The Search for Women
Executive MBA Programs play a role in supporting the drive for more women in business
 Marion Armstrong received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and spent much of her career working in male-dominated areas such as construction, hazardous waste, and emergency response.
During college Armstrong avoided business courses. “I even withdrew from my undergraduate accounting class,” she says.
When she rejoined the family business, Armstrong Forensic Laboratory, she realized that she was missing an important element. “I knew some day I would need the business operational and financial skills and experience that I had not yet achieved to continue the success of the family business,” she says.
Armstrong chose an Executive MBA Program and found that the lack of a business undergraduate degree did not hinder her progress in the program. She developed an operations plan for her business as part of her elective course and gained the confidence to take the business to the next level.
As a successful woman in the business world and in the Executive MBA classroom, Armstrong is not alone, but she is also not in the majority.
The lack of women concerns many
It’s been a statistic of concern for MBA programs of all types for many years.
Women comprise about 50 percent of law school and medical school students, yet according to the most recent enrollment statistics from BusinessWeek’s top 30 business schools, women account for only 30 percent of admissions.
The percentage of women in Executive MBA Programs has stayed constant for the past several years. According to the 2005 Executive MBA Council Program Survey, 26 percent of Executive MBA students are women and 74 percent are men.
Research studies look for reasons
In 2000, a two-year study looked at reasons behind the enrollment numbers. Sponsored by Catalyst, the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan, the survey included interviews of 1,600 male and female MBA students from 12 top-rated business schools.
In the study women cited the following barriers that they believe steer women away from pursuing an MBA:
- Lack of female role models
- Incompatibility of careers in business with maintaining a good work/life balance
- Lack of confidence in math skills
- Lack of encouragement by employers
Women also were more likely to be dissatisfied with the culture of business schools, according to the study. They cited an overly aggressive environment, the perception that women are less qualified, the lack of opportunity to work with female professors, and the inability to relate to case studies that featured few or no women.
At the 2005 Executive MBA Council Conference, JWT Education presented the results of focus groups with more than 100 female MBA students from 14 business schools throughout the world. Both full-time and Executive MBA students participated.
The right timing was an important consideration, participants said. They chose the MBA as the pieces, such as work experience and organizational support, came together. Other factors that encouraged women to pursue the degree included support from family and friends, partners, and female deans and faculty. Conversely, lack of support from partners or family discouraged participants.
Why medicine and law? Why not business?
The fields of medicine and law attract proportional representation of women, so why doesn't business?
The fact that medicine and law are professions may help explain their attraction to women.
“Medicine and law have an accepted and clear career track, and a professional qualification is the only way to get onto it,” says Linden Selby, senior admissions manager for Sloan and Executive MBA Programs at the London Business School. “Women can see that if they work hard and have aptitude, they have a fair chance of getting where they want to be.”
Debora Sepich, director of Executive Programs at George Fox University, agrees. “The practice of management in a business is different than going into the practice of law,” she says. “There is still a sense that you must compete in the business world with male counterparts outside of a practice.”
Business also may not be on the radar as a possible career for many girls in high school, says Kathleen Sanchez, marketing manager for the Executive MBA Program at INSEAD. “Perhaps girls are not getting the message that business can be a viable option for study and career. Women may have different ambitions.”
The timing for medicine and law may impact choices. “The optimal study time requires commitment from young professionals in their early 20s when most women are not actively planning families,” says Selby.
On the other hand, an MBA degree offers a powerful credential for women as they navigate career and family issues and work to combine the two to their advantage, says Joan Coonrod, director of Executive MBA admissions at Emory University. The Executive MBA offers a way for women to prepare for greater challenges while not losing any ground in the workplace.
“Executive MBA Programs could just be the most accessible of all MBA paths for women, due to the fact that many of them do not want to step off an accelerating career path to go back to school full time,” she says. “Many women also have family responsibilities, so the ability to earn an MBA in a part-time format – where the company contributes time along with her contribution of personal time – is a very attractive aspect of an Executive MBA Program.”
We want women
Executive MBA Programs recognize the inherent benefits of increasing enrollment of women in programs.
“In the Executive MBA, as in business, gender diversity brings about a myriad of benefits,” says Sepich. “You apply all the benefits that business, government, and education get from gender diversity, and you will get those same benefits in an Executive MBA cohort.”
Those benefits are powerful in the classroom, says Selby, which makes it important for programs to encourage female applicants.
“Increasing the participation of talented and experienced women in business education makes sense,” says Selby. “It increases the pool of skills and ideas available and contributes to the learning experiences across the cohort both professionally and personally.”
The presence of women in the classroom adds value for all, says Jana Allen, director of the Executive MBA Program at Baylor University in Dallas. And the degree experience makes a difference for women as they succeed in reaching higher levels in business.
“The Executive MBA venue provides opportunity to instill a higher level of confidence and equips women to take on a higher level role,” says Allen.
The world looks different for women in business
Reaching the highest levels in business is still not an equitable trip.
In January 2005, only eight women occupied CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies, and women fill just 13.6 percent of corporate director seats, according to statistics from Catalyst, a non-profit organization that promotes women in business.
Research by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) also reveals gender differences among graduates.
According to the 2005 MBA Alumni Perspectives Survey of 2,209 alumni, including those from Executive MBA Programs, men on average earn more – $85,900 compared to $73,204 for women.
More men also work outside their country (20 percent for men compared to 15 percent for women), while more women (11 percent compared to 7 percent for men) stay closer to home, working for local companies.
The study revealed no significant difference in the rate of promotion by gender, but men were more likely to receive:
- Increases in responsibility (89 percent compared to 83 percent)
- Increases in budget authority (44 percent compared to 31 percent)
Men were also more likely to become team leaders (46 percent compared to 34 percent).
More women, 16 percent compared to 2 percent for men, plan to take leaves of absence. At least 80 percent of men and women alumni both agree that the MBA degree makes it easier for them to return to work after a leave of absence.
Studies show degree value
Women and men both rated the quality of their overall program highly, but not exactly the same, according to the results of the 2005 Student Exit Satisfaction Survey of more than 2,000 Executive MBA students. The Executive MBA Council sponsors the annual survey.
On a 10-point scale, the mean for female students was 8.4, compared to 8.6 for male students.
According to the GMAC study, men also assessed the overall value of the degree slightly higher, with 26 percent of men compared with 19 percent of women rating the value as outstanding.
According to GMAC results, men are significantly more likely than women to assess their investment based on development of managerial knowledge and technical skills or the ability to obtain an international assignment. Women are more likely to base their assessment on whether they receive greater recognition and respect at work or gain increased confidence.
Statistics show a recent rise in female applicants
The 2005 Application Trends Survey by GMAC offered good news for improving the gender balance in MBA Programs.
The survey of 210 programs from 129 schools reported a rise in female applicant volume overall for MBA Programs. Part-Time and Executive MBA Programs generally show continuous increasing female applicant volume from year to year.
After reporting decreases in female applicants from 2001 to 2004, in 2005, one-third of Full-Time MBA Programs posted an increase in female applicants, compared to only 22 percent in 2004.
What may account for the recent success of Full-Time MBA Programs? More programs are working harder to attract women, with 39 percent of full-time programs reporting special outreach efforts to women, compared to 22 percent for Part-Time MBA Programs and 25 percent for Executive MBA Programs.
Executive MBA Programs and women make a good match
Armstrong confirms many of the survey findings: She values her education and gained confidence in herself as a business professional. She wanted to help advance and grow the family business.
“The Executive MBA Program has provided me with a great number of tools and skills to meet expectations,” says Armstrong, president of Armstrong Forensic Laboratory.
Armstrong sees a clear advantage to women and men from an Executive MBA Program: “Expedited knowledge and information that when implemented will immediately create value and increased opportunity for the organization,” she says. She agrees with others who say that the Executive MBA also fits women well.
“An Executive MBA Program seems particularly catered to the women’s ability (and often innate need) to multi-task and parallel process,” she says. “Besides – it’s a great thrill and very satisfying to face the program’s challenges head on and succeed.”
Women spread the word
Armstrong believes so strongly in the benefits of the program to women that she and other women in her program organized the Texas Christian University (TCU) Neeley Executive MBA Women in Business organization.
The organization's goals include promoting and supporting women in business, building a long-lasting network of friends, colleagues, and advisors, and helping recruit women to the program.
In its first year, the organization hosted networking sessions and presentations on women in business and professional development.
“I believe the organization is valuable because it reminds women they are not – and don’t have to be – alone while facing the challenges of the program and certainly not after completing the program and applying the lessons learned.”
The group supports the program’s commitment to diversity in the classroom and in the business world.
“We hope to grow our Women in Business organization and make them a full participant in our community and the community at large,” says Brenda Daraiseh, associate director of the TCU Neeley Executive MBA Program. “When women see other women going through this program, it provides them with role models and the confidence that they too can partake in the Executive MBA Program and be successful in business.”
For Armstrong, the support did make a difference, and it’s a message she is willing to share.
“Knowing that there are like-minded women willing to succeed, as well as support and allow others to succeed, kept me inspired during the difficult moments."
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