October NUI Galway Announce Joint Winners of 30% Club MBA Scholarship

Scholarship to Advance Female Leadership in Business Organisations

Following the success of the inaugural 30% Club Scholarship in 2017 for the Executive MBA (Masters in Business Administration) programme at NUI Galway, the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway are delighted to announce that the Scholarship, worth in excess of €13,000, has been awarded to Siobhain Quaid of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inverin and Emma Corcoran of Creganna Medical, Galway City.

The 30% Club Ireland was officially launched in January 2015, with a goal to achieve better gender balance at all levels of business in Ireland. The 30% Club believes that gender balance on boards and executive leadership not only encourages better leadership and governance, but further contributes to better all-round board performance, and ultimately increased corporate performance for both companies and their shareholders. 

Application numbers for the 30% Club Scholarship exceeded expectation with a very high calibre of strong female applicants. The judging panel noted that while most had enormous career potential and would have been worthy recipients, ultimately the award had to be split between two candidates. Reacting to the announcement Emma Corcoran commented: “I am beyond honoured to have been chosen to receive the 30% Club Scholarship for the Executive MBA at NUI Galway. In an evolving world where inclusion and diversity are the key to successful businesses the 30% Club is a fantastic initiative to promote balance at a leadership level in organisations. I am very excited to begin my MBA journey in NUI Galway. I chose the Executive MBA at NUI Galway due to their holistic business learning coupled with a focus on team dynamics and networking which enable peer and academic learning. To date I have enjoyed a challenging and rewarding career in the Medical Device Manufacturing Industry as an Engineer and an Operation Manger. I feel the executive MBA will be the spring board of my career in pursuing a leadership role along with enabling further networking between Creganna/TE Medical and NUI Galway. I am very grateful to NUI Galway and the 30% Club for providing me with this exciting opportunity to undertake the Executive MBA.” 

Siobhain Quaid added: “I am hugely thankful of the 30% Club and NUI Galway for selection as recipient of the scholarship. The partnership in this initiative is testament to recognising and understanding the growing importance of diversity and inclusion in the development of successful leadership for organisations. I have thus far enjoyed a fulfilling and challenging leadership journey within the Pharmaceutical Industry and value the opportunity to study the Executive MBA at NUI Galway to continue to learn and grow as an influential leader and role model for many others.
The Executive MBA at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, NUI Galway joined the 30% Club in promoting gender balance in business by awarding a scholarship toward half of the cost of an Executive MBA. 

The NUI Galway Executive MBA has attained AMBA accreditation which is the global mark of excellence for MBA education. An MBA is one of the world’s most recognised and respected business and management qualifications. Critical to this is choosing an MBA programme with a proven track record that meets the highest international standards for MBA education.

Professor Breda Sweeney, who was on the judging panel at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway, said: “The 30% Club scholarship has been a great addition to the Executive MBA programme at NUI Galway and continues to attract high calibre applicants. The Executive MBA can transform careers of graduates across diverse functional areas. Cutting-edge business concepts are discussed in the class room among peers and expert faculty and applied to real life scenarios to resolve business challenges. We at NUI Galway look forward to collaborating with the 30% Club in the future and welcome Emma and Siobhain to its new cycle of Executive MBA students.”

For more information about the Executive MBA programme at NUI Galway please visit www.nuigalway.ie/mba.

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