Women Applying for Business School

I'm a female applying to business school this time around, but I have a different take on it. My undergraduate degree is in Management Information Systems, which is a majority male degree, so I'm very used to my classes being majority male. My workplace is majority male as well, though my particular group in it is fairly evenly mixed. I very rarely find majority male groups intimidating.

There's a more heartening way to look at the gender/skill disparity: in an MBA program you will likely be split up into sections and then into small working groups. You'll probably have at least one guy or girl in your group that is stellar at math. So even if you feel a little insecure about your math skills (or you legitimately are not as good at math), you can utilize their skills to double check your work. Learn all you can from them. It's also likely you'll be stronger in a different area (for me, it's communication skills), that you can "trade", so to speak, to add value to the group. Trust me, that math-heavy person that might not be so great at communicating the conclusions he or she comes to will love you helping the group turn it into a great presentation or paper. Quantitative skills are not the only useful skills by a long shot.

I totally hate this bot. Doesn't stop stalking me ...

On a serious note, almost all the admission blogs that I've been through and all the adcom chats that I attended made a point to inform that they DO NOT discriminate amongst the candidates on the basis of gender when it comes to selecting them for admission.
However, a slight weightage is given to women to create a diverse and balanced learning experience. After all a female's brain does work differently than a male's brain. The students can't afford to miss the opinion of world's half population in their learning experience... my $0.02 ...

Post moved to B-School App forum.

Most business schools are dying to attract female applicants. Generally speaking, they are an underrepresented group and have a lower bar than other groups.

Another thing, Stanford started accepting GRE this year, so do some research based on your actual score on GRE (if it is good or not) and you might skip the whole GMAT horror! (unless you need to apply to other schools that ask you for GMAT).

Cheers. L.

I've seen schools with 20% - 40% women, with the average being about 30%. I think the average female GMAT score is about 40 points lower than the average male score, but lots of other factors influence an application.

I dont get this gender differentiation... In all respect they talk abt gender equality except when it comes to issues like these and other areas where 'special quotas' are reserved for women!

I haven't seen anything about quotas reserved for women or minorities. Even if they exist I can't imagine that schools would publish that information.

There is no official quotas atleast none provided. But the it seems a lot easier for girls to get in! Avg GMAT for girls is abt 40 points lower than avg.

Well said, Klong.

And welcome to the chase, alienwannabe! If you're interested, I have a whole giant pile of research on b-schools that offer concentrations in non-profit. PM me if you want me to send any of that your way.

I would add that another likely reason for the low enrollment rates of women in b-school: the average age is around 27 or 28 for most American schools. For many women, that's also when they're thinking of starting a family. (Don't get me wrong - I am not in this boat. And yeah, I know, men of that age are also probably thinking of starting families....but that doesn't seem to keep them out of school.) I doubt that women are less interested in business, though I do wonder if some women are turned off by the thoughts of entering such a male-dominated environment. I'm somewhat cautious about this myself, and Lord knows I am not known for being a cautious person.

Personally, I think a lot of women think that they're bad at math, whether they really are or not. That's just my experience, but it might be one factor that keeps women out.

I think that's a really good point. My college roommate was repeatedly told by her high school math teacher that girls aren't really cut out for math like boys are. No one was ever that overt about it around me, but I definitely think that attitude permeates our culture.

Thanks for all your imput! I have to admit that I might not be the most likely person with interest in getting an MBA. I was one of those people who thought I was bad at math, too. -I don't know who planted that thought in my head and I don't know whether or not I thought I was bad at math because I'm a woman...but I definitely did think I was bad at math.

I didn't take a single math course in college (only 1 comp sci course). Now that I'm out in the "real world" and have had to apply math to my job, I've come to find out that I like numbers and I'm actually really good at math.

I also think it's true that women are often intimidated by the thought of being in a class full of mostly men. I went to a women's college (no, not one of those little girlie girlie schools...but a strong, smart women's college) and I know that alot of women at my school would take classes at nearby co-ed schools (because they allowed you to cross-register) and everyone was appalled that the women at the co-ed institutions just didn't talk in class or contribute to discussions the way the guys did.

Anyhow, thanks for all your input and I would love to see even more discussion on women relating to business school (including GMAT, applying...everything). Over the years we've seen the gender gap narrow for law school AND med school...but not business school.

You did? Which one? I went to an all-women's college too!

Here's a quote from Jerry Porras the Assistant Dean at Stanford Graduate School of Business: "We hold all of our applicant's to the same high standard, there are no quotas in place for any specific demographics. But at the same time, we are aware that women may not possess a high capacity for analytical thinking because so much of their time is usually spend doing things like cooking and shopping for shoes."

Okay okay, just kidding, not a real quote. I've visited all of the schools I'm applying to and had a chance to sit in on classes and to hang out with students over lunch. I wouldn't at all say it's a "boy's club." Don't picture a classroom full of super-confident, barrell-chested, type-A men jockeying for the most class participation credit. Instead, imagine a classroom that's almost half full of women, and then the other half are men who are delicate little dweebs in ill-fitting preppy gear, you know like Bill Gates types. This is maybe an exaggeration, but Alienwannabe you should not be at all intimidated about the prospect of business school. While there are some schools that may be more competitive and cutthroat than others (I belive Wharton may fall into this category from things I've heard), I believe the vast majority are similar to other academic environments, lots of really intelligent respectful people of both genders.

Johnny, you kill me. You may well take this year's Oscar for Best Comic Performance on a Discussion Board.

No, of course it's not like you're suddenly interjected into an episode of "The Frat Boys Decide to Show Up for Class." But the truth is, less than a third of b-school students are women. I would not call less than 1/3 "nearly half." As I sat in classes, I definitely noticed the disparity. I suppose it may depend on where you're coming from. My work place is about 50/50 with the women having a slight edge. My college was the same way. My friends are the same way. And now I'm signing up for an environment with a whole new status quo.

I'm not complaining about it, but lord knows it's going to be a shift from anything else I've done. I feel pretty confident in my ability to interact in such an environment, and I am not one who constantly cries about the patriarchy. But imagine that you are a woman surrounded by men. Due to a lifetime of "girls-can't-do-math" vibes, you're not confident in your analytical skills. You feel intimidated and don't want to call attention to your supposed inability to do math, so you refrain from asking questions during your finance class. Yes, that sounds like a great education to me.

No, no one SHOULD be intimidated by b-school. And we should all realize that we are pouring out LOADS of money for this education - and I certainly intend to get my money's worth, even if I seem like an idiot for asking questions in the finance class. But, from my limited experience and from what women who are currently at b-school have told me, I think we'd be a little pollyanna to assume that business school is a utopia of gender neutrality.

You're both making good points. I also went to a women's college, so of course the difference for me is inevitable/obvious. I took some post-bac business courses at a co-ed school last year and one of the first things I noticed was that the women rarely participated in class. However, I also soon realized that the same people were participating on a regular basis. Like Johnny said - there will be lots of strengths and weaknesses and, based on my experiences, there will be plenty of people in class who choose not to participate for varying reasons. Doubting quant skills is just one of them. In my mind, that may be a common reason among women...my 2 cents.