Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/470545
38 BizEd MARCH | APRIL 2015 It's time for business schools to make the issue of gender diversity a priority—and begin forming their plans of action. BY PATRICIA M. FLYNN, KEVIN V. CAVANAGH, AND DIANA BILIMORIA BUSINESS SCHOOLS SHOULD not only prepare women to succeed as leaders, but also lead the way in helping organizations welcome and support gender diversity. Yet business schools themselves are characterized by significant gender gaps at all levels, from administration and faculty to doctoral candidates and MBAs. Male and female business students lack role models of successful women in business schools, and women increasingly are opting to earn bachelor's degrees in fields other than business. Even as some business schools actively recruit more women, women still are underrepresented in business programs. We recently conducted research on gender at business schools that highlights the extent of the problem. We found that many gender gaps can be traced back to pipeline issues. For instance, certain business disciplines such as finance and economics generate few female doctorates, which constrains the pool of potential faculty who pursue leadership positions. But the problem of gender inequality goes well beyond the pipeline. After being hired as full-time business faculty, women are less likely to become full professors than men. And, women hold relatively few associate dean and academic department chair positions, both major stepping stones to the dean's office. The fact that so few women are deans, full-time faculty, or tenured faculty is likely to reinforce gender inequality in business schools. This scarcity creates an organizational culture that might deter women who graduate with BBAs from enrolling in master's and doctorate programs in business, because they fail to see how careers in business and aca- demia will benefit them. Here, we share some of our data, as well as steps business schools can take to bring more women into business and management education. A scarcity of data on business school faculty and deans outside the United States restricted our ability to analyze these key global trends; however, we have good data on student graduates around the world. We conclude from our research that if business schools are to achieve gender equality, they must honestly assess their track records in supporting gender diversity. Then, they must implement policies and procedures that will make them role models for gender equality in business.