Exploring How ‘Gender Balance in the Boardroom Begins With Gender Balance in MBA Programs'

This article is inspired by “Want More Women in Leadership Positions? Start with the MBA” by Alexie Harper, which was originally published by RealClear Education. 

Did you know that almost half of all Fortune 500 CEOs are MBA graduates? While MBAs are far from the only factor impacting who grows into leadership positions (other considerations include unconscious biases, corporate cultures, and a historic deficit of women in leadership), MBAs can be helpful for people who are hoping to rise to corporate leadership. Despite this, just around 40% of students enrolled in MBA programs are women. So, what can we do to change this?

One way to address this discrepancy is to help women more easily get the education they need to pave their path to leadership. For example, take Alexie Harper, the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Quantic School of Business and Technology and Pedago.

Harper believes “There are many ways to tackle the issue of gender equality in the workforce and in particular, equality at the highest levels of leadership. In my experience, however, the biggest gatekeeper of opportunity is education. That’s why Quantic was started and it’s a huge focus of ours to create more pathways for exceptional professionals around the world to break into the most coveted roles in business and technology.”

Programs such as those Harper has created are poised to change the game for women looking to gain their MBAs. So, while, today, only 52 Fortune 500 CEOs are women (and a quarter became CEO in the last year) — that number is set to increase! As Harper says, “gender balance in the boardroom begins with gender balance in MBA programs.”

To find out more about why you should consider getting an MBA — and why Quantic is the place to do so — read on…

How women benefit from MBAs.

For starters, “the MBA remains the passport to senior leadership,” states Harper. “Increasing the number of women in the C-suite means deepening the pool of female talent and elevating women who are qualified for leadership positions.”

Therefore, for women who are interested in becoming senior executives, it’s incredibly impactful to enroll in and graduate from an MBA program. “The MBA curriculum is specifically designed to transform workers from specialists into generalists, and from managers into leaders,” Harper elaborates. “MBA programs help learners build networks, find opportunities, and signal to employers that they have the skills necessary to lead an organization.”

While all these benefits are wonderful, there are still challenges to gaining your MBA. For instance, as Harper tells us, “there are a variety of reasons women have long struggled to enroll and succeed in MBA programs. Chief among them is the high cost of traditional business schools. About 30 percent of women specifically cite cost and the difficulty of obtaining funding as a major barrier to enrolling in an MBA program.”

This is where Quantic comes in!

Exploring the benefits of Quantic’s MBA and Executive MBA programs.

When developing Quantic’s MBA and Executive MBA programs, Harper emphasizes how “making the degree more flexible and affordable were primary goals.” One way they achieved this was by creating a valuable, top-tier network of alumni and corporate partners, which enables a unique employer funding tuition model that reduces student costs dramatically and is radically affordable.

Additionally, Harper focused on designing a program that participants could take part in during their own free time — making it more accessible to women with busy schedules and families. Not only that, but the Quantic program is mobile-friendly, interactive, doesn't require audio or large video files, provides individualized learning to help develop in-demand skills, and — importantly — contains a strong networking component. 

“Networking is a critical part of pursuing an MBA, and we pair our coursework with local meetups, conferences, and online events connecting students and graduates around the world,” says Harper. “While we are close, we still have big strides to make before we reach gender parity, but we’ve intentionally designed the program from the outset to reflect the needs of aspiring female leaders.”

Quantic’s U.S.-accredited MBA and Executive MBA degree programs are designed for high-achieving professionals looking for an online graduate degree that rivals the world’s top, traditional MBA programs. Want to join 15,000+ students and alumni from over 150 countries that are benefitting from these courses today? Click the link below to learn more about this opportunity.

Fairygodboss is proud to partner with Quantic. Learn more about their MBA programs today!