INSEAD and Unilever established a research fund in leadership and diversity with a gift of €3M in honour of its recently retired CEO, Patrick Cescau. The inaugural two-year study will explore ways to increase diversity at the top ladders of organisations.

The research will focus on experiences of men and women from diverse backgrounds as they prepare to move into more strategic leadership roles in the current uncertain economic context.

"Investing in gender diversity is a strategic decision for a company whose consumer base is 80% women", says Sandy Ogg, Chief HR Officer in Unilever. The company decided to address gender diversity as a key leadership issue when observing that, each year, 55% of the new hires were women but women only made up 8% of senior leadership positions in the following years.