Above: Participants gathered for a joint session of the BI Female Mentorship Program at ABGSC’s office in Oslo.
On 26 January, members of BI’s “Women in Finance Mentor Program” visited ABGSC’s offices in Oslo for one of their joint sessions between mentors and mentees. The focus of the session, which was hosted by the Foundation, was to discuss work-life balance and explore ways to combine a career in finance with family life. The event brought together a total of 20 students and mentors, as well as BI’s program committee and the Foundation’s managing director.
Also in attendance were guest speakers Eirin Mårvik, ABGSC Investment Banking Partner, Lisa Karlsen, Head of Leveraged Finance at Pareto Securities, and Cathrine Kaasen Conradi, SVP Financial Inclusion at Norfund, each of whom shared their experiences from long careers within the finance industry, providing insight into how they have combined family life with the demands of front-office finance careers.
Above: ABGSC’s Eirin Mårvik (right) along with other guest speakers Lisa Karlsen (Pareto Securities) (left) and Cathrine Kaasen Conradi (Norfund) (middle).
The Foundation’s Marianne Daae also shared a presentation in which she highlighted the recent research produced by the Centre for Research on Gender Equality (“CORE”) at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo; the research aimed to provide insight into the barriers affecting gender equality in the finance industry in the Nordics, examining issues of work-life balance in particular (learn more about it here).
The session included a dinner for the participants, during which they had the opportunity to mingle and make connections.
The event is one of four joint sessions that occur during the academic year. Additionally, the mentorship program consists of several one-to-one sessions between the mentors and their mentees throughout the year.
This is the second year that BI has run the mentorship program. The aim of the program is to support and provide insight to female students who are navigating their academic paths and contemplating careers within the world of finance. The ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation was proud to sponsor the inaugural edition of the initiative in 2024/2025; you can read more about the launch here.
