Where are the women MBA and engineering students?
Posted on Jun 14, 2011 by JRF
JRF scholar April at work in the lab.
There have been at least a couple of things posted recently about the lack of women in certain fields of study, namely science/engineering and business.
“The UK needs to recruit 13,000 automotive, mechanical and aerospace engineers every year just to stand still.” But when only 9% of UK engineers are women, it’s a lot harder than it sounds.
Even right here in the US, despite more women enrolled and graduating from college, there’s still a lag in women earning MBAs.
Last year 123,385 men were in enrolled in MBA programs, while women numbered only 69,511.
The underlying problems are similar for both: lack of women in higher positions to serve as role models, they don’t support women who want to have children and promotions don’t come as quickly for women.
Efforts are being made to increase diversity in the programs. The UK is reaching out to children to create a cultural shift in attitudes about women in science. Schools in the US are recruiting more women to MBA programs with scholarships, and Harvard launched a deferred MBA admissions program in 2007 which guarantees college students a place in a future class.
Contacts from each program say that more should be done.
What do you think? What should be changed to increase the number of women in these areas?
To find out more about the UK engineering dilemma click here.
For more information about the MBA programs in the US click here.
Tagged: women, college, mba, engineering, stem, scholarships
Comments
I am applying to business school after masters in mechanical engineering and 5 years of hard-core mechanical engineering and manufacturing experience at a federal government astronomy research lab, Daimler Chrysler and Black and Decker. I have reached a point in my career where I see clearly a need for an MBA that could equip me with important management skills much necessary alongside my technical expertise, especially to gain a competitive edge in male dominated fields of engineering. I have always seen a total lack of women engineer role models and mentors in senior leadership and top management positions and have always wanted that to change! Apparently, this sort of reasoning needs to backed by a solid answer to the question "why an MBA, now?" and I need a bit of assistance justifying my need for an MBA at this point in time. Any suggestions, advice is welcome from fellow women engineers who understand where I am coming from. Thanks.
