Women Making Gains in Top-Ranked MBA Programs

New data from the Forte Foundation finds that the percentage of women enrolled in full-time MBA programs at its 36-member, high-ranking business schools rose from 32.3 percent in 2011 to 36.2 percent in 2015. The study found 12 business schools where women made up 40 percent or more of the full-time MBA students. Among these were business schools at Harvard, Dartmouth, MIT, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Chicago. There were 16 business schools where women were 35 percent or more of the full-time MBA enrollments, compared to just three business schools a decade ago.

Elissa Sangster, executive director of the Forte Foundation stated that organization is “working to close the gap significantly in another five years. Every percentage point gain is not only hard earned, but something to celebrate, and should go a long way in building the senior leadership pipeline at companies and on boards.”

Sangster holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Texas A&M University. She is the former assistant dean and director of the MBA program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.