Greater Participation by Women in Indian Labor Force
Could Increase Real GDP Growth Rates By 1.0%;
GDP per Capita Could Increase By Up To 10%
Hyderabad, India, January 27, 2009 - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today joined with students at the Indian School of Business (ISB) to mark the graduation of the first students in the 10,000 Women initiative in India. 10,000 Women is a global effort providing underserved women, predominantly in developing and emerging markets, with business and management education. Graduating students met with leaders from Goldman Sachs, ISB, and presented business plans developed through their coursework and intended to expand their existing businesses.
The first graduating class of 29 women began their course work in October. Graduates completed a 150-hour certificate program in entrepreneurship that included three weeks of classroom instruction and nine weeks of mentoring and on-the-job support. The end goal of the coursework was to help the women expand their businesses from start-ups to growing and sustainable enterprises. A second group of women will begin their studies in Bangalore in February. A total of 300 Indian women will receive training over the five-year program.
“These graduates of 10,000 Women are a shining example of the near limitless potential of the Indian economy,” said Brooks Entwistle, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs India. “Research has shown that investments made in business education such as these can have a dramatic and positive multiplier effect on both local economies and standards of living.”
The 10,000 Women initiative was founded on research conducted by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and others, which found that educating women is one of the most effective ways to increase economic growth and improve living standards in developing economies. Studies conclude that, on average, a one percentage point increase in female education raises annual GDP growth rates by 0.2 percentage point. “Women Hold Up Half the Sky,” an analysis published by Goldman Sachs Economic Research, found that increasing the number of women in the labor force, which is a natural outcome of more education, could add 1% to India’s annual GDP growth rates and could raise its GDP per capita by 10% in a decade.
The ISB program curriculum offers students classroom instruction, mentoring, networking, and case studies of successful firms from around the globe. In the final phase of the program, students competed in a presentation of business plans they designed to expand their own existing businesses.
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative was launched March 5, 2008. It will commit US$100 million over the next five years and has partnered with more than 50 universities and organizations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and United States to seek, create and develop programs to impact the quality and capacity of business education in developing regions around the world. For further information on the 10,000 Women program, please visit www.10000women.org.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a bank holding company and a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.
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