UA&P and IESE grant scholarships to Filipino women

MANILA, Philippines - In a bid to promote women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship education, the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), in partnership with a Barcelona-based business school, has launched a program that will provide scholarships to 50 Filipino women entrepreneurs.

The UA&P and the IESE (Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa) Business School, the graduate business school of the University of Navarra, has launched the 10,000 Women Business Training Program in the Philippines.

Dr. Placido Mapa, chairman of the UA&P Board of Trustees, said women entrepreneurs make an important contribution to the development of the world economy, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Mapa said in the Philippines, a large percentage of the working population are engaged in business, thereby placing the country second among those with the most number of individuals owning a business. A considerable percentage of those are women entrepreneurs.

“Amidst these achievements, however, women in Asia continue to face a myriad of difficulties and challenges. A majority does not have access to markets, technology, capital or adequate financial services,” Mapa said.

He said women lack management savvy and business know-how.

“In the Philippines, many businesses put up by women remain small and are mainly motivated by need as opposed to the drive to take advantage of business opportunities. The women’s lack of financial access and formal or informal training on entrepreneurship also limited entrepreneurial activity,” Mapa stressed.

Through 10,000 Women, the Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund is supporting partnerships with universities and development organizations that will provide 10,000 underserved women around the world with a business and management education.

Goldman Sachs, a leading investment banking, securities and investment management firm, believes that tapping the exponential power of women as entrepreneurs and managers is one of the most important, yet too often neglected, means of increasing economic opportunity, Mapa said.

“The program is expected to help future generations of women entrepreneurs and managers worldwide by strengthening the underlying quality and capacity of business education through teacher training and the development of innovative curricula and locally relevant case studies,” he said.

The UA&P will offer a 150-hour certificate course to 50 Filipino women entrepreneurs with high growth potentials.