Under the theme “Trailblazers: Women Shaping Their Future”, the conference gathered distinguished figures from business and institutional spheres to discuss the challenges and opportunities of women’s leadership, from insights on career advancement to the power of mentorship.
As part of their awarded project centered on women’s leadership, Han and Meneses joined students from Bocconi University and Sciences Po at the recent conference.
Meneses, who is from Chile and a first-year student in CEU’s Philosophy, Politics and Economics BA program, said that hearing from women leaders in diplomatic positions and also from big companies, including Spotify, made a strong impression. “I came away with both hope and confidence inspired by women who have leadership experience and have achieved many things already. It gave me the mindset to build solutions and take action to uplift women.”
The event in Madrid included key discussions on professional growth and entrepreneurship, featuring panels such as “Opening Doors for Women at Work”; “Empowerment and Negotiation”, focused on career advancement strategies; “Financial Empowerment Toolkit”; and “Venture Network: Bridging the Gap in STEM”. “We had opportunities for conversations following each panel, so we could network and connect with other students as well as the speakers and explore the specific topics impacting women,” said Meneses. She and Han said that they valued the conference’s insights about how to stand out and develop a professional brand, how to be heard in male-dominated environments, and how to utilize techniques for negotiation.
Regarding the impetus for getting involved at the conference, Han said that several experiences in male-dominated environments shaped her competitive attitude as a woman—first in her early school years in China while regularly competing in a strategy game for two players known as “Go” game and then more recently while studying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) management in England before attending CEU. “It’s a kind of seed that planted in my heart when I was very young, that women can compete with men no matter how the environment may be dominated.”
Han is a student in CEU’s Masters student. She said: “After listening to the talks at the conference, I reflected on how the growing emphasis on ESG reporting could encourage more regulations supporting women’s advancement in my field. Currently investors can look to the social and governance part in these reports, which include gender diversity of the company. Some companies also disclose gender diversity in both their overall workforce and management board. This is a good thing for women, to have that transparency through ESG reporting.” Her advice for other women navigating their next career steps: “Find what you really want and are interested in and try on different fields until you are satisfied.”
Meneses plans to use what she has learned during the conference and from CIVICA colleagues to establish a Women in Business club at CEU with Han. “I think building connections and working with students through CIVICA is very inspiring. Having the chance to do this Student Engagement Fund project together across our universities gave us the opportunity to meet women from Sciences Po, IE and Bocconi and learn about their student clubs supporting women’s leadership,” said Meneses. “We have a very international atmosphere at CEU, and I look forward to bringing together women with different backgrounds to express themselves, support and inspire each other and also amplify the network beyond our university through CIVICA.”
Article credits: CEU
