Ashoka Women Explore Women’s Leadership at Wellesley College

July 2018

In partnership with Wellesley

Following an agreement between Ashoka University and Wellesley College, USA in 2016, the partnership has been nurtured by enriching conversations and exchanges.

Wellesley Contemporary Women’s Leadership Programme

Since 2017, Ashoka University has funded two female undergraduate students for an immersive summer programme at Wellesley.  The Contemporary Women’s Leadership Programme runs for five weeks, and includes two courses – Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies and Organizational Psychology.

This summer, 2018, 2^nd year students Trisha Mukherjee and Ashumi Shah of Ashoka University were selected for the programme. Here are their thoughts from the Wellesley campus:  

“It’s great to be at such a large and historic campus. I’m also enjoying both my classes, they’re complex and we have some really interesting discussions. The programme is naturally geared towards leadership, and empowering women leaders. I’m really excited for the experiential week at the end, where we’ll actually get to meet powerful women in the industry. Other than that, we’ve gone to Boston to celebrate Fourth of July and visit Harvard and MIT. It’s such a great city, and the number of students you see around sitting and working in coffee shops really makes it a great student town. I’ve also met some great people from all around the world. – Ashumi

“A summer at Wellesley College is like a dream come true. The experience of living and studying in an environment with students from diverse cultural backgrounds has been truly fascinating. It’s so empowering to take a Women’s and Gender Studies course in an all-women college. The Organizational Psychology class is loaded with exciting activities and intriguing facts, which can be used in practical life.” – Trisha

Ashoka founder and an alum of Wellesley College, Harshbeena Sahney Zaveri, has instituted a special fund that facilitates the Ashoka-Wellesley partnership. Her generous contribution has strengthened student mobility, faculty engagement, conferences and various areas of activities between the two institutions.

Harshbeena Sahney Zaveri with students of Ashoka University who have participated in leadership programmes at Wellesley in 2016 and 2017.

Following the collaboration, Ashoka University was able to send students to participate in the Albright Institute at Wellesley during the winter session in January 2016 and 2017. Students were selected through a competitive process and panel interviews; and represented Ashoka University at the conversations and debates during the winter session.

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality, (CSGS) at Ashoka University have been working together on various research projects and jointly held an international conference on “Sex/Ed” in New Delhi in November, 2017.

By Vanita Shastri, Dean, Global Education and Strategic Programs, Ashoka University.