How Can Women Achieve Equality at the Leadership Table?
Imposter syndrome for women is real, according to Kris Mercuri, director of MBA admissions, recruiting, and outreach at Yale, and women must acknowledge it as one of the things they can manage. Women are required in all areas as thought leaders and decision-makers but a recent P&Q article helps us understand how women can actually get there.
In the 1980s, Yale SOM achieved early success with equality, with women accounting for more than half of the MBA class. Since then, Yale SOM has worked to restore gender equity in the MBA program, recognizing that it is a critical component of fully fulfilling management education. According to Assistant Dean Bruce DelMonico, meaningful leadership means representing and hearing all perspectives, and ensuring that women have an equal seat at the leadership table is a critical component of this vision.
Gender Parity in mim vs mba Programs
The picture seems more balanced in the early career level of graduate management education. In 2022, at least 50% of the top 100 Masters in Management (MiM) programs in the Financial Times ranking were female, including five of the top ten.
However, progress for the top US and worldwide MBA programs has been slow. It took until 2018 for USC Marshall to become the first top-ranked business school to reach gender parity in an MBA program, while Wharton made news in 2021 when the incoming MBA class was the first to be majority female in the institution's 140-year existence.
Women and Career Breaks
In today's complicated and competitive global market, businesses require increasingly varied viewpoints and ideas to flourish. However, even in 2023, one of the main reasons why fewer women return to business school for an MBA or Executive MBA is a lack of flexibility that allows them to balance family and work. According to Kristina Rai, chief operating officer at Asia School of Business, the biological parental clock sometimes stops the clock for career advancement, affecting women's seniority, job mobility, and even confidence.
Silver Scholars Program
When compared to a law degree or other graduate degrees, the MBA remains mostly a post-experience degree. Yale established the Silver Scholars Program almost 20 years ago to address this issue. This program allows students to proceed directly from undergraduate to MBA without a break, addressing a common obstacle for women: timing. There are more flexible alternatives available now, so folks can choose something that works for them.
importance of flexibility in graduate management education
According to Nalisha Patel, regional director for Europe at GMAC, the GMAC Application Trends Survey shows that women are more likely than males to transfer between full-time and part-time status throughout their stay in the program. Highlighting the importance of flexibility in graduate management education for women, which more business schools should promote if they want their cohorts to be more gender balanced.
“We’re in the education sector, so we should be at the forefront of helping women traverse these dilemmas so that it does not become a binary choice of career or family,” says Kristina Rai, chief operating officer at Asia School of Business.
A need for more female faculty and staff
Another method for business schools to recruit more women, according to Malin Are, vice rector for research at the Norwegian School of Economics, is to have a more diverse staff and faculty. “For many reasons, business is perceived as a very male subject and often prospective students and their families do not see the whole spectrum of what business really is and the broad set of opportunities it offers.” She adds, “this can be done by having female role models in the educational institutions, but also drawing upon past and current female students to create awareness of their success and place in their field of expertise.”
Rebecca Loades, director of MBA programs at ESMT Berlin, believes that business schools must "walk the walk" by employing female faculty and women at senior levels. Nalisha Patel claims that a school may implement a lot of little adjustments. Options include highlighting more females in class profiles, adjusting their targeting when looking for applicants, partnering with bodies to support finance, supporting student-led clubs and events, offering more flexibility in programs, and providing places for mothers to breastfeed.
According to Rebecca Loades, it is critical to "recognize that business schools are not alone." Employers want to help their female employees grow so that they may reap the advantages of increasing diversity at the executive level. Business schools and corporations may collaborate to design initiatives to help women advance in their careers.
Beginning the business school path has value
Even if you are not sure if business school is suitable for you, according to Nalisha Patel, there are several advantages to applying. There are several advantages to investigating business schools, including networking, knowledge, and information about potential careers and industry. If you are still unsure, try joining a women's network such as the Forte Foundation or the Professional Women's Network. Reach out to and learn from women who inspire you.
women’s networks
Yale SOM is a founding member of the Forte Foundation, and it has collaborated with organizations like 21 Broads and Womenshphere to encourage more women to pursue graduate management education. Yale also participates in recruitment efforts at Seven Sisters schools and other academic institutions, collaborating with colleagues at Harvard, Wharton, and other universities to raise awareness among prospective MBA students.
Bruce DelMonico anticipates that these initiatives, as well as ongoing program portfolio and educational delivery innovation trials, will provide women who have not previously considered graduate management education with the incentive and substantial flexibility to pursue an MBA degree.
"The industry is still moving toward gender parity in the MBA student body, and I believe it is a matter of when rather than if. Some schools have crossed that threshold on an irregular basis, and I believe more will do so in the future years and on a more constant basis."