Great session today with Henry Lane of Dioptics!

What were some of the helpful take-aways you gleaned from today’s session?

I love reading the Financial Times. I really do. I just have a heck of a time finding the time to regularly read it between work duties, family, and my own other daily reading (e.g., Wall Street Journal and NY Times and a number of China blogs!). This post has nothing to do with China, but is completely relevant to our MBA program.

An interesting article in the Financial Times [subscription may be required] just came out called “Stepping Stones to Top Careers.”

Some highlights of the article:

• 64% of full-time MBA programs saw an increase in the proportion of female applicants. Part-time programs, a 47 percent increase.
• The ratio of men to women in top MBA programs is still woefully low — 2:1.
• The schools that succeed in attracting the most female applicants are those that have targeted outreach programs. On the other hand, some women resist women-specific marketing.
• There is no simple answer why women are increasingly turning to the MBA degree. (Why do you think they are?)
• Recruiters are increasingly interested in recruiting women graduates, yet there is still a substantial salary gap between earnings for male and female MBA alumni. (Why do you think this is?)

See also this related Financial Times article, “Ask the Experts: Women in Business.”

Great articles. A must read. Your thoughts?

Ladies — what do we do well here in this regard? What can we “reasonably” do better here to make our own MBA program more attractive to women applicants? (And I emphasize the word “reasonably” because all ideas and suggestions have to be executed within location, cost, resource, expertise, time, etc. constraints and while some ideas are great in theory they have no shot of being done well, effectively and/or at all. Classic cost-benefit analysis.)

Fellas — how do you see this issues? What do you need to be thinking about and respond to in the marketplace as future managers and firm owners to make your firms attractive to even more women job applicants? And do you in your heart of hearts support the opening up of what has traditionally been “the mens club” in a number of areas of business and industry? Why or why not? Discuss. Does it bother you that statistics show that your women classmates, on average, are paid less than you? Discuss.

Professor Carr July 17, 2007 Addendum: Read this related Wall Street Journal article [subscription may be required] that just came out, How To Raise Female MBA Enrollment.