FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12 U.S. Business Schools Report 40% or More Women Enrolled Full-Time in the Fall of 2015 and 16 Report 35% or More
(Austin, TX, November 9, 2015) – Today Forté Foundation reported women’s full-time enrollment in MBA programs at 36 U.S. member schools climbed to 36.2% on average for students enrolled in the fall of 2015. This is up from 32.3% in 2011, a 3.9 percentage point jump over this period.
In another sign of momentum, 12 Forté Foundation U.S. member schools reported 40% or more women enrolled compared to last year’s high of five schools reaching this milestone. In addition, 16 U.S. schools have 35% or more female students, compared with just three schools hitting this mark a decade ago in 2005.
“There is some evidence that earning an MBA is a ticket to the top as 41% of Fortune 100 CEOs have an MBA, according to our research. While we’re asking women to lean in, we need to also consider the education gender gap at business schools,” said Elissa Sangster, Executive Director of the Forté Foundation. “In 2011, less than a third of MBA students were women. Today we’re inching closer to 40% in the U.S. and working to close the gap significantly in another 5 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.”
The following 12 Forté Foundation U.S. member schools have 40% or greater women’s enrollment:
- Dartmouth (Tuck School of Business)
- George Washington University School of Business
- Harvard Business School
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
- Michigan State University (Broad College of Business)
- Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management)
- University of California - Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
- University of Chicago (Booth School of Business)
- University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School)
- University of Rochester (Simon Graduate School of Business)
- Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School)
- Yale School of Management
These four U.S. schools have 35% or more women enrolled, in addition to London Business School outside of the U.S.:
- Columbia Business School
- Duke University (Fuqua School of Business)
- Rice University (Jones Graduate School of Business)
- University of Maryland (Robert H. Smith School of Business)
Forté Foundation is a non-profit consortium of leading multinational corporations, top business schools in the U.S. and abroad, and the Graduate Management Admission Council. It was called to action by a landmark research study, Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity, looking at why women are underrepresented in top business schools compared with medical or law schools. Forté Foundation was launched in 2001 to address this inequity and its impact on the business landscape, and grew to 25 member schools in 2005 in the U.S. only. Today Forté Foundation includes 46 member schools: 37 in the U.S., three in Canada and six in Europe.
Forté Foundation has introduced a number of initiatives since its launch 14 years ago to close the gender gap in pursuing careers in business and an MBA. Examples include the Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference, attended by hundreds of women MBAs and top companies annually, and the Forté College to Business Leadership Conference, designed for undergraduate freshmen and sophomore women to introduce them to career opportunities and top companies that offer summer internships and entry- level opportunities for college graduates. Scholarships awarded to Forté Fellows have also been key to increasing the number of women MBAs, climbing from 33 scholarships in 2003 to over 800 scholarships for the incoming class of 2015. Since 2003, Forté Foundation sponsor schools have awarded over $85 million in scholarships to Forté Fellows.
In recent years, Forté Foundation has also introduced new initiatives to help build the female MBA and business leadership pipelines. Its “Rising Star” pilot initiative, launched on 10 U.S. campuses in September 2015, is geared to help undergraduate women become well-informed about their many career options, including in business, and compete for top jobs. Last year, benefitting women specifically interested in exploring financial careers, the Forté College Fast Track to Finance Conference was launched. Another signature effort is its MBALaunch, a hands-on 10-month program that provides guidance, resources and ongoing feedback on the business school application process, including monthly webinars, peer group meetings and feedback from experienced advisors.
FORTÉ SPONSORS
Forté Sponsor Companies:
A.T. Kearney; AT&T; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Barclays; Boston Consulting Group; Capital Group; Chevron; Citi; Citizens Financial Group; Cognizant; Credit Suisse; Cummins; Danaher; DaVita; Deloitte; Deutsche Bank; Dimensional Fund Advisors; Dow; DTCC; Eli Lilly and Company; Evercore; ExxonMobil; EY; Fidelity Investments; Goldman Sachs; Hines; IBM; J.P. Morgan; Liberty Mutual; McKinsey & Company; New York Life; PIMCO; The PNC Financial Services Group; UGI Corporation; UMT Consulting; Wells Fargo
Forté Nonprofit Sponsor: Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)
Forté Business School Sponsors: Arizona State University (W.P. Carey School of Business); Babson College (F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business); Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper School of Business); Columbia Business School; Cornell University (Johnson School of Management); Dartmouth College (Tuck School of Business); Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business); Emory University (Goizueta Business School); The George Washington University (School of Business); Georgetown University (McDonough School of Business); Harvard Business School; HEC-Paris; IE Business School; IESE Business School; INSEAD; Indiana University - Bloomington (Kelley School of Business); London Business School; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan); Michigan State University (Broad College of Business); Mills College (Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business); New York University (Stern School of Business); Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management); The Ohio State University (Fisher College of Business); Queen’s School of Business; Rice University (Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business); Southern Methodist University (Cox School of Business); University of California - Berkeley (Haas School of Business); University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson School of Management); University of Chicago (Booth School of Business); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (College of Business); University of Maryland (Smith School of Business); University of Michigan (Ross School of Business); University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Carlson School of Management); University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler Business School); University of Notre Dame (Mendoza College of Business); University of Oxford (Saïd Business School); University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School); University of Rochester (Simon School of Business); University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business); The University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business); University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management); University of Virginia (Darden School of Business); Vanderbilt University (Owen Graduate School of Management); Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School); Yale School
of Management; York University (Schulich School of Business)
ABOUT FORTÉ Forté is a nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving gender parity at all levels of business. Forté works closely with business schools, corporations, and universities to ensure women have access to opportunities at every stage in their careers. Forté offers a wide variety of resources, including MBA prep, professional development, leadership education, and a diverse community of successful women. For more information, visit fortefoundation.org. Media contacts: Michele Vana, BCW Global, michele.vana@bcw-global.com; Katie Stanfield, Forté Foundation, katies@fortefoundation.org Download the PDF
