Most & Least Popular MBA Specializations

Elad Shoushan

ENTREPRENEURSHIP GAINING TRACTION AMONG BOTH GENDERS

That’s key, as gender, particularly among women, can play a key role in networking and mentorship. Such support translates into opportunities and jobs. Not to mention, their specialization choices often dictate their earnings. Take marketing and accounting, the top two choices for women in the Ready4 survey, which takes up nearly 28.5% of their sample. According to 2016 data from PayScale on the highest-paying MBA concentrations, marketers make $123,000 in median pay by mid-career (15 years or more after graduation). Accounting MBAs earn even less at $115,000 (and that’s only with a combined finance background).

Compare that to MBA finance, which attracts nearly 23.5% of men. They are earning $138,000 by mid-career, $15,000 more than marketers and $23,000 higher than accountants. In other words, men hold an earnings advantage based on what they study. That’s particularly true with human resources and healthcare administration, two popular avenues for women, ranking among the lowest paid MBA concentrations, according to PayScale.

As expected, the most popular concentrations overall skew towards male preferences, mostly because men account for nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents. Nearly 1-in-5 America GMAT test-takers at Ready4 selected finance as their top choice for a concentration. However, these prospective students bring a wide range of interests to campus, with only finance breaking double digits. Accounting (9.73%) and marketing (9.22%) rounded out the top three preferences, followed by general management (8.12%), entrepreneurship (7.44%), and consulting (5.39%).

Entrepreneurship sticks out here. However, its inclusion among the top five concentrations for potential incoming MBA students was hardly a surprise for Shoushan, who followed the entrepreneurship and innovation track at Sloan and had founded Ready4 nearly eight months before starting his MBA. “The benefit of concentrating in entrepreneurship while in business school is the opportunity to take risks and fail in a relatively safe environment. Some of the best programs, such as the MBA experience at MIT Sloan, base the curricula on the actual launch of a business rather than simply the theoretical discussion of the topic.”