Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55680
MIT Sloan produces brochures specifically designed to show what life is like for a woman enrolled in the management program. ity, media rankings, and career placement assis- tance less than male applicants do. Women also seek out a wide variety of sources when research- ing business schools, including Web sites, brochures, job fairs, admissions personnel, and alumni. In the eyes of women, two things we had going for us at MIT Sloan were our East Coast location and our friendly staff in the MBA Admissions office. Women also appreciated the attitudes and input of the alumnae they met at recruit- ing events. Counterbalancing those positives were the nega- tives: Our admissions staff was not particularly proactive; our booth at MBA forums did not have much to entice women; and our school did not convey the idea we could provide the "soft" skills or general MBA education that someone already fluent in science and technology would want. For MIT Sloan, the trick was figuring out how we could emphasize the positives, overcome the negatives, and show more women candidates that we could be the perfect school for them. Focus on Females In the following years, we used a "mosaic" of approaches to win over female candidates. These included: • Focusing on "high-touch" in a "high-tech" environ- ment. When a school has the word "Technology" in its name, people expect a "cooler, grayer" environment. One way we resisted this perception was by refusing to switch to the CD and online brochures that colleges favored in the early 2000s, preferring to stick with personal phone calls and printed brochures. • Creating promotional materials that would appeal to women. We made sure all recruiting materials included images of women portrayed in positive ways. But one of our most effective tools was a nontraditional brochure produced primarily by students. I had decided we could not just create the kind of stan- dard brochure that all sorts of companies use when they are trying to interest women in their products. Instead, I went through our student facebook and identified women with writing and photography backgrounds, as well as women with interesting stories, and I invited them to help us. The students interviewed each other, photographed each other, and wrote up the profiles that turned into a brochure called "Six Stories from the Women of MIT Sloan." In addition to distributing it to prospective students, I had the brochure blown up into poster boards, set them up at the library, and invited students and staff in for an ice cream social. One senior lecturer pointed out that, even though it was a bro- chure for women, it never talked about being a woman at MIT Sloan. It just talked about being a student here. That was the voice I wanted to capture. • Collaborating with other organizations. We joined Forté Foundation, a group dedicated to increasing the numbers of women in business through business and edu- cational initiatives. Each member school offers half-tuition scholarships to at least two women; these scholars get a chance to network with Forté company sponsors during the organization's annual conference. Students also can seek grant money from Forté. One year the Sloan Women in Management Club was awarded $5,000, which it used to fund a speaker series, a workshop on negotiating, and networking opportunities. Additional scholarship money earmarked for women has also attracted more applicants from a broader pool. I think that is because many women are interested in working for nonprofits and socially responsible companies in less tradi- tional industries, where their income possibilities might not be as great. Educational assistance upfront gives them more options when they are looking for jobs. • Planning events aimed specifically at women. In par- ticular, we hold one event every year in August, featuring recent and not-so-recent female alumni who talk about how their MBAs have affected their careers. August is a little early in the recruiting season, but it seems to be a good time for people to come to the Boston area for a long weekend, and we have had attendees from as far away as California. The new focus has paid off. By 2006, MIT Sloan's female population had climbed to 31 percent. In 2008, it was 35 percent, and the incoming class of 2009 was about 38 per- cent women. I think business schools really got a wake-up call when law schools and medical schools began seeing parity in the num- bers of men and women enrolled. We started saying, "We want some of these great women to come to our schools, too." Sometimes it takes a change in mindset for business schools to attract women in high numbers, but the results can be phenomenal. ■ z Julie Strong is senior associate director of MBA admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in Cambridge. BizEd MAY/JUNE 2010 57