I am enthusiastically awaiting Benedictine University’s Master of Science in Leadership (MSL) program to launch and will be excited to meet strong, empowered women leaders emerging from this program. In my own personal experience, the professional accomplishments have not come without challenges, many of which could have been addressed by this program to expedite my career progression by 5 to7 years. I am very impressed by the unique curriculum that not only provides customized and comprehensive curriculum designed to maximize learning opportunities for women but also allows for systematic development of personal and professional networks that women leaders can leverage both during and after the completion of this program.
-Karen Chung

This MSL program of leadership has all the ingredients for developing a credible, persuasive, and assertive female voice. This program supplies knowledge, builds confidence, and strengthens leading voices.
-Olfat El-Mallakh

The Master of Science in Leadership provides women the platform to better understand their value and to differentiate themselves as future leaders in a way that impacts their personal and professional lives.
-Cheryl B. Richardson

Becoming a leader is difficult. A leader must be able to prudently influence and inspire others to execute a plan. As for the feminine perspective, many women doubt their abilities to influence because of past and present experiences. The Master of Science in Leadership program is designed to provide a thorough understanding of leadership and will equip individuals to recast their mindset, and enhance the drive of empowerment, confidence and influence. Intelligence plus character is the goal for true education -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe with this in mind, the Master of Science in Leadership program will educate and equip the feminine student with the skills needed to be true leaders.
-Shirley Lloyd

Benedictine University's MSL degree is a breakthrough program designed to prepare leaders of the future. Leadership as we have known it is no longer enough. The future belongs to those who are prepared to meet the challenge of an ever-changing world. The MSL program is a ticket to great leadership for the 21st century.
-Connie Fuller

The people who design the programs, the course materials, the institutions themselves, even the instructors, have been shaped by decades of approaches designed and delivered by and for men. Successful organizations today need novel ways to identify and solve problems and create and maintain environments where workers are creative, productive and content. In short, leadership itself must be redefined. Old models of corporate hierarchies modeled on the military simply do not work anymore, in a global economy where women, even in the so-called third world, are at least beginning to drive economies, especially at the micro level. It has been proven in study after study, as well as anecdotally, that women do things differently. An MSL program that incorporates the interests and particular skills of women can be likened to harnessing new sources of energy. Quite simply, it is long past time.
-Marti Sladek

I am very honored, pleased and excited to be part of the Masters of Science in Leadership program beginning in Fall 2009 at Benedictine University. I have developed and will be teaching the Course titled Change Agent: A New Leader of Change. Effective Leadership and becoming a new Leader of Change, as a Change Agent, is incredibly necessary and relevant for women today. When we consider the actual business case for Women in senior leadership roles, and examine some key data points from recent groundbreaking research performed by Catalyst, Inc.* and others, we find that there is an actual connection between gender diversity, or Women in key leadership roles, and US corporate financial performance. This business case for recruiting, developing and advancing women as leaders asserts that companies with women in key senior leadership roles, or have diversity inclusion initiatives, and manage it properly, make better decisions, produce better products, and retain several key business advantages over more homogenous companies. In short, companies that have women in senior leadership roles have better financial results. In fact, Catalyst, Inc. used two measures to examine corporate financial performance: Return on Equity (ROE) and Total Return to Shareholders (TRS). Upon examining 353 Fortune 500 companies. Catalyst found that there is a connection between gender diversity and corporate financial performance. * The MSL program offers the optimal learning experience and platform for women in leadership roles, as an actual Value Proposition, with net revenue impact,
smart business, and best practice. In addition, the MSL Program and Change Agent: A New Leader of Change course will provide women of today with the actual roadmap for success on the leadership highway. The entire program is quite energizing and exciting for so many women, very much needed, and I look forward to becoming part of the continued future growth and success of this program.
*Information taken from The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity, 2004, by Catalyst, Inc.
-Karen Braswell

Women are natural leaders! By transforming our beliefs about our capacity for being great leaders through the Master of Science in Leadership program at Benedictine University, we can impact the world one woman at a time.
-Jennifer Weggeman

Shared from a man’s perspective:
When I first heard about the Master of Science in Leadership program for Benedictine University, I was somewhat skeptical about an academic program that is gender oriented. It seemed to me that the feminine focus in the program reflected more social expediency than academic objectivity. After thoroughly reviewing the program I can categorically state that my skepticism was unfounded. I believe that leadership is a nuanced, personalized, and complex responsibility that draws from the dynamics of human interaction. A central, and critical, component of this dynamic is gender. The reality is that there is a feminine perspective in the practice of leadership. This degree program does an excellent job of providing this perspective while maintaining academic objectivity. As a result not only does Master
of Science in Leadership program provide a thorough understanding of leadership but enhances and deepens this understanding by studying it from a feminine perspective. I consider the feminine orientation as a value added enhancement.
-Stephen A. Nunes

web: www.ben.edu/womensinstitute
e-mail: womensinstitute@ben.edu