On a career break? The AGSM’s giving away 10 sponsorships to help your return - Women's Agenda

On a career break? The AGSM’s giving away 10 sponsorships to help your return

We know ambition doesn’t just disappear upon having kids and taking a career break.

As the 2017 Women’s Agenda Ambition Report surveying more than 2000 women across Australia found, those who reported taking a career break for caring purposes in the past 10 years also noted some serious ambitions for the three to five years ahead. These included more than 70% saying they are looking to increase their earning potential, and over 50% saying they’re looking to further their leadership career. More than half of these women (56%) reported feeling more ambitious than ever.

And yet too many women on maternity leave or a career break continue to feel sidelined, overlooked, or suffer a lack of confidence when looking to further explore their career ambitions after such a break.

Now the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) is aiming to help, by offering ten fully-funded Career Comeback Sponsorships to parents looking to re-enter the workforce.

Worth up to $21,000 each, these sponsorships offer recipients a flexible education program comprising three to four AGSM short courses, the opportunity to join an exclusive professional network, and access to financial support to help cover the costs of travel and childcare.

Recipients can choose from one of four pathways in the program — each designed to support a different stage in a management career — and receive an AGSM Certificate in Executive Management and Development following the course. This can later count as credits towards other business courses or even a full MBA.

The sponsorships are also designed to be as flexible as possible, requiring eight to 13 course days over a two year timeframe, with numerous options for course dates throughout this period.

AGSM Professor Julie Cogin (pictured above) believes education can significantly bolster the career prospects of parents who’re returning to work after a career break. It’s not merely what’s learnt in the classroom that’s vital, but also the professional networks established, along with the personal confidence such education can offer.

“We really wanted to see how we could use education to help shape change in society and across organisations,” she says. “This is really about supporting anyone who’s taken a career break, male or female, but most will be women. The idea is to give them an edge for when they re-enter the workforce, so they can compete on the same level as everyone else.”

“We’re looking for people who we think we can make a difference with, who we can support to accelerate their careers and to achieve their goals,” she says.

Professor Cogin adds that she expects the career goals of those applying to be diverse, and not necessarily aligned with traditional leadership aspirations. They may have goals to change industries, to start in a new field, to return into a more senior position than the one they left behind, or to start their own business. “We just want people who are able to demonstrate they can finish the program. They must have a plan for where they want to be, along with the time to invest. They should also be willing to partner with us on building their network.”

The AGSM hopes the sponsorships will help in evening up the playing field between working mums and dads, especially at a time when three in five employed women with a child under five work part time, compared with less than one in ten fathers who do the same. The AGSM also cites research finding that women aged 25 to 44 are two and a half times as likely as men their age to be out of the labour work force. As we know, that ultimately hinders a woman’s earning capacity, will impact her future employment, pay, superannuation and overall financial security.

The university also wants to see corporates partnering with the program, employers who can potentially offer sponsorships to their own staff and clients. “We’re offering ten sponsorships, and so suggest organisations could offer ten of their own. We see this as a movement and want to open as many opportunities as possible to women on career breaks.”

Women’s Agenda has partnered with the AGSM on promoting this sponsorship program.

Applications for the program close June 15, and are open to parents and carers who are currently on a career break with no role to return to. Applicants must be able to demonstrate a commitment to returning to the workforce and building a leadership career. Successful applicants will be notified in early July.

You can apply here.  

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