in discriminating against women in their future careers. They will have been bred to equality, so to speak. If this hypothesis comes true, we are bound to see a huge shift in gender dynamics at work in the future. After all, the top US universities are being flooded by intelligent women, sex ratios are in many cases leaning heavily toward the female contingent. As Ida Almlöf argues, “Men in our generation are used to women competing.” And what do these girls want to do in the future? Have their own companies. Hopefully, they will create work cultures of their own that reflect the kind of hopeful, determined and equal spirit exhibited in the article.
- Astri
For those of you who speak Swedish, read the full article here.
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