Even with MBA statistics pointing towards a gender bias, with a higher percentage of men enrolling in B-schools, lots of women are also choosing to do an MBA. Some experts say that an MBA degree and experience is the answer to building a woman’s confidence in a field of male competitors. Plus, with an advanced degree being a prerequisite for many senior positions, this degree can be the key to success. An MBA can help women break the ‘glass ceiling’ that exists, owing to the vast set of skills they’d acquire.
- Indra Nooyi
One example of a shining MBA graduate is Indra Nooyi. She is the current Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo. Last year, she was ranked 13 in Forbes’ global list of most powerful women. In addition to an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Nooyi earned a master’s degree in management from Yale. She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named President and Chief Financial Officer a few years later. She has been the director behind PepsiCo’s global strategy for over one decade and led its restructuring as well. In 2006, she became the company’s fifth CEO in its 44-year-old history.
- Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese National League for Democracy and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is an MBA graduate of Oxford University. She returned to Burma in 1988 after years abroad, to see the slaughter of protesters opposing the brutal rule of the dictator U Ne Win. She began a nonviolent movement for achieving democracy and human rights. The government placed Suu Kyi under house arrest, and she spent 15 years in their custody. In 1991, her ongoing efforts won her the Nobel Prize for Peace, and she was finally released from house arrest in 2010. In a speech, Suu Kyi said that her time at Oxford taught her how to respect the best in human civilisation. This is a woman who made an impact on the world while being stuck at home for such a long time!
- Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, is another example of how a top class MBA can contribute to your career. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in the 1990s. Before Facebook, she worked with Google and before that, served as chief of staff for the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Sandberg joined Facebook with the aim to make it more profitable. It did happen. In 2012, she became the eighth member – and the first female member – of Facebook’s board of directors.
In fact, Sandberg’s famous Lean In tips have helped many women build their leadership skills. She advises women to be more open to taking career risks and skip people pleasing. It’s important to be willing to lead and learn as you do new things rather than to not do them at all. Her tips also encourage women to visualise their careers as a jungle gym instead of a ladder because there are obviously so many ways to climb a jungle gym and only one way to climb up a ladder. Let’s face it; everybody can’t have the same, straight path. There will be ups and downs and detours. In another vital tip, Sandberg tells women to allow themselves to fantasise about their careers, focusing on improvement. You can surely think of times when you were afraid to do something because you weren’t really good at it in the first place. She also suggests that women in leadership can gain from a Lean In circle, which consists of a peer group who meet every month to exchange support and ideas.
Business schools around the globe try their bit to contribute to the growth of female leadership. Forums such as The Nanyang Women in Business Club and women-specific recruitment events are just one of many ways in which these schools try to resolve the issue of gender diversity. The more women in a programme, the more other women will want to join. Call it inspiration if you will. If the last decade has seen more women succeed and stand out, the future will hopefully see more.
