Women MBAs
Women’s Enrollment and Degrees Around the World
- In the United States in 2008-2009, women earned 36.3% of MBAs.
- In Canada in 2008-2009, women earned 34.5% of MBAs.
- Women made up 34.8% of the full-time 2008-2009 class entering the top 10 MBA programs in the U.S.2
- The number of women in top MBA programs is changing at a very slow pace. Women made up 30.6% of the full-time 2000-2001 class entering the then-top 10 MBA programs in the U.S.3
| Top 10 U.S. MBA Programs - 20092 | % Women Enrolled, (2008-2009 Class) |
| University of Chicago (Booth) (IL) | 35 |
| Harvard University (MA) | 36 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL) | 33 |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) (PA) | 40 |
| University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Ross) (MI) | 33 |
| Stanford University (CA) | 34 |
| Columbia University (NY) | 33 |
| Duke University (Fuqua) (NC) | 38 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) (MA) | 38 |
| University of California–Berkeley (Haas) (CA) | 28 |
| Average: | 34.8% |
| Top 10 U.S. MBA Programs - 20013 | % Women Enrolled, (2000-2001 Class) |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) (PA) | 28 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL) | 31 |
| Harvard University (MA) | 32 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) (MA) | 27 |
| Duke University (Fuqua) (NC) | 41 |
| University of Michigan (Ross) (MI) | 27 |
| Columbia University (NY) | 37 |
| Cornell University (NY) | 27 |
| University of Virginia | 30 |
| University of Chicago (Booth) (IL) | 26 |
| Average: | 30.6% |
| Top 10 Non-U.S. MBA Programs - 20092 | % Women Enrolled, (2008-2009 Class) | |
| Queens University | Canada | 32 |
| IE Business School | Spain | 31 |
| INSEAD | France | 29 |
| Western Ontario (Ivey) | Canada | 30 |
| London Business School | UK | 27 |
| ESADE | Spain | 25 |
| IMD | Switzerland | 22 |
| Toronto (Rotman) | Canada | 29 |
| IESE | Spain | 28 |
| Oxford (Saîd) | UK | 29 |
| Average: | 28.2% |
Post-MBA
- A 2010 Catalyst survey of global MBA graduates found that women lag behind men in job level and salary starting from their first position and do not catch up.4
- Women make on average $4,600 less in their initial jobs, even after accounting for experience, industry, and region
- Another Catalyst survey of MBA alumni who graduated between 1996 and 2007 found that5:
- Women at 31% were about as likely as men at 36% to have been promoted.
- Women senior leaders were more than three times (19% for women vs. 6% for men) as likely to have lost their jobs due to downsizing or closure
* Data for Canada was not available for 2003.
SOURCES
1 Unpublished statistics from AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (2010).
2 Business Week, Business School Rankings & Profiles (2010).
3 Business Week, Business School Rankings & Profiles (2001).
4 Nancy M. Carter and Christine Silva, Pipeline's Broken Promise, Catalyst (February 2010).
5 Nancy M. Carter, Ph.D., and Christine Silva, Opportunity or Setback? High Potential Women and Men During Economic Crisis, Catalyst (August 2009).
UPDATED March 16, 2010
