Interview: Wharton’s MBA Gatekeeper

Outside the Wharton School on the University of Pennsylvania campus - Ethan Baron photo

Outside the Wharton School on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Ethan Baron photo

The Wharton Class of 2018 is comprised of 44% women — one of the highest percentages among top MBA programs. In fact, Wharton has been at or consistently above 40% in recent years. What makes Wharton so attractive to women seeking an MBA?

I really think we owe a lot to students, to be honest. We have an organization here called the Wharton Women in Business Club (WWIB). They really do a remarkable job of fostering a community of support and inclusion here at the school. We work together to plan and execute women’s visit days and recruitment events for women. They also host an event during Welcome Weekend where they bring in alumni speakers. They also convened a group this year for Mothers@Wharton; these are individuals who either have children or are expecting children during the MBA program. The students find a wide range of support here among the administration and certainly our deputy vice dean for admissions, financial aid and career management. (Deputy Vice Dean) Maryellen Reilly is an incredible advocate for them — she is a trusted adviser to a lot of our students.

That’s on the student side. Our alumni network is also incredibly supportive in this work. Anne Welsh McNulty recently made a really generous gift to our leadership program. Ruth Porat, the CFO over at Google, was our commencement speaker this year. Beth Kaplan is a member of our board of overseers who works tirelessly on women’s issues here on campus. To see that support from such proud alumni of the MBA program in tangible ways is really of tremendous value to our community.

Laura Huang of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School

Laura Huang of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School

On the faculty side, two of the very first professors that students meet at Wharton are Sigal Barsade and Nancy Rothbard, professors of management and authors of our trademark course in teamwork and leadership. During their tenure, they’ll meet with Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing and director of the retail center. They’ll meet with Katherine Klein, who is vice dean for our social impact initiative. They’ll take Laura Huang’s course on entrepreneurship or Katie Milkman’s course in managerial decision-making. You can’t help but be inspired by these individuals. Throughout the admissions process, we try to communicate that to prospective students as much as possible; certainly, our current students and alumni can voice that on a daily basis.

There is also a focus on inclusion that we have here in the program. You’ll see programs like Return on Equality (ROE), which is a student and faculty initiative (where students explore diversity). You’ll also see student initiatives like the Wharton 22s (which fosters a dialogue on gender disparities). They operate out of the Wharton Women In Business Club, but they’re actually male students who are supportive of their initiatives and their programming as well. So I think that strand of inclusion is really of great benefit to women.

How would you describe the DNA of a Wharton student?

If I had to boil it down, I’d like to say our students are collaborative, curious, and engaged. They have a real voice in the program, an authentic voice. They can be remarkable agents for change when they work in concert with the faculty and staff and I think they know and appreciate that.

At the same time, they focus on the teamwork element of the program. We tend to be a very collaborative environment. There is a lot of group work that happens in and outside the classroom and our students really revel in that. And they’re constantly striving to explore new ideas to better themselves and better the community around them. That’s where that curiosity comes from, that constant scratching whether it is a business problem or social issue that they’re trying to tackle. They’re really tireless in that regard, so if I would focus in on three traits, I would say those are it.

One aspect of Wharton that might surprise applicants is the traditional high number of students who have an undergraduate background in the liberal arts 46% this year. Could you speak to why those students are so attractive to Wharton? 

Students at The Wharton School's commencement. Courtesy photo

Students at The Wharton School’s commencement. Courtesy photo

I think it comes from the breadth of experience they bring to the program. One of the programs that we offer for our students here is, as a Wharton student, you need 19 credit units to graduate, 15 of which have to come from Wharton. But your tuition pays for 21 credit units. So we see students taking as many as six classes throughout the graduate schools of the University of Pennsylvania. We feel this is a strength of the program and the Penn community at large. To see those students engage with that sense of curiosity — and the breadth of our offerings — is really inspiring.

We also have robust programs in healthcare management; we bring in a cohort of more than 30 students every year who focus specifically on the study of healthcare who come from the humanities. We also have a really robust JD-MBA program and also the Lauder program, which is a dual degree where you get the MBA and MA in two years with some study of language in there and an immersive study of cultures in different regions of the world. I think those programs are intrinsically attractive to individuals who may have humanities backgrounds. Those are some of the reasons we’re drawing those individuals.

The GMAT score is one part of an applicant that we’re looking at in the construct of so many things. If I look at an individual who has a liberal arts background and delve into their curriculum as an undergrad, I get a better feel for the work they’ve done. Very often, we’ll see students, even as humanities majors, who have taken courses in statistics and economics or disciplines along those lines. Those are attractive to us. Certainly, their work experience is a consideration. So we’re trying to develop a really holistic picture of the individual when we’re trying to make our class. We take a portfolio approach to building a class. With 851 students in the current class, we get all sorts of backgrounds and a real diversity of thought and opinion in the classroom. We really value what that diversity will bring.

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