More women enrolling in business schools

Thursday, August 19, 2004
Associated Press

ANN ARBOR -- Three Michigan colleges say more women are enrolling in their business schools this fall.

The University of Michigan's business school forecasts that its fall class of students pursuing a master's of business administration will have 31 percent women, a 7 percentage-point increase from a year ago. Women will make up 30 percent of the full-time MBA class at Michigan State University, a 2 percentage-point gain from 2003.

David Burnie, associate dean of the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University, said so far in 2004, women make up 37.5 percent of MBA candidates at Western. This is up 5.2 percent over 2003.

Consumer-product companies especially are demanding women for executive and marketing roles, said Luke Visconti, co-founder of Diversity Inc., a New Jersey-based publication that writes about diversity in the workplace.

"If the top colleges are attracting a more diverse class, that's good for businesses in Michigan," he said. "It means they will find reliable employees who want to work in Michigan without spending to recruit out of state."

Danielle Shea, a Boston College graduate enrolling in Michigan's MBA program, says programs such as the school's Women in Business Initiative and visits from successful female alumnae make the school an attractive place for women.

"Males in business can automatically turn left and right and find a mentor in their firm to guide them," she said. "Women have a harder time ... but I could find mentors here. We are all looking for a sister up there."

Nationally, 35 percent of MBA students are women, according to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Gazette staff writer Robert Harrison contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

 

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