Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58061
BUSINESS SCHOOLS AND THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT WOMEN IN BUSINESS MUST DO A BETTER JOB OF CONVINCING YOUNG WOMEN THAT A BUSINESS DEGREE IS ACHIEVABLE, PROVIDES INTERESTING CAREER OPTIONS, AND WILL PAY OFF THEIR INVESTMENT OVER TIME. Maximize your resources. Find an alumna who is passionate about seeing more women enrolled in business school. Ask her to open her home or office for a networking luncheon or a mentoring meeting, or find out if she'd be willing to sponsor an event on campus. Showcase the female business pro- fessors among your faculty. Give them opportunities to be role models on campus and in the commu- nity. Incorporate such community relations into their performance reviews. Not only will their visibility help attract more women to your program, but it will enhance your school's reputation for diversity. Promote your women alums to graduates with successful and fulfill- ing careers. Find the women who are partici- pating in honor societies, student groups, and extracurricular activi- ties. Initiate relationships with them now, so after they graduate they can continue to serve as ambassadors for the school. Consider ways to Elissa Ellis keep those young women attached to the university—and the business school. Develop an early admission initiative that commits female undergraduates to your graduate business program while they're still on campus, so they will return to your school once they've acquired work local and national media outlets to prove that your school believes it is possible for women to have careers in business. Perhaps your devel- opment office can research your databases to find female graduates who would be willing to be seen as inspirational figures. Contact them to discuss how they could support the school with a gift of time and experience. I have found that many are happy to serve as role models. Mine your undergraduates. These are some of your most likely candidates for applying to graduate schools in business, so be sure to cultivate them. Through on-campus events or online mentoring sessions, create opportunities for female undergraduates to meet women who are current MBA students or experience. You should also give them reasons to come back often, either in person or via your Web site, to learn more about how an MBA can open doors for them. Smooth the way. Consider offering your students flexible options for completing your MBA program. The Millennials, as today's younger students are some- times called, are more concerned about flexibility than previous gen- erations. Perhaps you could acceler- ate a two-year program to an 18- month program. Or you might offer more options in scheduling classes. Consider ways your program could accommodate childcare concerns or maternity leave. Promote majors that appeal to female students, and I don't just mean human resources or market- ing. Ask your alums and your board members to help you identify cur- riculum offerings that particularly appeal to women. Reinforce these options by bringing in role models who can show young women the connection between their classes and their careers. Offer services for the families of women who are relocating to attend business school. In MBA programs, it's much more common to see women trailing their husbands back to business school—but we might see women take that step more often if we made it easier for women to relocate their partners. Wooing the women If you want to draw more women to your graduate business program, you must create a program that seems exciting, welcoming, and full of promise. You must educate them about the full range of opportunities that are available, appeal to their specific interests, inspire them through role models, and build formal networks that will support them throughout their careers. Business schools and the orga- nizations that support women in business must do a better job of convincing young women that a business degree is achievable, pro- vides interesting career options, and will pay off their investment over time. Even now, there are young women looking for reasons to attend business school. Let's not keep them waiting.■ z Elissa Ellis is Executive Director of Forté Foundation, a consortium of corporations, nonprofits, and business schools dedicated to motivating and supporting women pursu- ing business careers. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas. BizEd MAY/JUNE 2007 65