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Ground-breaking research into executives’ career progressions

8 March 2017

The article at a glance

Cambridge Judge Business School is partnering with Level 20, a not-for profit formed and seeded by a group of 12 senior women …

Cambridge Judge Business School is partnering with Level 20, a not-for profit formed and seeded by a group of 12 senior women active in private equity, to research individuals’ career paths.

Level20 groundbreaking research

Cambridge Judge Business School and Level 20, a not for profit organisation formed and seeded by a group of 12 senior women active in representing GPs and LPs in private equity, are carrying out ground-breaking research of individuals’ career paths in the European private equity industry. The objective of the research is to gather information from a large number of industry participants, which will help us understand the unique career progressions of executives in the private equity industry and the various factors that shape this progression.

Jennifer Dunstan, Chair of Level 20 said:

We believe that this survey will be hugely important in helping us understand the different career paths of people working in the private equity industry. We are delighted to be working with CJBS on this as they have considerable experience of research of this kind.

Jeryl Andrew, CEO of Level 20 said:

We are very pleased to have the support of Invest Europe and the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association to help promote the survey, which we hope will be completed by more than 1000 men and women from firms across Europe.

Professor Sucheta Nadkarni, Sinyi Professor of Chinese Management at Cambridge Judge and lead investigator on this research said:

It is a delight to work with Level 20 with the support of Invest Europe and BPCA on a topic that has huge academic and real-world implications. This collaboration exemplifies the School’s “deep engagement” vision. As one of the first comprehensive studies on the career trajectories of executives in the private equity industry, this research is likely to provide an in-depth understanding of the enablers and inhibitors of the rise of male and female executives to senior leadership positions.

The results of the survey will be analysed by researchers at CJBS and a report will be published later this year.

This article was published on

8 March 2017.