White men still overwhelmingly dominate corporate boards. In the Fortune 100, between 2004 and 2010, white men increased their presence, adding 32 corporate board seats. Women did not see an appreciable increase in their share of board seats, reports Catalyst, a lobby organisation for diversity.
British executive search consultants are agreeing on a code of conduct to counter accusations that they are hindering women's entry into boardrooms. The move was demanded by a government investigation into why the proportion of female non-executive directors in UK’s largest 100 publicly traded companies remains stubbornly at 12.5 per cent. If that percentage does not double by 2015 British companies face mandatory quotas such as those introduced in France and discussed in Germany.
These facts are not pretty and Penny de Valk, chief executive of the Institute of Leadership and Management observes that may be the business schools let women down. She argues: more women than men are entering junior management levels and female graduates outnumber men in universities worldwide. In the UK for example, 53 per cent of all undergraduates are women but this drops to about 30 per cent on MBA courses, about the level of female representation at middle to senior management levels in business. The parallel between business schools finding it difficult to attract female students and levels of women in senior positions in business should not be ignored.
MBA programmes adhere to the same “male breadwinner” model of most businesses, states de Valk. Business schools therefore need to be more flexible in their admissions and mode of study. They also need to improve their marketing to women, to show them it is worth the financial risk and highlight the careers outside business consulting or investment banking.
Betsy Massar, founder of Master Admissions, a graduate admissions consulting firm is not as pessimistic as Penny de Valk. Massar even observes more women than men are taking the GMAT in China, Russia, Vietnam and Thailand. This means hundreds of thousands of women from some countries that have historically seen relatively few women in executive and leadership roles are preparing to embark on a serious career path.
“What has changed, and will continue to change, is twofold”, reckons Massar: women are starting to look at themselves as leaders, and the definition of leadership has changed. Business schools today are not just looking for managerial potential, but are looking for different kinds of leaders.
Still, the consultant observes that many women still believe they cannot gain acceptance to an MBA program because they think they have not yet held a high-ranking title in their company. Or have not managed a team of subordinates. Nevertheless, women are training up and are ready to take the next step. “They will both influence and be influenced by what is being taught in the leadership component of MBA programs all over the world. And you can bet that when this generation of female leaders matures, we’ll see business and enterprises become even more diverse, more embracing of new ideas and creativity than we can even imagine now”, says Massar.
Sources:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/0b7f3d7e-82eb-11e0-b97c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1NVdG3Zb1
http://blogs.forbes.com/85broads/2011/04/27/the-new-mbas-who-are-changing-the-definition-of-leadership/
