What ECWO can do for you, your organisation and society
The perpetuation of biased power dynamics in workplaces – and the implicit loss of talent – is holding society back. At Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations, we focus on inclusion by building healthy, safe and human-centred environments that provide support to all members, regardless of identity.
Our work is built around empowering individuals, engaging communities, and driving societal change. We do this through a suite of programmes, events and coaching. All our initiatives are grounded in continuously updated applied research. Our dedicated research team undertakes original and collaborative research into how to create settings where everyone belongs. As we cherish the value of collective effort in achieving true progress, we frequently collaborate with various organisations, ranging from companies to academic institutions and non-profits.
Our flagship Stand Up, Reach Out is designed to create a socially safe and inclusive culture of care within organisations by addressing harmful behaviours and fostering dialogues. With in-company customised programmes, we nurture connections while targeting specific needs. We also continue to empower women through our trio of signature open programmes, including Women in Leadership which has been instrumental in enabling women to excel in their careers and become change-agents.
Join us in our journey towards a world where everyone belongs, contributes and succeeds.
Dianne Bevelander, PhD
Founder
Hanneke Takkenberg, PhD
Executive Director
Dorothy Grandia, MA
Associate Director of Programming
Michael Page, PhD
Senior Researcher
Diane Coetzer, MA
Senior Project Manager
Rianne van Reeuwijk
Client and Operations Manager
Kirsten Kardijk
Researcher
Hetty Brand-Boswijk, CPCC, PCC
Head of Coaching
Joana Vassiliopoulou, PhD
Project lead, EQUAL4EUROPE
Natalie Cleton, PhD
Women in Leadership programme facilitator
Wiley Davi, PhD
Women in Leadership programme facilitator
Stephanie Mitrano, PhD
Emotions in Business Programme facilitator
Karen Stephenson, PhD
The DNA of Networks programme facilitator
.
.
You can lead from wherever you are. Unlock your potential, uplift your environment and become an agent of change. Our programmes are designed to empower you for a more successful and fulfilling career while enabling you to play a role in creating a more inclusive environment for everyone.
Acquire the skills to identify a safe environment and effectively tackle harmful behaviours in your daily interactions. Experience a supportive, confidential and highly interactive setting that fosters mutual respect and open dialogues on workplace dynamics. Having partnered with diverse organisations, our tailored programme empowers all levels to navigate challenges and build a socially safe and inclusive culture. More information can be found here.
- Get in touch: Rianne van Reeuwijk
View our open programmes below:
The two-day, highly interactive Women in Leadership programme focuses on why the inclusion of women’s leadership is critical for organisations and the economies and societies in which they operate, and uncovers obstacles to increased inclusion. Prof. Banda and Dr. Cleton create a productive, positive, and inspiring atmosphere where you will share your experiences and build your network. By practicing evidence-led interventions, you will develop a solid strategy to take ownership of your career and lead others in your organization toward more gender-balanced leadership.
- 2-day programme
- Faculty: Professor Barbara Banda and Dr. Natalie Cleton
- Get in touch: Rianne van Reeuwijk
Many women report feeling they are walking a ‘’tightrope’’ when they communicate. Should they project more confidence (and risk being seen as unfriendly) or should they project more ‘warmth’ (and risk not being taken seriously). Fortunately, you don’t have to choose. In a highly interactive one-day workshop, you’ll develop a range of engaging and confident communication styles and explore options for becoming a more persuasive communicator, regardless of the communication dynamic in your industry. Discover more here.
- One-day workshop
- Faculty: Dorothy Grandia
- Get in touch: Rianne van Reeuwijk
Are you experiencing an unproductive dynamic in your informal negotiations for more access to support, resources or progress within your organisation? Uncover your default negotiation style, practice navigating challenging conversations, and learn how to adapt your negotiation approach in order to produce the best possible outcome for yourself and your organisation. In this interactive one day workshop you will understand the role gender bias plays - both advantageous and disadvantageous – in negotiation and practice techniques you can use in your daily professional and personal life. The programme includes a negotiation style self-assessment and mock negotiation practice. Discover more here.
Tip: Negotiation with Power and Impact for Women is an excellent follow-up to Communication with Power and Impact but it also valuable as a standalone programme.
- One-day workshop
- Faculty: Dorothy Grandia
- Get in touch: Rianne van Reeuwijk
Our expert faculty and facilitators work in partnership with you to identify and diagnose your organisational needs and design a tailor-made solution that maps to your objectives.
Whether your goal is to promote inclusivity among your team, enhance recruitment, retention, or career progression, we offer the flexibility in execution, evaluation and follow-up to deliver immediate and lasting impact for your people and your organisation.
Contact our team today to discuss the best approach for your company and find out how ECWO can be a trusted partner in transformation.
We delve into diverse organisational experiences, addressing barriers to progress and real change. By examining unconscious bias, we contribute to a broader understanding of inequitable practices and nurturing a sense of belonging. Additionally, we are currently developing cutting-edge tools to measure gaps in organisational inclusion. Our work is published in the world’s leading journals and books, as well as practical resources for businesses and leaders.
We are one of six organisations that are part of the EQUAL4EUROPE consortium. Largely conceptualised by our late founder, Prof. Dianne Bevelander, EQUAL4EUROPE is an H2020-funded four-year project. Starting in January 2020 and running to December 2023, the project is tasked with developing and implementing gender equality plans that accelerate the process of removing barriers to the recruitment, retention, and career progression of female researchers, address gender imbalances in decision-making processes and integrate the gender dimension in research and educational/innovation content. You can discover more on the EQUAL4EUROPE website.
Our original research has recently incorporated a study on women's organisations in the Netherlands, their collaboration, and shared goals. Read more here.
Professor Dianne Bevelander's inaugural speech: The 8th summit women's ascent of organisations
Speaking as Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë stated as long ago as 1846 that “women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer …” and that “… it is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.” Less than a year later in 1847, these views resulted in an attack on the character of Jane as the “personification of an unregenerate and undisciplined spirit” by Elizabeth Rigby in the leading literary and political periodical of the time – The Quarterly Review.
I mention this as a preface to my inaugural address because the opinions raised by Jane Eyre are as relevant today as they were almost 170 years ago, and because the criticism of her character came from none other than another woman. Gender bias is as much a female issue as it is a male issue. Changing the gender paradigm will require extreme effort, commitment, and on-going attention from both men and women.
Read the news item about the inaugeral address.
Dianne Bevelander
February 2016
Other publications
Beyond the Bottom Line: Integrating the UN Global Compact into Business Practice
Chapter: Our Need, Your Interest: Responsible Decision Making in Private Equity
Dianne Bevelander
Accepted to be published Dec 2016 ·
Humor or Harassment?
Dianne Bevelander, Jacqueline Nolan, Michael Page
Jun 2015 · Harvard Business Review
On a mission: Achieving distinction as a business school?
Dianne Bevelander, Michael Page, Leyland Pitt, Michael Parent
Jun 2015 · South African Journal of Business Management
Integrating gender equality into business and management education : lessons learned and challenges remaining
chapter 22: The Eighth Summit: Women's ascent of organizations
Edited by Patricia M. Flynn, Kathryn Haynes and Maureen A. Kilgour
May 2015 · Sheffield, UK : Greenleaf Publishing Limited
Who is engaging with whom? Internationalizing opportunities for business schools in emerging economies
Dianne Bevelander
Sep 2012 · International Journal of Educational Management
Ms. Trust: Gender, Networks and Trust--Implications for Management and Education
Dianne Bevelander, Michael Page
Dec 2011 · The Academy of Management Learning and Education
Business schools and lifelong learning: Inquiry, delivery or developing the inquiring mind
Michael Page, Dianne Bevelander, David bond, Ella Boniuk
Dec 2006 · South African Journal of Business Management
Positioning the Executive MBA Product: Let's not forget the requirements of the corporate market
Michael Page, Dianne Bevelander, Leyland Pitt
Aug 2004 · Journal of General Management
Gender: Ms—ed opportunities for business schools?
Gender: Ms—ed opportunities for business schools? in Chinese
Dianne Bevelander and Michael Page
Oct 2016 · EMFD Business Magazine
De Economische Kracht van de Ondernemende Vrouw
Monique Brummans, Nicolette Loonen, Ingrid Verheul, Dianne Bevelander, Kim Boersma
February 2015 · Stichting Maatschappij en Onderneming
Identify your goals, objectives and values. Develop the personal strategies to drive your career and enhance your life.
Our coaches empower you to explore your passion, your skills and the factors that motivate you, helping you unlock your full potential and tread a path of personal and professional discovery.
Our coaches
ECWO coaches empower you to get the best from yourself. And from others.
Our experts work one-to-one with you or your organization to pinpoint areas for growth. They challenge you to re-think your perspective, re-frame your goals and objectives and unlock your fullest potential to achieve them. They develop and guide you as you acquire deep insights and new skills. And they accompany you on every step of your journey of personal and professional transformation.
If you are ready overcome the barriers to success, to be empowered and to empower others, and to transition towards fulfillment in your life and career, get in touch with us today.
Welcome to our ECWO community!
Our founder, Prof. Dianne Bevelander, believed in the power of the collective.
“Creating a posse is vital for every part of your professional journey. Find people who believe in you. Throughout my life, I have had great mentors and sponsors who believed in me, probably more than I believed in myself. They gave me the courage to do what I wanted to do. Building your posse amplifies your courage and makes the previously unthinkable just a step forward! Remember that you also build your posse by asking, by having the courage to ask for help.”
Connect with us on LinkedIn and apply to join our closed LinkedIn community for sharing your own stories, successes, insights and successes into the journey to gender equality. You can follow our Instagram and join our Facebook community for inspirational moments, updates and more. We are also active in the ongoing conversation for positive change on Twitter.
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on International Women’s Day 2023
Do keep in touch. You can email us on ecwo@rsm.nl for more information and with any additional questions or suggestions that you might have. Together we can climb mountains.
Here are some resources in support of belonging for all, as well as valuable advice from our experienced faculty:
- If you’re in need of a refresher about how to get the best out of online meetings, watch our suite of videos under Virtual updates.
- ECWO facilitator, Stéphanie Mitrano-Méda, has created an #emotionsatwork video series for our community.
Virtual updates
Our Assistant Director, Dorothy Grandia, gives tips on how to prepare and use your online meeting audio, for the most substantive, effective communication.
Here is the link to the paper by Steffen R. Giessner, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Change at RSM, referred to in the video.
Watch the video below for tips from Dory Grandia
Watch the video below for tips from Dory Grandia
ECWO facilitator, Stéphanie Mitrano-Méda, has created an #emotionsatwork video series as a special contribution to our initiative to support women during this time.
The series on YouTube details:
ECWO’s founding in 2014 was motivated after founder Professor Dianne Bevelander observed gender bias in business education. Her vision was to promote women’s equitable engagement, leadership and influence to enable individual, organisational and societal change.
In her inaugural address, on 5th February 2016, she said: “In my role as an endowed professor of Management Education with a Focus on Women in Business I intend to play a significant role in advocating for, supporting, and furthering the needed paradigm shift for the benefit of women, for the benefit of men, for the benefit of all organisations – including universities – and for the ultimate benefit of our collective society.”
Dianne Bevelander Memorial Fund
Established in 2022, the Dianne Bevelander Memorial Fund supports women and promotes gender equality through the awarding of an annual prize and other activities.
Dianne Bevelander Prize
2022 winner: Geke Rosier
2023 winner: Karen De Souza Pesse