Women in Business (WIB), a student-run organization that prepares young women to succeed in the workplace, is now back in session after being inactive during the fall 2023 semester.
The members are eager to dive in.
WIB aims to develop the personal and professional skills of its members, while also building connections and lasting relationships. Group members gain skills from professional development activities, guest speaker presentations and other community building events.
Senior economics major Kelsey McCrackin is the current president of WIB. She founded the club last year in fall 2022 to provide female business students at Coastal Carolina University a sense of community and recognition they may not often find.
“It’s pretty known to have a Women in Business club, we just didn’t have one, and I think it’s a good opportunity for Coastal women specifically,” McCrackin said.
McCrackin is responsible for organizing events, arranging guest speakers and coordinating with group members. This semester, she plans to bring back designing vision boards and invite three or four guest speakers, if not more. Speakers give presentations to the group and offer insights from their personal experiences in the business world.
Monica Fine, the E. Craig Wall College of Business’s associate dean of student success, is a common guest speaker for WIB. Fine said she prefers a hands-on workshop for her presentations to provide members with skills they can carry into their careers. She has hosted workshops on goal setting, personal branding and how to improve LinkedIn profiles.
Fine strongly believes in bringing women together to support other women, especially in the male-dominated field.
“A small known fact, the number of men in our college is far higher than universitywide,” Fine said. “Finding your people tends to be hard as a freshman and a sophomore.”
Fine estimates 70% of business students at CCU are male. This ratio of male to female students makes a supportive group like WIB essential to campus.
Sophomore business major Isabella Kaczan joined WIB her freshman year in search of an empowering community. She hoped to learn what it means to succeed as a woman in the field.
“You know, being new to campus, I didn’t really know anybody in the business school,” Kaczan said. “So I thought that [this] club, being with women, and also being with business majors would be a good idea for me.”
McCrackin said membership is open to all women, regardless of their major. Anyone looking to join, or existing members excited to start back, should contact McCrackin at [email protected] with any questions.
The first meeting of the semester will be on Jan. 23 at 6:45 p.m. in Wall 118.
“I’m very excited to see who joins, no matter the major. I’m excited to make connections and relationships with a bunch of other women at Coastal,” McCrackin said.
