发表于 2007-11-26 03:39:00
I
spoke this morning to an adcom member from a leading MBA program that
has a less than the typical percentage of women among its students. The
adcom member explained that his school is working diligently to
increase the number of women applying and attending his school. It is
trying to set up a mentoring system, work with women in the corporate
arena, and bring in female corporate role models.
Our conversation reminded me of an article I wrote, but did not
publish. I am publishing it here, but be warned -- it is longer than a
typical blog post.
Kids, 30%, and Entrepreneurship -- What do they have to do with women in management?
The evening was classy and the speakers, female current students and
recent alumni, were good. The purpose: a recruiting event for
prospective female MBAs sponsored by a number of top business schools.
The panelists discussed admissions tactics, classes, internships, the
hot jobs they were aiming for or had attained, and how they felt their
MBA had enhanced or would enhance their career.
During the Q&A that followed, one prospective MBA dared to raise
a subject that had seemed like an unmentionable during the entire
evening: kids. She asked about attending b-school or pursuing a
business career while raising children. I watched fascinated as most of
the young women present nodded in agreement, and the room buzzed with
relief that someone had finally brought up this issue, perhaps the
issue uppermost in many of their minds. Unfortunately, none of the
panel members had children, and not one could respond from personal
experience.
Inexplicably, the organizers of this event had not anticipated the
need to address family/work balance while attempting to increase female
MBA enrollment, stubbornly stuck at roughly 30% in U.S. schools for the
last twenty-five years. Business schools must be prepared to answer
that question. The recent Catalyst study showed concern about the lack of balance is the second most frequently cited reason women give for not pursuing an MBA.
Another topic was barely mentioned that evening: entrepreneurship.
Its absence from b-school efforts to recruit women also contributes to
the schools’ failure to increase female representation. According to
the Center for Women’s Business Research, there are 10.1 million
privately-held 50% or more women-owned businesses in the United States.
Those 10.1 million businesses represent 46% of privately held companies
-- approaching parity -- and offer opportunity to b-schools if they too
want to achieve the Holy Grail of parity.
Business schools don’t exclusively prepare students for rigid
corporate careers; they also train MBAs for entrepreneurship, which
frequently provides greater flexibility and a richer family-work
balance. Business schools should highlight and market this invaluable
training and the flexibility it can bring as they strive to attract
women and demolish that 30% barrier.
I am acutely aware of the value of an MBA in starting my own
business. I earned my MBA from UCLA’s Graduate School of Management
(today the Anderson School) in 1979. When I started my business in the
early 1990’s, I had six children, ranging in age from 3 to 12. My
independence gave me the variable hours I craved. The ability to
schedule my work times around my children’s school hours, limit hours
initially, and ultimately increase them as my children (and business)
grew was critical to me. My MBA played a leading role in my business’
success and in my ability to balance, usually, the demands of family
and work.
So yes, Accepted.com is one of
those 10.1 million women-owned businesses, and I am an MBA who has
defied the stereotypes in pursuing my personal and professional goals.
I urge the MBA establishment and young women considering an MBA to look
beyond the corporate landscape. Explore the infinite possibilities for
women and business schools in entrepreneurship.
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