An MBA no use for women?

Question

An MBA no use for women?

Not only are MBAs expensive and at risk of losing their gold-standard status as more courses are launched every year, but now researchers have suggested they are also a bit of a waste of time for women. So what is the MBA really good for?

https://www.management-issues.com/2009/2 ... -women.asp

wilbase · Answer

well...I hope, it's at least good for man.

Aenigma · Answer

I think the article starts out with unsubstantiated and somewhat inflammatory language. If the claim that an MBA is a "bit of a waste of time for women" (who writes this stuff anyway?) is supported merely by the fact that female MBAs don't get paid as much as male MBAs -- well, then isn't nearly all employment "a bit of a waste of time for women"? Salary disparity is well-documented across all sectors. The other fields (law and medicine) that are mentioned in the article are notorious for pay inequity. A recent study demonstrated that, even controlling for number of hours worked and women's tendencies to select lower-paying specialties, women were paid 14% less than their male counterparts. A quick search of relevant literature suggests that the numbers are even worse for female attorneys.

The real question is, does the typical female MBA make more money / have greater job satisfaction / metric-of-your-choice than she would have had she not gotten the MBA? I suggest: yes.

The real question is, does the typical female MBA make more money / have greater job satisfaction / metric-of-your-choice than she would have had she  not  gotten the MBA? I suggest: yes.

davidlinchi · Answer

I think man or woman it is not the gender which decides who is the better manager. Whoever is successful in bringing brain and heart to do business is do best manager. But nowadays more women are marking their presence in business and within no time they will challenge men in all spheres of management.

sally22 · Answer

I think the disparity could have, in part, to do with men being more concerned with increasing their salaries than women are. For some women I think getting an MBA it's more about bettering themselves and becoming a better leader -- even if that doesn't mean making six figures.

Other issues obviously include that 1) Professional women are usually one of two income earners in a family, while a man is more likely to be the sole income earner, which would drive him to seek higher salary. 2) Many women choose to work part time to care for children, which would have a huge impact on their salary stats.

I don't see why any of this means that an MBA would be less valuable for a woman, unless value is only measured in dollars...

Addition: It says 13 percent of female MBAs report they are not working 9 years after getting their MBA... sounds like their MBAs paid off to me! They probably married some rich Wallstreet guys and are now sitting pretty

sally22 · Answer

Also, I agree with Aenigma... it would make much more sense to compare the career paths of women with MBAs to those of women without. Looking at male MBAs vs. female MBAs really tells us nothing about how the MBA impacted the women's careers..

donold · Answer

hi,

there is no any course specifically design according to gender specific and who told you that MBA is use for women i can if you dont complete ur degree with in given time of course then not even MBA any degree not use full for any gender....

gurpreetsingh · Answer

Gender should not bifurcate in career related options..

donold · Answer

hi gurpreet
i do agree with ur view

asimov · Answer

The title is written to grab attention and not to suggest a conclusion. The arguments in the article aren’t all that original. 
It’s common knowledge that women are paid less than men. The cause isn’t because some inherent gender bias, but because of the traditional family structure that causes women to take more breaks (maternity leave, taking care of child rearing issues) and work less hours. 
Other posters also brought up the idea that women pursue different career path than men. Often those career paths pay less.

Aenigma · Answer

All true. I just don't think you can discount gender bias altogether. As I noted in my post above, studies have controlled for the tendency of women to work fewer hours at less remunerative jobs, and they  still  make less money than their male counterparts. If nothing else, I think the male domination of certain fields, even if not  curently  perpetuated by sexism, means that women have a smaller network and fewer mentors, which in turn leads to less likelihood of promotion.

In the next twenty years I think we will see a major shift in this paradigm with respect to the fields of law and medicine, but business is likely to remain a male bastion for some time yet.

sally22 · Answer

As a female, I definitely don't *feel* like I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a good job or a good salary. At least not yet. So, that's a good thing!

I think women tend to be less aggressive about schmoozing and asking for raises and things like that, so it might be part of the issue, too. I think the opportunities are still there, though.

anu1979 · Answer

Isn't this the truth-and this tendency extends way beyond MBA careers. FTR, I'm a lawyer and my sister is a doctor. My sister elected her specialty based on a combination of love of the subject + but also keeping her marriage together. My brother-in-law moved for her for medical school, then put her through medical school (financially) and at the end of 4 years of basically being lonely and having no one else but her to socialize with, begged her to take something that had reasonable working hours in the city where all of our families/his professional network are. She went to Northwestern med and actually had the grades for a significantly more "prestigious" residency but basically chucked the whole ambition-at-all-cost path and just did what made her happy.

I see this a lot in my field as well-I'm a federal attorney at an executive agency-I came in through the honours clerkship process and was reappointed. I chose my job because I got to work in corporate transactions and I had done a lot of research and knew that I'd get very high level work very quickly (this is largely because the Feds are understaffed and don't have much time to make you do document review for the first three years of practice). There are a few "idealist" types like me-however, a large contingent of my female co-workers across the nation are Type A female attorneys who could have gone to posh firms but chose to go fed because they're a) married b) married to people who also make decent money and c) wanted a more mommy friendly work atmosphere (40 hour work week etc.) and d) wanted a semi-decent salary if not posh firm level. If you want to do that as a female attorney you're basically committed to doing 80% at a firm (which I don't think you can interview for) or opting for the feds and quite a few opt for the feds because at least you get semi-decent benefits and are not tracked out of climbing the career ladder.

An MBA no use for women?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards