FIMBA graduate, Wenjia Xie
The University of Liverpool is offering two full-fee scholarships on its highly regarded Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) exclusively to female students, as part of Women in Football’s #WhatIf campaign.
The opportunity – which will see tuition fees of between £16,500 and £23,500 entirely covered for the successful applicants – is aimed at encouraging more women to take up roles in football, off the pitch.
Professor Elizabeth Maitland, Associate Dean for MBA Programmes in the University’s Management School, said: “We are thrilled to be pledging scholarships for talented women to join our Football Industries MBA programme.
“This is a unique opportunity to join with an association promoting women and their engagement with the beautiful game, which we are passionate about.”
FIMBA, which launched in 1997, is the world’s first and only football-focused Master of Business Administration programme.
The programme covers a wide range of subject disciplines from strategy and innovation, to sports economics, marketing and governance; and works across the industry addressing real world challenges in the business of sport.
FIMBA alumni have gone on to work in top football clubs, as well as governing bodies, media and commercial organisations across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa
Women in Football’s #WhatIf campaign invites organisations and individuals to make pledges around female involvement in the game.
Nicola Idowu graduated from the FIMBA programme in 2016
Headline pledges from the inaugural year, in 2018, featured the likes of Sky Sports promising to involve more women pundits, Twitter creating a unique Women in Football emoji and Barclays funding a research project to assess the state of play between the genders.
Welcoming University of Liverpool’s pledge for the 2019 campaign, Jane Purdon, Women in Football CEO, said: “This is an incredible pledge which reflects exactly what the campaign is about – offering opportunities to women to progress in the game.
“This #WhatIf pledge will give two women an unprecedented opportunity to study on the University of Liverpool’s highly-respected Football Industries MBA, in a vibrant city at the very heart of English football.”
Interested applicants are usually expected to have two to three years substantive managerial experience in the public or private sector and will hold a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline from a UK university (or an equivalent professional qualification from a non-UK university).
But non-graduates with more than five years professional experience are also encouraged to apply.
The deadline is Wednesday July 31 2019.
Professor Maitland added: “FIMBA has been developing leaders for the industry for over 20 years and is established as a leader in sports business education.
“We are looking forward to working with Women in Football to build the next generation of leaders.”
Interested candidates should submit an application for the FIMBA programme. No separate scholarship application is necessary. All applicants who are offered a place on the programme will be considered against the scholarship criteria. If candidates are made an offer of a place on the programme, but do not obtain a full scholarship, there is no obligation to undertake the programme.
For more information and details of how to apply please visit: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/taught/football-industries-mba/overview/