The MBA Gender Gap Persists

The MBA Gender Gap: Is It Time for Women to Lean In (to an MBA Program)?

 

You can’t hide the numbers. In government, women comprise 15 percent of Congress (and 20 percent of the U.S. Senate). In the Fortune 500 companies, they only hold 17 percent of seats on corporate boards. Traditionally, critics have attributed such numbers to the proverbial glass ceiling. However, new leaders like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg are blaming women themselves, faulting them for lacking ambition and the ability to balance their personal and professional lives.

In educational fields like law and medicine, the gender gap has all but disappeared. But in MBA education, only 1 in 3 American students are women. Why is that important? This week, Elissa Ellis Sangster, Executive Director of The Forté Foundation, answered that question in a Huffington Post column. According to Sangster, “40 percent of S&P 500 CEOs have MBAs.” The Forté Foundation has also found that an MBA can “boost lifetime earning potential by $3 million.” Even more, a 2012 GMAC Survey found that women increased their salary by 70 percent after earning MBAs.  Taken together, these facts reflect that many business women are holding themselves back by failing to take advantage of an MBA education, particularly early in their careers.

Still, there are some silver linings. Sanger notes that the business schools at Wharton and Harvard are comprised of 45 and 41 percent of women, respectively. Similarly, women represent 43 percent of GMAT test-takers worldwide. That, coupled with recent research demonstrating how the presence of women enhance their employers’ bottom line, is good news indeed.

Source: The Huffington Post

 

New Business School Aims to Build Moral Corporate Leaders

 

Financial fraud. Sweetheart deals. Abuse of power. Excessive perks. From Rajat Gupta to Lois Lerner, the business pages are littered with tales of hubris and frailty. It’s probably true that business today is no more crooked than in past cycles. But the stakes have sure risen.

Five years after the economic meltdown, Washington D.C.’s Catholic University has designed a graduate business program driven by a “value-based method that infuses integrity, morals and religious principles with traditional lessons in management, accounting and marketing.” The program integrates ethics into every class, to provide students with guidance in morally ambiguous situations.

The approach has become a draw for students – and employers. Sophomore Carley Gartner noted that she chose Catholic’s business program because it would be “rooted in ethics” 2011 Catholic graduate Jenna Antos added that her current employer admired the program’s values, making her a stronger candidate for her position. Still, Catholic University’s focus is helping student recognize the great responsibility owed to their employers, co-workers, and customers. In the words of Andrew Abela, the school’s dean, “If we can prevent one Enron down the road, if we can prevent one WorldCom, it’s certainly worthwhile.”

Source: USA Today