The tough economic environment has left many questioning what this will mean for MBA and executive MBAs applications, particularly from women. The challenge of increasing the number of female candidates has been tough for business schools in happier economic times let alone as the fear of recession hangs in the air.

This climate tends to lead to two distinct reactions, says Karen Siegfried, FT MBA director at Judge Business School at Cambridge. “People that are losing their jobs, or feel they are about to, see it as an opportunity to go back into education, it offers them a safe haven and the chance to make the transition from one sector to another. Other people think it is the worst time to jump and want to stay safe in their jobs.”

So far, business schools are remaining optimistic about the future with a majority saying that admissions – from men and women are increasing year-on-year with many new nationalities also applying.

Female applications

Joan Cowan Coonrod, director of executive MBA admissions for Goizeuta Business School in Atlanta, says anecdotally a recessionary climate tends to impact women most but at this point it has not seen “a measurable decline” in female applications. However, she adds: “Our largest class enrols in January, and this is where we might expect to see the effect of the credit crunch.”

Meanwhile Paul Healy, MBA marketing manager at Manchester Business School has already seen a more pronounced effect. “Applications from women have been 5% to 6% down over the past two years but looking at the number of people still to declare if they are going so start this year or that have deferred, 40% of those are women.”

He adds that there is a “healthy number” of students overall but with less credit available, many students are waiting to hear if they will receive scholarships, with many unable to proceed without such funding.

Coonrod believes that women are more affected by funding issues than men, particularly if candidates are considering executive MBAs. She explains: “Many women do not believe that they will see the ‘payback’ for the investment, and thus tend to self-select into lower cost programs or online programs.”

Part time MBAs

It is, perhaps, no coincidence that many business schools are reporting a rise in part time applications, which allow candidates to work while studying. While Judge is reporting a 45% increase in female applications to its full-time MBA, Siegfried admits that business schools are facing a variety of issues around female recruitment, including increased competition from new methods of studying for an MBA. She also believes improved working conditions, such as home working, mean women are able to stay in the work force but it does not necessarily help with career development through training.

The main conflict of interest for female candidates is the age-old dilemma between family and career. Nuria Guilera, marketing director for MBAs and Executive Masters at ESADE in Spain, admits that attracting women to the executive MBA is a “difficult task” for this reason.

She adds: “The average age in the EMBA is 33, which is a complicated age for women as they reach to a point in life when they have to decide if they want to create a family, have children or keep growing in their career. In most cases, they cannot achieve it all at the same time.”

However, there is also a feeling that women are less likely to ask their employers to support them in doing an MBA or EMBA, and industry observers say that as job security concerns grow, they will be even less likely to push for career development. ValArie-Claude-Gaudillate, director of MBAs at Audencia Nantes School of Management in France, explains that even in less difficult times, women do not believe that MBAs are an option. She adds: “They don’t think that their company will pay for them.”

There is also a feeling that the credit crunch has come at a time when women are seeking jobs outside of the traditional corporate arena, just as for not-for-profit organizations, healthcare and public sector. “I think we might be going through a cycle,” says Siegfried. “Women are feeling they don’t necessary want a full time, hard-charging career these days with many choosing to be full or part time mothers now. Also, the jobs that women are aspiring for do not require an MBA, or they don’t want the kind of jobs where recruiters want an MBA. She adds “Women in sectors such as not-for-profit organizations don’t think that an MBA will help or that it is necessary for their progression.”

For this reason, many business schools believe that more needs to be done to communicate the benefits of MBA and EMBA courses to women both now, as the credit crunch bites, and in the future as women pick increasingly diverse sectors to work in. “The bottom line,” says Coonrod, “is that women need to see that courses like EMBAs are ‘doable’ and they often need to know that their companies will be supportive at some level.”

She adds that women often put such training on the back burner and she calls for MBA recruiters to be more proactive by letting women employees know that they are under consideration for high level roles. “An executive MBA experience at a top program – where they apply what they learn, as they learn it – yields get rewards for the individual and the supporting organization.”

In the past, says Siegfried, women have not been specifically targeted by communications or recruitment drives because research has shown that they do not want to be singled out. But there is now a widespread feeling that it is time to change strategy in case the credit crunch takes its toll on the already struggling female numbers. She explains: “We need to show the range of options available and how doing an MBA can help women get what they want, like working part time.”

MBA benefits

Women need to be convinced that doing an MBA or an EMBA will bring benefits to their career. The latter will prepare them for profit and loss responsibility and more operational roles, it helps them migrate out of support roles and into strategy development, and will also put candidates in touch with each other helping to broaden their business outlook. According to Gaudillat, this should be highlighted to candidates through mentoring schemes and work by alumni. Siegfried adds: “This puts the onus back on the business schools, we need good mentors to show that an MBAs don’t have to be about a traditional, corporate thing.”

The world of MBAs can appear male dominated and they are concerns that fewer female applications mean that recruiters are not always getting a diverse range of candidates for roles. But, crucially, as Gaudillat, points out if there are less women doing MBAs, they are less women getting to board level. She adds: “If they don’t go through the training to reach the top role, they don’t get there.”

With the economic outlook looking unsettled for the foreseeable future, the ability to bring something extra to a role will become increasingly important to recruiters. More women need to realize the importance of training and should be proactive about getting it from the companies, this means more has to be done to show them what they can achieve if they put the time and investment in.

Source: topmba.com