How focused are the world’s top business schools on educating women for global management?

Citation

(2009), "How focused are the world’s top business schools on educating women for global management?", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2009.08123cad.001

How focused are the world’s top business schools on educating women for global management?

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 23, Issue 3

Ibeh K., Carter S., Poff D., Hamill J. Journal of Business Ethics, Nov (II) 2008 Vol. 83 No. 1, Start page: 65, No. of pages: 19

Purpose – Examines how well represented are women in graduate level programmes, how widespread are women-focused programmes/executive education courses and the provision of women-focused scholarships and fellowships, and how prevalent are women-centred external affiliations, events and networking opportunities at the world’s top business schools. Design/methodology/approach – Summarizes the literature relating to women in graduate business programmes. Uses data collected from a key word search of the web sites of 100 top-rated business schools from 16 countries focusing on the web pages of graduate-level programmes offered by these schools including MBAs, Executive MBAs, and Master’s degrees in business disciplines such as Management, Marketing, Finance and Accounting. Data were analysed using meaning-oriented content analysis. Findings – Reports, inter alia, that female graduate students averaged 30 percent in the sample business schools; only 10 percent of these schools have a specialist centre for developing women business leaders, and only one-third offered women-focused programmes/executive education courses. A higher percentage, however, offered fellowships, scholarships or bursaries to prospective female students and reported being affiliated to pro-women external organizations and networks that facilitate career-promoting on-campus events and activities. Research limitations/implications – Very briefly mentions limitations and suggestions for future research. Practical implications – Offers some practical suggestions for increasing women’s uptake of business school training. Originality/value – Provides “pioneering research insight” into the extent to which the world’s top business schools promote female studentship and career advancement. ISSN: 0167-4544 Reference: 38AD060 DOI: 10.1007/s10551-007-9653-4

Keywords: Business schools, Business studies, Career development, Management development, Women