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0 FOCUS: WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION emotional investment," she says. "That will entail a great deal of soul-searching about why, despite all we have done, universities and businesses remain lonely places for women at the top and pressure cookers for those in the middle." Organizations such as C200 are making an effort to accel- erate the soul-searching process, by developing coalitions to work with businesses and business schools and sponsoring research to delve more deeply into the issues. A groundswell of activity is building, especially in the United States, to con- vince women that business careers are compatible with life goals that often include work and family. To achieve this goal, many believe business schools will need to change on fundamental levels to promote a sense of balance between the two. Otherwise, if they appear to force women to choose between work and family, most often family will win out. A Paradigm Shift The root of women's lack of participation in business is firm- ly planted in image—the aggressive, hierarchical image that business seems to convey to women. A lack of successful role models is a top factor in that negative message, says Phyllis Buford, CEO of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management in St. Louis, Missouri. "If young girls don't see the proper role models—if we don't show them more Carly Fiorinas—then they may not even give a business career a second thought," says Buford. "The more we make young girls aware of careers in business, the more we'll see women in those careers. We must break the myth that girls can't add, subtract, and divide as well as men can. And we must create a marketing strategy that tells women about careers in business." Lisa Kudchadker, an MBA student and president of the 56 87 Graduate Women in Business, a student organization based at Rice University in Houston, Texas, points to the case stud- of women MBA students cite the lack of role models as the primary reason more % women don't seek graduate business degrees. believe featuring more women business leaders as role models would encourage % more women to pursue a business education. —"Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity" ies that she says are too heavily centered on male experience. "Eighty to 90 percent of protagonists in our case studies are male," she notes. "When there is a female protagonist, she's usually in trouble. That's discouraging, and it's something that needs to change." Unfortunately, the role models that are available can rein- force the idea that business and family are mutually exclusive terms. New, controversial research in the book Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children exacer- bates this perception. Author Sylvia Ann Hewlett found that many successful women in business planned to have children; in their pursuit of success, they just "forgot," she writes. As 10.9 % of dean positions and of associate dean positions in the U.S. are filled by women. 21.3 —AACSB International who resigned from high-powered positions to be with their families: Karen Hughes stepped down from her post as aide to George Bush to spend more time with her family in Texas; Jane Swift dropped out of the Massachusetts gubernatorial race soon after giving birth to twins; Candace Olsen, CEO of the Web site iVillage, resigned to take care of her two chil- dren. In the face of such press, b-schools may have their work cut out for them. Katherine Giscombe, senior director of research with the a result, some women "feel as if they've been robbed" of the chance to start a family. Some have criticized the book's find- ings, but its message to women is clear: You can have chil- dren or a career in business, not both. On top of that, Time recently published a list of women % women's organization Catalyst, New York City, notes that more corporations are adding family-friendly incentives such as flex-time and onsite daycare to their "perks," but they are not yet the norm. "Work-family programs need to be strengthened," she says. "If a woman wants to work part- time for a few years, she should not worry about getting bumped off the track to successful positions. She should not be penalized." It will take initiatives on many different fronts not only to cultivate more role models, but to make business a more prominent and palatable career option for women. The BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2002 23