{"id":45754,"date":"2019-05-27T07:31:42","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T14:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/gendered-writing-how-women-can-lean-in-to-their-b-school-apps\/"},"modified":"2019-05-27T07:31:42","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T14:31:42","slug":"gendered-writing-how-women-can-lean-in-to-their-b-school-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/gendered-writing-how-women-can-lean-in-to-their-b-school-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"Gendered Writing: How Women can \u201cLean in\u201d to Their B-school Apps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Women<\/figure>\n

With the percentage of female applicants to graduate business programs on the rise year over year\u2014women made up 42% of applicants in 2017, compared with 37% in 2013<\/a>\u2014perhaps the future really is<\/em> female. <\/p>\n

There are any number of reasons for this uptick: business education has gotten more flexible and now offers a greater array of options, attracting more candidates of all stripes, and schools have made more concerted efforts to reach female candidates in the past decade or so. Women have responded by making up a greater and greater proportion of those applying to and attending these programs, and while in 1980 just 25% of those with graduate business degrees in the U.S. were women, in 2018 that number reached 47%.<\/a><\/p>\n

All this sounds like great
\nnews, right? Right! But before you put on your party hat to celebrate, let\u2019s
\nconsider the flip side.  <\/p>\n

Despite the uptick, women are
\nstill under-represented in the applicant pool\u2014if you consider that the majority
\nof those receiving undergraduate degrees these days are women, shouldn\u2019t there
\nbe MORE female applicants than male applicants to business school?
\nBusiness-centric careers may suffer from still being a male-dominated affair, and
\nthus those seeking graduate education in business are still disproportionately
\nmale.<\/p>\n

So, in the spirit of \u201cthe
\nfuture is female,\u201d let\u2019s zoom in on how women can \u201clean in\u201d on the MBA
\napplication itself.<\/p>\n

This is all about language,
\nfolks. <\/h3>\n

In your b-school app you want
\nto project confidence and ambition. Use assertive language that will help the
\nadcom have faith in you and convince them that you really will achieve all that
\nyou set out to.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a little test; which
\nof these is better:<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-MBA, I hope to land a position as a senior
\nanalyst at\u2026\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

OR<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-MBA, I will work as a senior analyst at\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

See the difference? Subtle,
\nbut it will make a huge impact on how your application reads. The uncertain
\ntone of the first one will undermine the adcom\u2019s belief in your ability to
\nachieve this, because it reveals that YOU don\u2019t necessarily believe in your
\nability to land that position. Say you WILL do it, and they\u2019ll believe you
\n(even if really, you aren\u2019t so sure). <\/p>\n

This principle applies to
\ngoal-setting as well. Aim high, and state those ambitious goals. The adcom will
\nrespond better to a set of goals that is clearly ambitious, so long as you
\npresent a solid case for how you will reach those goals, than they will to a
\nset of goals that leaves them underwhelmed. <\/p>\n

By the way, this advice applies to EVERYONE, but there is a well-documented phenomenon of gender differences when it comes to applications. At some point in the last few years you\u2019ve probably heard the statistic that men will apply for a job when they meet just 60% of the required qualifications, while women will apply only when they meet 100%<\/a>. <\/p>\n

We could speculate and argue all day about what this says about the genders, about society, and about the hiring process, but the lesson of the story is the same: be assertive, be confident, and be ambitious, and you\u2019ll be rewarded for it. This is never truer than in your b-school applications. So lean in<\/em>, ladies. <\/p>\n

===<\/p>\n

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