The Schulze School of Entrepreneurship hosted the second Women in Entrepreneurship Week at St. Thomas from Oct. 21- 25.

The week-long event is part of a nationwide effort that includes colleges showcasing women in business and teaching how to hone young women’s skills in the workforce.

“(We’re) celebrating and equipping women to use the skills they have to start businesses and apply for leadership roles,” said Betsy Williams, Women in Business Club president.

Women in Business Club, the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, Finance Club and several others brought female speakers from different levels of management, financing and business companies, such as Mary Grove, a former Google Entrepreneurship Director and now works at Revolution of Rise Seed Fund as an investment fund manager, to come and speak to St. Thomas women about opportunities in the business field.

Inviting strong women in the business world to campus is important to Laura Dunham, associate dean of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship.

“We all need to see role models and people who inspire with what they’re doing, and these women entrepreneurs that we’ve brought in, I think to demonstrate that women can do anything,” Dunham said. “Living a more entrepreneurial life is incredibly satisfying, it allows you to take better control of your destiny and that women are natural-born leaders.”

Of Fortune 500 companies, 33 companies have a woman as a CEO, which is roughly 6.6%. This has increased by over two percent in the last two years.

Roughly a third of all management positions in the U.S are filled by women. Within that, white women fill a majority of these positions.

According to Catalyst.com in 2018, 32.6% of the women in management positions were white women, 6.2% were Latina, 3.8% were Black and 2.4% were Asian.

“No matter what age in their business career, (women) will often be either the youngest person sitting at the table in the conference room or the only woman or the only woman of color,” Williams said. “Women often have to work so much harder to get equal playing ground that a man does.”

St. Thomas has worked hard to make students feel ready for the workforce, and according to Dunham, the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship is a large supporter of this initiative. Entrepreneurship is the school’s largest major and is giving opportunities to all of its students, Dunham said.

“Entrepreneurship is for people that want to control their own destiny; it is for people that have vision and imagination and courage,” Dunham said.

Mae Macfarlane can be reached at Macf7507@stthomas.edu.