As Director of the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Gerardine was responsible for leading the School’s first dedicated female recruitment campaign, which is aiming to increase the number of women on MBA and MSc Finance programs up to 40% within three years and 50% within five years. Since 2018, the percentage of women in these programs has already increased from 49% to 54%. As well as creating a new Executive MBA program designed specifically with women in mind, in order to address key barriers including flexibility, confidence and cost, Gerardine also established three new scholarships for women and one new EDI scholarship, the first of its kind in an Irish Business School. Additionally, the Smurfit Women Inspiring More initiative founded by Gerardine was designed to raise awareness of challenges that women face when transitioning from education to a professional environment, and to form a network where these topics can be safely discussed.
