Russian Women Take the Lead in MBA Studies
By Christophe Coutat
Special to The St. Petersburg Times
Bloomberg
Holders of MBA degrees speak on a panel at a Forte Foundation recruitment forum. The events are aimed at boosting the number of women in MBA programs and business management. |
Women are applying to MBA programs in greater numbers than ever before. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reports that currently, 40 percent of those taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) test are women. This trend has been confirmed by the Forte Foundation, an organization that promotes women in management. Forte found that for the first time in 15 years, the number of women in business schools has risen significantly. “An MBA can transform your skill set, give you flexibility, and help determine what success means to you,” says Elissa Ellis, Forte Executive Director. “It is a credential offering women optimal opportunities and flexibility in business.” At New York University Stern School of Business, for example, women make up 37 percent of the MBA population. In a league of its own, the Simmons School of Management in Boston is the only business school in the world designed specifically for women. “Our mission is to educate women for power and principled leadership,” says Deborah Merrill-Sands, the dean of the Simmons school. Russian women seem to be a lot more active than the world average: according to the same GMAC report, women accounted for 54 percent of all the GMAT takers holding Russian citizenship. In Russia, females have traditionally outnumbered males as GMAT takers, and the gap appears to be widening over the years, while the total number of Russian test takers continues to grow steadily. Due to the fact that in the Russian Federation, there are more women than men considering MBA studies, Western European and American programs have a keen interest in the Russian MBA market. Breaking Stereotypes Business schools want more women on their MBA programs for two reasons. Firstly, they want to provide women with the management knowledge to fast-forward their careers in the business world. Secondly, they want to break down the stereotypes about women in the workplace. According to Catalyst, an organization that promotes women in business, the broad-based cultural stereotypes about gender can create difficult predicaments for women in top management positions. Catalyst findings suggest that, due to stereotyping, “women’s leadership talent is routinely underestimated and underutilized in organizations — and yet organizations need women’s talent in order to succeed.” Santiago Iniguez, Dean of the Madrid-based IE Business School, says, “We are convinced that the successful business models of the future will be those that best know how to interact with an increasingly sophisticated and demanding social environment.” Taking Advantage Women bring many assets to the table that make for a diverse MBA environment. When researching particular schools, women should look at the number and variety of women’s organizations on campus. INSEAD, for example, invites women to join its Women in Business Club, which features prominent speakers at its meetings. Wharton, where women make up 33 percent of the student population, organizes an annual Women in Business conference, a highly rated event propelling women into positions of leadership. Russian women appear to be taking full advantage of their studies and contributing greatly to the programs when they study abroad. Sean Rickard, Director of Full-Time MBA Program at Cranfield University in the U.K. says, “Over the years I have come to respect our Russian students and none more so than the women. They have a serious attitude to work and are diligent and methodical in their studies. As a result they are a joy to teach and fellow students find them supportive and reliable colleagues — attributes that are particularly important at Cranfield, where great emphasis is placed on the learning team. But there is another reason why I am so pleased to welcome Russian woman to the program. They are full of fun, love to socialize and their good humor ensures that they are nice people to associate with.” In selecting the most appropriate business schools, candidates should ask school representatives how many female teachers there are in the faculty. It is also worth asking whether business schools sponsor networking activities and community services run and organized by women. Scholarships for women are also an incentive. A select number of business schools have joined forces with the Forte Foundation to create opportunities for the advancement of women in management. Within the partnership, Forte member schools award scholarships to highly qualified women. In addition to financial support via scholarships, scholars gain exposure to leading companies in the Forte network. Finding Flexibility In order to choose the right program, women should talk to school representatives, current students and alumni about the differences between the learning environment and social atmosphere. Representatives have found that women are more likely than men to look for a school environment where they will find other people with similar life experiences and backgrounds to their own. Many of the top European and American business schools have started accepting women from a younger age and with less experience, in addition to offering shorter and more flexible programs. According to GMAC, more women applied to MBA programs in 2007 than in the previous year, but the application trend is starting to favor part-time programs. “The consistently positive trend in the volume of female applications for part-time programs has contributed to a larger proportion of women among part-time MBA programs (37 percent) than among full-time MBA programs (27 percent),” says the GMAC report. Some women apply to business schools soon after graduating from university. The University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business, for example, has started admitting students with little or no previous work experience. “As a result of our Early Leaders initiative, we have seen improvements in recruiter satisfaction and gender diversity,” says Mark Zupan, dean of the Simon Graduate School of Business. “The percentage of females in our entering class has increased from 26 percent to 32 percent over the last two years.” Women should also ensure that the business schools they choose have strong and committed alumni networks, since an MBA creates valuable coaching opportunities for women, especially as they begin to look for jobs. Women turn to each other and to alumni for practice on case questions and mock interviews, and for coaching on phone interview techniques. Alumni can be very helpful in providing tips and explaining the hiring practices within a wide range of organizations. Christophe Coutat is the founder of Access MBA.
The Access MBA One-to-One event will take place in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Oct. 11. The event gives prospective MBA candidates the opportunity to meet face to face with the world’s top international business schools. Qualified professionals are given the chance to meet with business school representatives in private one-to-one meetings, and Access MBA advisors help orient candidates towards the appropriate business schools at the event. “The ACCESS MBA Tour has a successful format that allows business schools to speak one-on-one with potential students for 25 minutes,” says Deise Leobet, Business Development Director for IE Business School (Instituto de Empresa). The school, ranked in the top 10 worldwide, participates in the Access MBA Tour every year. Candidates who match school’s admissions criteria are selected for one-to-one meetings. Qualified candidates are typically English-speaking individuals with at least 3 years of professional experience and holding a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. The Access MBA Tour includes over 100 prestigious business schools that are accredited and internationally ranked. Among them, 70 percent of the top 100 MBA programs worldwide are featured at the events. Participating schools include INSEAD, Instituto de Empresa, Esade, IESE, HEC, ESCP-EAP, Manchester, Cambridge, Cranfield, SDA Bocconi, RSM Erasmus, Wharton, NYU Stern, UCLA, Thunderbird, Tuck (Dartmouth), Kellogg-WHU and more. Access MBA is a project of Advent Group, a Paris-based communications agency that coordinates educational and recruiting events throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. The Access MBA event takes place on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 9.15 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. at the Astoria Hotel. For further information and to register online, visit www.accessmba.com
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