Women’s MBA Enrollment Increasing, According to Forté Foundation
The Forté Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in business, just released some good news: A greater percentage of women than ever before are enrolled in full-time MBA programs in the U.S. This year, female full-time MBA enrollment neared 39 percent on average in the U.S., while international programs neared 36 percent. In both cases, it’s clear that we are heading toward gender parity at an impressive pace.
Continue reading…One Year Later: MBA Program Gender Parity at USC Marshall
Last fall, USC Marshall became the first top-tier MBA program to reach gender parity with the full-time MBA Class of 2020 having as many women as men. It was a massive 20-point percentage increase from the previous year when women made up just 32 percent of the class.
Now that almost a year has gone by, we wanted to reach back out to USC Marshall to see how reaching gender parity has affected this year’s class, the new recruiting season, the business marketplace, and more.
To gain insight into what’s happening at the school, we spoke with Evan Bouffides, assistant dean and director of MBA admissions, as well as Mark J. Brostoff, the assistant dean and director of graduate career services. They both offered unique perspectives on the impact of USC gender parity at the Marshall School of Business.
USC Marshall Class of 2021 Recruiting
While the Class of 2021 recruiting season is still ongoing, it’s not possible to gain a full picture of how achieving gender parity has affected the upcoming class, though Bouffides has witnessed a few changes.
Evan Bouffides, Assistant Dean and Director MBA Admissions, USC Marshall
“This year, industry-wide, many U.S. business schools were down in application volume, but USC Marshall received about the same number of applications as last year,” says Bouffides. At the same time, the “quality has gone way up.” As they’ve been reviewing applications for the Class of 2021, Bouffides believes the candidates have been stronger—both men and women.
Now, while that improvement cannot solely be laid at the feet of gender parity, it’s certainly a factor. Gender parity has made candidates more enthusiastic. Other factors include the continued improvement of USC Marshall’s rankings as well as the overall trajectory of the MBA program.
One thing that hasn’t changed is how Marshall is recruiting MBAs—with one exception.
After achieving gender parity last year and admitting the largest number of underrepresented minorities ever, USC Marshall has set their sights on international diversity, and particularly, international female diversity. “This is where we’re lagging behind,” explains Bouffides. “So, we concentrated our 2021 recruiting efforts on traveling to certain parts of the world including Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America where we haven’t gone before or often.”
Beyond that, Marshall held the same recruiting events as last year, including the third annual International Women’s Day Celebration Event in February. The event was extraordinarily well attended with even more enthusiasm this year over last.
Inside the First 50/50 Class
As for what’s happening with the class who achieved gender parity, you wouldn’t notice much difference from any previous class except that there are more women.
“If you break down the Class of 2020 into geography, academic area, or prospective career, there really isn’t a marked difference between students,” says Bouffides. “There’s definitely a story to be told being a class of 50/50 men and women, but we don’t know what that story is yet.”
What Marshall does know is that there has definitely been a positive vibe when it comes to having a gender equal MBA class. People appear to be generally happy with the achievement, and diversity and inclusion have been bigger than ever.
One noticeable change is the increase in women in leadership in the 40 MBA clubs and organizations. Women have always tended to take on more of those leadership roles, but now it’s even more recognizable.
Women in the Business Marketplace
As for the business marketplace, “obviously, there’s excitement about the fact there’s gender parity,” says Brostoff. And while it hasn’t opened up any floodgates in regards to internship recruiting or getting on the radar of new companies, there has been quite a bit of positive reaction. This is especially good news considering the Forté Foundation’s latest research, which revealed that gender inequality impacts almost half of all MBAs in the workplace.
Mark Brostoff, Assistant Dean and Director, USC Marshall Graduate Career Services
“We’ve had quite a few companies decide to start recruiting at USC Marshall when they might have been a little more hesitant in the past,” Brostoff explains. And while he wouldn’t lay all that success on the back of gender parity, it’s played a role, especially for tech companies.
Tech companies have been under the microscope recently for their obvious lack of gender equity, particularly in light of the #MeToo movement. And though those companies aren’t setting specific targets or quotas for the number of female employees they need, the fact that USC Marshall has so many female MBAs coming up is quite attractive. “Companies appreciate the opportunity to increase their gender inclusion initiatives,” says Brostoff.
As for what the career center is doing to continue this positive gender parity trajectory for the school, they’ve been looking to create more and more opportunities for women in business. For example, they recently hosted a new case competition on women in business, and they’ve been able to engage more female alumni and female executives to come to campus.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on gender parity at USC Marshall and keep you updated as we learn more.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from its original source, Clear Admit.
2018 Forté Foundation Data Reveals Women’s MBA Enrollment at 38 Percent
2018 was a big year for female MBA students. According to the latest membership school data from the Forté Foundation, women’s enrollment at full-time MBA programs reached 38 percent on average. In addition, one Forté school reached gender parity (50 percent male/female enrollment) for the first time, and more than one-third of schools reached 40 percent enrollment.
“While the number of Fortune 500 women CEOs has declined in the last year, it’s heartening to see women’s enrollment in business school continues to increase, albeit at a slower pace than last year,” Elissa Sangster, Forté Foundation CEO, said in a press release. “We continue to aim for 40% women’s enrollment by 2020 at our member schools as an MBA provides an economic mobility engine for women, and helps build the pipeline of women leaders. And countless research shows that having more women in senior leadership improves corporate financial performance.”
Key Forté Foundation Statistics
- Over the last five years, from 2014, female MBA enrollment at Forté schools has steadily risen with 19 out of 52 schools reaching the 40 percent mark this year. That’s a significant improvement from just three schools at 40 percent in 2014.
- The USC Marshall School of Business was the first Forté school to achieve gender parity this year with 52 percent women. Three other schools got close: Northwestern Kellogg (46 percent), Dartmouth Tuck (45 percent), and Imperial College Business School (45 percent).
- More than half of Forté schools (29 schools) reached 35 percent female MBA enrollment.
A Few Surprises
Interesting enough, some of the Forté numbers were a reversal of last year mainly when it came to international MBA programs. While the U.S. school enrollment went up by close to 1 percent (38.7 percent in 2018 from 37.8 percent in 2017), the opposite was true for Forté schools abroad. Those schools saw a decline of a little over 1 percent (going from 36.2 percent last fall to 35.1 percent this fall). Whereas last year, international schools saw considerable gains in female enrollment with an almost 3.5 percent increase. However, overall, female MBA enrollment in the U.S. and abroad increased slightly to 37.8 percent from 37.4 percent last year.
To learn more about what’s going on at the Forté Foundation and to see how it’s impacting female MBA enrollment around the globe, read the original press release.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions by its original source, Clear Admit.
3 Online MBA Scholarships Worth Remembering
Navigating the maze of scholarships available to MBA students (really, students in general) can become a bit overwhelming. And for students hoping to earn a degree online, the search can seem never-ending. To help, we’ve broken down a handful of the most intriguing Online MBA scholarships.
Forté Foundation Now Accepting Applications for MBALaunch
Calling all women considering an MBA but unsure about how to navigate the competitive admissions process: The Forté Foundation’s 2019 MBALaunch program was made for you. This 10-month program offers female MBA candidates a powerful support network and road map for applying to top-tier business schools for the MBA Class of 2022.
Applications for the next season of Forté MBALaunch, slated to begin in January 2019, are open now.
What Is MBALaunch?
MBALaunch is a unique program designed to help exceptional female candidates excel in the high-stakes MBA application process. Beginning each year in January, the program includes a range of in-person and virtual events geared toward helping participants assemble their strongest possible applications. These include networking events, monthly webinars, and in-person peer group sessions offered in 11 host cities. In addition, the program is accessible via video chat.
Candidates accepted into the MBALaunch program can expect to:
- Cultivate a strong network filled with hundreds of women with similar goals;
- Gain intensive GMAT test prep that, on average, helps improve scores by 100 points;
- Receive help building a winning application;
- Hone interviewing skills with guidance from admissions consultants and business school representatives, and
- Get immediate feedback on their resumes, admissions essays, and more.
Who Can Take Part in MBALaunch?
The MBALaunch program is open to women looking to apply to any of the more than four dozen Forté member business schools in fall 2019 (for enrollment in fall 2020). Forté seeks candidates with a strong academic record and two to seven years of post-undergraduate work experience.
To take part, candidates must be able to travel to a host city (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, or Washington DC) for a one-day kick-off event. Then, candidates dedicate 10 months to the online and in-person program. After the kick-off event, candidates unable to participate in person can take part via Skype or Google Hangouts.
There is a $25 non-refundable application fee. Admitted applicants then pay a $550 program fee to take part.
Additional application eligibility information is available here.
Application Deadlines
The first MBALaunch applications deadline is October 8, 2018, with subsequent deadlines on October 15 and 22.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from our sister site, Clear Admit.
Forté Announces New MBAExplore Program for Pre-MBA Women
Deciding whether or not you want to go to business school to earn your MBA is not usually a spur-of-the-moment decision. There are a lot of questions you need to answer first. Is an MBA the right degree for you? How will it impact your career? Does it make sense financially? To help women who may be considering these and other questions, the Forté Foundation recently launched its new MBAExplore program. The deadline to apply is July 8th.
This half-day program gives women the opportunity to learn more about what an MBA is and isn’t. It takes women on an intimate exploration of the myths and questions surrounding business school to help them map their journey to the MBA. Women who have already traveled the MBA path teach the program, sharing their first-hand experience with participants.
Inside MBAExplore
The MBAExplore program provides valuable information around each of the following topics:
- Taking and passing the GMAT
- Financing and affording the MBA
- Understanding the classroom case study
- Figuring out if the MBA is right for you
Throughout the half-day, participants will have a chance to learn about the daily life of an MBA student. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions of business school staff as well as current MBA students. The goal is to provide every participant with the information they need to determine if the MBA is right for them.
The MBAExplore program is the precursor to Forté MBALaunch, a 10-month program designed to help prospective women business school applicants build their b-school applications. MBAExplore is all about helping women gain the confidence, guidance, and information they need to take the first step toward their MBA degree. Learn more here.
Register Today
Registration ends July 8, 2018, and the MBAExplore program will be held in Washington DC on August 13, 2018, and New York City on August 28, 2018. You can register now for just $49 at the location of your choosing. Space is limited. Don’t miss out.
