• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Sponsor/Partner
  • Online Promotions

promotes diversity, champions female talent

  • Home
  • About
    • WiC Team
    • Volunteer Hospitality Team
    • Charitable Commitment
  • Knowledge Bank
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017 and earlier
    • City of London Fact Sheet
    • First British Women
  • Reach our Community
    • Jobs Board
    • Sponsor/Partner
    • Online Promotions
    • Case Studies
    • Metrics
    • Media Pack
  • Awards Programme
    • Future Leaders Award (2010-17)
    • Woman of Achievement Award (2007-15)
  • Contact us
  • Media Comment

Opting for an MBA Education – A Gender Analysis

18 January, 2015 By WiC

Where are all the women in organisations?

Almost everywhere in the world women make up the majority of graduates, and yet once they enter the workforce they fade away; the higher up the organisational hierarchy you go, the smaller the proportion of women. Why is this? Does it really matter? And can anything be done about it?

These kinds of questions are being raised more frequently than ever before – nowhere more so than in relation to the Board of Directors, where the proportion of women remains stubbornly low (in spite of some improvements over the past decade, particularly in Europe, the fact remains that globally only around 15% of board seats are held by women).

The social and economic cases for increasing participation rates for women have been increasingly well made, and yet women continue to be seriously under-represented across organisations, but particularly so at the most senior levels. Gender diversity provisions in national corporate governance codes have gone some way towards increasing the number of women on boards, and more dramatic changes have taken place in countries which have adopted quotas (Norway was notably the first country to adopt a quota for the proportion of women on boards in 2008, and since then around 18 countries have followed suit).

But there is some criticism that this only represents an increase in the number of female Non-Executive Directors (and it may be the same few women taking positions on multiple boards); there still seems to be very little change in the proportion of women in senior executive roles.

It is against this backdrop that Simon Learmount,  Director of the MBA programme, Cambridge Judge School of Business I commissioned this report, to try to gain a better understanding of why the pool of women available to take-up senior executive roles is so meagre.

The particular issue that we wanted to focus upon, as a business school, is why there are relatively low ratios of women applying to graduate business and management programmes, especially the Executive MBA and MBA (which remain the ‘gold standard’ business and management degrees).

Download the Report

Read other reports on gender diversity, leadership and related topics in our Knowledge Bank

Tweet

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

Related

Filed Under: Reports

Primary Sidebar

visit our career website

Discover how to ensure your financial future

Sexual Harassment advice line

Reach our Community

There are various ways to reach our highly engaged and targeted community.

Promote your product or service with a dedicated solus e-blast

Got a job vacancy?
Why not promote it on our Jobs Board?

Brand Partners support WiC throughout the year and enjoy a range of special privileges.

get healthy in the city

busines healthy in the City

Sign up to the Tech Charter

vIEW fINANCE CHARTER SIGNATORIES

get active in the city

Go on – shop!

Footer

Video Highlights

  • FL Award Launch 2016
  • Strictly Democracy 2014
  • Importance of Networking 2014
  • Abseil Lloyds Building 2014
  • Lunch 2013
  • Women in Leadership 2013
  • Tea with a Twist 2013
  • Lunch 2012
  • Celebration Evening 2012

Legal

  • Statutory Information
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Statement
  • CSR Policy
  • Social Media Policy
  • Data Protection Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Networking Culture Limited / Women in the City