Professional women were told to “know their worth and ask for equal pay” at the second annual Cork University Business School (CUBS) conference, writes
.More than 500 delegates were in attendance for the event.
Called Workforce of the Future, it was organised by students from a range of societies affiliated with CUBS.
CUBS is one of the two largest business schools, and is home to the largest number of full-time undergraduate students in a business school in the Republic.
The conference included a panel featuring Glanbia boss Siobhan Talbot, communications specialist Stephanie Sheehan, National Digital Research Centre investment leader Angela Duffy and Meagher’s Pharmacy Group managing director Oonagh O’Hagan.
Ms Duffy said with a science and engineering background, she had been discriminated against in the past, being invited to contribute in meetings but not given opportunities to progress.
Ms Sheehan said many women lose out on pay rises and promotions because they had simply not asked or forced the issue like men do, while Ms O’Hagan said women had to know their worth.
The event, which was the most high-profile collaboration between Cork Opera House and UCC since it signed a €500,000 partnership, also had sessions on food business, digital innovation, disruption in financial services and the exploitation of social media for business. The Irish Examiner was a media partner.
Newly appointed dean of CUBS, Professor Thia Hennessy, said: “At CUBS we strive to produce graduates who will influence the changing workforce of the future, both in Ireland and internationally in the years to come.”
The former Cork Savings Bank building on Lapp’s Quay, which UCC purchased in 2016, is being transformed into an executive education centre later this year.