May 19, 2022

The program could affect the current imbalance between gender representation in Israel’s business world

The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) has announced that it has launched a Business Administration program for women at its Tal Campus. The three-year program, which will launch in the Fall 2022 semester, will be the first and only English-speaking business degree that is exclusively offered for women in Jerusalem.

By promoting the advancement of women’s careers in business, the new program could shift the current imbalance of representation in the Israeli business sector.

According to a report from Power In Diversity detailing the involvement of women in the start-up ecosystem in 2021, small-scale start-ups have an average of 30.8% female representation at all levels, while mid- to large-scale businesses have 33% and 36% representation, respectively.

“With this new degree, our students will be challenged by subjects that offer real added value to the job market. Classes like data mining, machine learning and Python coding are the building blocks to any lucrative career in analytics in the business world,” said Shlomo Anapolle, international program director.

The new program expands the momentum surrounding JCT’s Tal Campus, which is soon to be expanded. The campus currently accommodates more than 2,400 women, including 1,400 from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community.

A $100 million expansion project, slated for completion in 2025, will establish the new campus as the home for up to 3,000 of JCT’s female students in nursing, computer science, electro-optics, industrial engineering, accounting and management, providing increased opportunities for national religious, haredi and Ethiopian women.

The new Tal Campus will also enable the opening of an industrial engineering and management track for ultra-Orthodox women. JCT is home to approximately 5,000 students from religious backgrounds, making it Jerusalem’s second-largest academic institution.

To date, JCT’s academic programs for women and men alike have produced job placement rates of over 90% for haredim and other students from Israel’s under-served communities, with alumni securing immediate employment upon graduation in leading firms such as Intel, Texas Instruments, Check Point and IBM.

Women and men enrolled in JCT’s business programs will also now have the opportunity to pursue a new concentration in Data Analytics. This new offering is poised to provide students with a leg up in the job market upon graduation, as the most lucrative positions in the business world are actively seeking employees with data analytics knowledge and skills.

Additionally, as JCT prides itself as an institution that empowers religious students to navigate the delicate balance between Torah learning and secular academics, the new business program will also offer Jewish studies in the mornings.

By: Zachy Hennessey