Articles / WILL Leadership Programmes: Empowering Women Leaders to Transform Organisations
Development, Training & CoachingDiscover WILL leadership programmes that develop women executives. Compare top university and corporate programmes, benefits, and how to choose the right fit.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Sun 11th January 2026
Women in Leadership Learning (WILL) programmes represent structured executive development initiatives designed specifically to address the unique challenges women face in ascending to senior leadership positions. These programmes combine leadership skill-building, networking opportunities, and strategies for overcoming systemic barriers, delivering measurable returns on investment whilst helping organisations build more diverse and effective leadership teams.
Despite women comprising 43.4% of the global workforce, they hold merely 30.6% of leadership positions worldwide. The disparity grows more pronounced at senior levels, where women occupy just 29% of C-suite roles. WILL programmes exist precisely to address this persistent gap—not through remediation, but through strategic development that recognises the distinct obstacles women leaders encounter.
Women in Leadership Learning programmes are intensive executive education experiences that equip female professionals with the competencies, confidence, and connections needed to advance into senior management and board-level positions. Unlike generic leadership training, these programmes address gender-specific challenges including unconscious bias, imposter syndrome, and the navigation of organisational power structures that often disadvantage women.
The business case for such programmes is compelling. Research demonstrates that companies with more than 30% women in executive roles consistently outperform those with lower female representation, with a 48% performance gap existing between the most and least gender-diverse organisations. Moreover, diverse leadership teams report innovation revenue 19 percentage points higher than their less diverse counterparts.
The "broken rung" phenomenon continues to impede women's career progression. Current data reveals that only 93 women are promoted to manager-level roles for every 100 men—a gap that widens dramatically for women of colour, where merely 74 are promoted for every 100 men. This early-career bottleneck creates cascading effects throughout the leadership pipeline.
Women-only development settings prove particularly effective because they create psychological safety for honest exploration of leadership challenges. Research indicates that in mixed-gender environments, many women downplay their experiences in an effort to be taken seriously. WILL programmes provide space for authentic dialogue, peer support, and identity development that accelerates leadership growth.
Documented outcomes include higher promotion rates, improved retention, expanded professional networks, increased confidence, and better understanding of organisational dynamics. Studies of early career women's leadership programmes show significant improvements in leadership self-efficacy and strategic career planning. Participants frequently report enhanced abilities in self-awareness, resilience, and professional persistence.
The world's premier business schools offer women's leadership programmes that combine rigorous academic frameworks with practical application. These programmes typically feature distinguished faculty, global peer networks, and curricula informed by cutting-edge research on gender and leadership.
Harvard offers multiple pathways for women's leadership development. The Division of Continuing Education delivers "Women in Leadership: Online Programme for Emerging Leaders," designed for high-performing professionals with three to seven years of experience. Participants from over 100 countries engage in interactive sessions fostering leadership growth and gender equity.
Harvard Law School's Women's Leadership Initiative targets executives and those advancing to leadership positions across corporations, professional services firms, nonprofits, and government. Faculty comprising distinguished practitioners and scholars challenge participants to develop strategies for career navigation through personal influence and self-advocacy.
Yale's Women's Leadership Programme helps participants develop their full professional potential as leaders in business and society. The programme builds upon unique strengths and skills whilst teaching participants to harness networks and maximise innovation potential. With a 15% fee reduction for nonprofit sector professionals, Yale demonstrates commitment to developing women leaders across sectors.
Wharton's "Women's Executive Leadership: Business Strategies for Success" targets executives and high-potential women transitioning into senior management roles within large corporations, as well as women entrepreneurs assuming broader leadership responsibilities. Participants depart with expanded peer networks and specific tools for enhancing organisational leadership impact.
The "Women in Leadership: Next Level Success" programme prepares women in leadership roles to expand influence and advance their leadership. The programme cultivates confidence in leadership identity, empowering participants to effect meaningful workplace change.
| Programme | Institution | Format | Target Audience | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's Leadership Programme | Yale SOM | On-campus | Mid-to-senior leaders | Multi-day |
| Women in Leadership | Harvard DCE | Online | Emerging leaders (3-7 years experience) | Multi-week |
| Women's Executive Leadership | Wharton | On-campus | Senior executives | Multi-day |
| Women in Leadership | Columbia | On-campus | Current leaders | Multi-day |
| Women's Leadership Initiative | Harvard Law | In-person | Executives across sectors | Multi-day |
Beyond university offerings, numerous organisations deliver women's leadership development with distinct advantages including industry-specific focus, ongoing support structures, and more accessible investment requirements.
The Centre for Creative Leadership has pioneered women's leadership development since 1987, conducting some of the earliest research on breaking the glass ceiling. Their programmes have helped thousands of women navigate workplace challenges, with custom solutions developed for major corporations including Stellantis (earning multiple Brandon Hall Group awards for excellence) and Ingersoll Rand.
The Boston Chamber of Commerce operates a Women's Leadership Programme empowering professionals to navigate and propel careers whilst creating conditions for other women to thrive. Cohorts run annually from September through May, combining skill development with regional networking.
Coro's Women in Leadership programme supports women professionals deepening their impact as managers, team leaders, and community leaders through part-time participation. At a subsidised tuition rate, it offers essential skills, robust networks, and confidence-building for career acceleration.
Corporate programmes often provide greater flexibility, industry-specific content, and direct connections to potential employers or clients. University programmes typically offer more rigorous academic grounding, prestigious credentials, and broader cross-industry networking. The optimal choice depends upon individual career objectives, learning preferences, and organisational context.
Investing in women's leadership development delivers substantial returns across individual, organisational, and societal dimensions. Research consistently demonstrates that structured leadership development yields impressive financial returns.
On average, every pound invested in leadership development programmes generates seven pounds in return. Studies report annualised returns of 415% for first-time manager development, with benefits largely attributed to increased revenue, improved retention, and reduced recruitment costs. Organisations offering comprehensive training achieve 218% higher income per employee and 24% higher profit margins than those with less robust development offerings.
Participants in women's leadership programmes report:
Organisations investing in women's leadership development experience:
Effective programmes tackle systemic barriers through multiple mechanisms. They build political acumen for navigating organisational power structures, develop sponsorship relationships with senior leaders, enhance visibility and executive presence, and provide frameworks for managing bias and microaggressions. Programmes like Oxford's Women's Leadership Development Programme, based on research with women CEOs, specifically equip participants to navigate gender bias whilst strengthening abilities to guide, influence, and mentor others.
Selecting an appropriate women's leadership programme requires careful consideration of personal objectives, organisational needs, and programme characteristics. The investment of time and resources demands thoughtful alignment.
Begin by assessing current developmental needs. Research indicates that women cite leadership training (57%), confidence building (56%), decision-making (48%), networking (47%), and critical thinking (46%) as the most important skills for advancement. Identify which competencies would most accelerate your progression.
Consider these evaluation criteria:
Alignment with career objectives: Does the programme address your specific development gaps and career aspirations?
Participant profile: Will you learn alongside peers facing similar challenges at comparable career stages?
Programme format: Does the delivery method (online, in-person, hybrid) accommodate your professional and personal obligations?
Faculty and methodology: What is the balance of academic rigour, practical application, and experiential learning?
Network value: What ongoing community and support structures exist beyond the programme itself?
Organisational integration: How might insights and skills transfer back to your workplace context?
Investment and returns: Does the financial and time commitment align with anticipated benefits?
Sponsoring women's leadership development represents a strategic talent investment. Before selecting a programme, examine your organisation's talent strategy to understand specific challenges in advancing women and ensure appropriate systems exist for identifying high-performing women with leadership potential. Programmes embedded within broader organisational diversity and inclusion efforts prove most effective at driving cultural change.
Real-world examples demonstrate how women's leadership development translates into meaningful career advancement and organisational impact.
HP has empowered high-potential employees globally through targeted programmes like AWE Accelerator and AWE Leader, providing skills and networking essential for advancement within the company. These structured initiatives create pathways for women to assume increasingly senior responsibilities.
Stellantis and the Centre for Creative Leadership developed a custom women's leadership programme earning multiple awards for excellence, demonstrating that thoughtful programme design delivers recognition-worthy results. Ingersoll Rand's partnership with CCL similarly produced positive impacts on company culture and team diversity whilst making meaningful differences in individual women's lives.
A.T. Kearney's Success with Flex programme exemplifies how leadership development combined with flexibility enables advancement. One associate who joined working four days weekly was promoted to principal—the level immediately before partner—demonstrating that development and advancement need not require sacrificing work-life integration.
Research on career advancement programmes reveals that effective strategic thinking, team leadership, and enhanced communication skills prove critical for advancement. Studies document that participants who developed these competencies through coaching and training achieved promotion goals at higher rates.
Executive coaching within leadership programmes improves self-awareness, confidence, leadership style, and work-life balance. Triad meetings involving participants, managers, and coaches facilitate alignment on career aspirations, readiness for promotion, and actionable feedback—significantly increasing likelihood of achieving advancement goals.
Benefits unfold across multiple timeframes. Immediate gains include enhanced confidence, expanded networks, and new frameworks for addressing challenges. Medium-term outcomes encompass improved performance ratings, new opportunities, and stronger stakeholder relationships. Longer-term results manifest as promotions, expanded scope, and accumulating career advancement. Studies demonstrate ROI as early as three months post-programme, with returns compounding over time.
Individual programme participation creates value, yet organisations must embed women's development within broader systemic change to achieve lasting impact.
As Harvard Business Review notes, increasing diversity alone does not increase effectiveness—what matters is how organisations harness diversity and whether they reshape power structures accordingly. Successful organisations combine women's leadership development with:
Programme completion marks a beginning rather than an endpoint. Strategies for maintaining momentum include:
The current pace of change suggests gender equality in senior leadership positions remains generations away without deliberate intervention. Women's leadership programmes represent one essential component of accelerating progress—developing individual capabilities whilst contributing to the broader transformation organisations require.
WILL commonly stands for Women in Leadership Learning, though variations exist across institutions. The acronym represents structured executive development initiatives specifically designed for women professionals seeking to advance into senior leadership positions. These programmes address unique challenges women face in organisational advancement, combining skill-building with strategies for navigating systemic barriers whilst building supportive professional networks.
Programme investments vary considerably based on institution prestige, format, and duration. University executive education programmes from leading business schools range from several thousand to over ten thousand pounds, sometimes including accommodation and materials. Corporate and nonprofit offerings may be substantially more accessible, with some providing subsidised rates for qualifying participants. Many employers sponsor participation as part of talent development strategies.
Most WILL programmes admit exclusively women to create psychological safety for exploring gender-specific leadership challenges. However, several programmes—including Harvard's Women Leaders: Advancing Together and Yale's offerings—welcome participants of any gender who support women's advancement. These inclusive formats enable allies to develop skills for championing women within their organisations whilst benefiting from exposure to diverse perspectives.
Programmes exist across the career continuum. Early-career options target emerging leaders with three to seven years of experience seeking to build foundational leadership capabilities. Mid-career programmes address managers and directors positioning for senior roles. Executive offerings serve women already in leadership seeking C-suite advancement or board positions. Select the programme matching your current stage and next-level aspirations.
Women's programmes address gender-specific challenges including unconscious bias navigation, imposter syndrome, executive presence development in contexts where feminine leadership styles may be undervalued, and strategies for building influence within power structures historically dominated by men. They also provide women-only spaces enabling authentic discussion of shared experiences and peer support unavailable in mixed-gender settings.
Well-designed online programmes deliver comparable learning outcomes with added flexibility accommodating professional and personal demands. Programmes from institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Oxford offer robust virtual experiences with live sessions, peer collaboration, and faculty interaction. In-person programmes may offer deeper networking immersion and intensive focus away from daily responsibilities. Many professionals find value in both formats at different career stages.
Effective measurement examines multiple dimensions: participant satisfaction and learning gains, application of new skills in workplace contexts, promotion rates and scope expansion among participants, retention of high-potential women, changes in leadership pipeline demographics, and broader cultural indicators. The strongest accountability links programme participation to concrete advancement metrics tracked over time, ensuring development investment translates into diverse leadership representation.