Case writing competition: The Case for Women
In partnership with The Case for Women and Forté, we have launched a case study competition focused on the female case protagonist. Entries are now open for September 2020, find out more about how to submit your case.
Women in case studies
The aim of the competition is to encourage and promote the development of high-quality teaching case material which positively represents real women in leadership positions in the workplace.
Having 10 years of research on award-winning case papers, Lesley Symons of The Case for Women showed that women protagonists are present in only 11% of award-winning case papers. She developed the Symons Test which is used to assess the presence of women in case papers:
- Does it have a woman in it?
- Is she the protagonist?
- Does she speak to another woman about the business?
Only 4% of the case papers researched met all three of the rules.
The award
The total prize fund for the collection is $10,000. Prizes are awarded to the overall winner and two runners-up.
Key criteria
Judging criteria
- Cases should have a female protagonist
- Her characteristics as a leader should be described in a positive way
- There should be a general balance of genders across the characters in the paper. (This does not need to be precise although an approximate range of between 60:40 either way is considered balanced)
- The female protagonist should speak to another woman about the business
- Ideally, the industry or setting of the case should not fall into one of the "Four F" categories: food, family, fashion and furniture. This is not a mandatory requirement.
Submission criteria
- All cases should be teaching cases based on a real situation in a real company, with a clear decision-making situation, and prepared in accordance with case writing guidelines provided in the instructional materials
- Case studies submitted should not have been published before in their current or substantially similar form or be under consideration for publication in any ISSN/ ISBN-registered publication or with any other case centre
- All cases which are submitted to the judging panel will be published in our eCase Collection. By participating in the competition, you are automatically agreeing to have your case study published in the collection on a non-exclusive license.
- All case studies must be accompanied by a consent to publish release form, which has been completed and signed by the management of the company or individuals included in the case
- All cases must be accompanied by a teaching note which must include:
- a summary of the case
- the teaching objectives and target audience
- a suggested teaching approach and strategy
- a discussion on the implication of gender issues and leadership in the case
- additional readings or references
- feedback on how the case worked in the classroom.
Submit your case study
Submit your case study by 1 September 2020, include four attachments:
- The submission form (Word)
- A word document of your case study
- A separate word document with your teaching note
- A completed consent to publish form (PDF).
Develop your skills and knowledge
Register for our Cases Hub and complete a course on writing a case study and teaching note or download our handy how-to guides.
Related topics
Cases competitions
We partner with various organisations around the world to offer a range of case writing competitions. Find out how about all our case competitions.
Emerging Markets Case Studies
Our emerging markets teaching cases are published as a collection. Learn about publishing your case study or view the table of contents and a sample article.