Women MBAs at Harvard Business School

The experience for women MBAs at Harvard Business School has changed in regards to the first enrollement of women in management education and women as business leaders at the Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The Harvard Business School (HBS) offers a large full-time two year MBA program, Executive Education to help experienced executives expand their global perspectives and lead at a higher level, Doctoral programs, and their unique HBX Credential of Readiness (CORe) online courses. Beginning in the class of 1965, the school has had women participating in their two-year MBA program. Ever since, the percentage of women enrolled in the MBA program has steadily increased, reaching 25% by the 1980s and 35% by 2005; in 2012, women made up 40% of the 2014 class¹. Over the 50 years, the experience for women in the MBA classroom has changed drastically academically and politically in regards to gender parity, both within the classroom as well as post HBS work experiences. The school has had to change to embrace diversity and encourage female enrollment and support women's success in a male-dominated learning and working environment. In 2012, women accounted for 46.6% of the U.S. labour force, and 51.4% of managerial, professional, and related occupations. Among Fortune 500 CEOs, 21 (or 4%) were female, women also accounted for 15.1% of Fortune 500 executive officers¹. Women MBAs face and some continue to face barriers across a number of dimensions: wage disparity that began early in their careers, inadequate mentoring and career advancement opportunities; minimal job representation; and the challenges of raising children and running a household.

History

By the early 1940s, HBS was recognized as one of the most respected leading higher education management schools in the United States.

The first "original eight" women admitted into the MBA program in 1962. They are regarded as the pioneers of women MBAs at HBS.

HBS was deemed to make business students 'tough-minded' and followed a rigorous case method rather than the traditional teaching through textbook and in-class lectures. Pursuing an MBA was a respectable and conventional career path. Students enrolled in the school's early decades were white male Americans predominantly from the middle- and upper-middle classes¹. As of current, there has been 5 decades of women MBAs at Harvard Business School. Women were first admitted to HBS's two-year MBA program in 1962. These first women are "the original eight," who enrolled in 1963 alongside 676 men in the class 1965¹. Separated into 4 time horizons to present day, the women's MBA presence progressed from relatively non-existent to 41% in the last recruitment session of 2015. Women's experiences have changed from discriminated against to a more gender neutral learning environment. Harvard Business School has had to proactively take measures to embrace diversity and guide students, faculty, and companies to understand the importance of inclusion of not only women, but for people of all backgrounds as well.

1940s - 1950s

Very few women were on the HBS campus during the 1940s and 1950s. The first female faculty member was Henrietta Larson who joined the school in 1929 as an associate in resesarch. She was joined by Elizabeth Abbott Burnham in 1945; the two were the sole women on the faculty into the early 1960s¹. The only other women on campus at the time, besides students' wives, were the 'unknown' women who 'corrected papers for the faculty.' However, the practice of hiring female graders, which dated back to 1919 had elicited objections from male students who felt their literary efforts deserved male consideration¹. The fact was that, there were few able young men who were willing to take on the job of reading reports, and that competent young ladies could be employed to do a more dependable job.

At this point in time women were not able to study on the HBS campus, women could pursue management training at Harvard via Radcliffe College. It was a women's liberal arts college which functioned as a female coordinate and not equivalent institution for the all-male Harvard Business School. The certificate program in Personnel Administration began in 1937. This was the first business education program offered to women in Harvard, named Management Training Program (MTP) in 1944. Radcliffe College was located across the Charles River away from Harvard, and the HBS faculty would have to repeat their sessions taught to the men in the HBS program to the women in the MTP.

The Radcliffe program discontinued the program in 1951 but HBS intervened, working out a joint administrative agreement with Radcliffe. HBS would take over direction of educational policy and a portion of the program's costs while Radcliffe would provide facilities and administration¹. It was during this period, that the school debated about admitting woman into HBS. After an extensive survey evaluating the MTP's effectiveness for preparing women for business careers, they found that women were attracted to business, but practices and preconceptions of the role of women in business and as management executives were discriminatory against the capabilities and advancement of women to become executives¹.

In 1956, the MTP was renamed the Harvard-Radcliffe Program for Business Administration, and in 1959, the HBS faculty voted to open the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program to women. This allowed Harvard-Radcliffe Business Administration graduates to apply to the second-year of the MBA program and receive a degree. That year, three students were admitted to the MBA program and received MBAs in 1960.

Graduates within this timeframe were directed towards jobs in personnel administration or human resources, retail, education, or social work. Roles that were support roles rather than decision making roles³. Pay disparities were prevalent between men and women that graduated from the same MBA program. Women, however upset they were, were thrilled to have the opportunity to make significantly larger amounts of money than they had previously known. Though there was a big disparity in pay, they could do nothing about it¹. They also believed that they would have not been able to find jobs without the network and connections to Harvard.

1960s - 1970s

The first women received HBS MBA degrees in 1960, they were deemed the 'pioneers' of the program. Their presence had mixed responses by the male population within the program, from both faculty and students. The general sentiment was that males believed that the women MBAs were taking a place away from a man¹. There were additional hesitations from professors in regard to women participating in in class discussions as well as the type of language utilized around women. For example, whether or not if profanity should be censored around women or in conversations with women. Campus life was segregated, the women were ferried back and forth to the Harvard campus from their residence in Radcliffe across the Charles River⁴. They were also not allowed into the campus dining room. Overall, HBS was not a place that was set up in terms of physical infrastructure, social interactions, and professional and personal support for a female student. Demographically, the entering female students resembled their male classmates in age and socioeconomic background¹.

The first black woman was admitted in 1967⁵. In 1969, a woman was named a Baker Scholar for the first time, graduating with distinction, and at this time women were allowed to move into the school's campus dormitories. There were challenges to attracting women to apply to the MBA program and the school had to designate specific fund fellowships for women and create an awareness and educate the woman student that her pressors and administrators that graduate training in business administration at Harvard is available for women.

The 1969-1970 class had 50 women⁴. For women at the time, opportunities to prepare for success in the MBA program varied, many women students at the school felt underprepared relative to their male peers, typically because they brought less work experience to the classroom. Many women did not feel their viewpoints were pertinent or seriously considered in class discussions. The school was still not very welcoming to women students. Infrastructure wise, there was one ladies' room in the Aldrich building⁴. The mentality that underqualified women were taking away spots for qualified white was still widespread and continued to prevail. There was continued harassment and women were questioned why they were at the school, to the point where they were asked if they were at HBS so that they can understand their husbands better¹.

Professors' attitudes toward women in the classroom varied. Some actively encouraged women to participate in the program, but others were uncomfortable with women in the classrooms. Discrimination in regards to not calling on the women and dismissing a woman's participation and contributions was frequent. Attitudes ranged from benign neglect to stereotyping¹. Some professors even questioned whether the material was too challenging for the women students. The professors were generally two to three generations older with a few exceptions⁶.

Challenges Post-HBS Experience in the 1960s - 1970s

The challenges that early alumnae faced after graduation were mainly around family decisions. Many female students struggled to find the meaningful work in which the HBS curriculum had prepared men and now women for. Notable accounting firms that had established relationships with Harvard did not accept female partners and told female applicants that they "did not anticipate on every having any¹." Women felt that the education they received was an extremely valuable asset, and many women wanted careers that had more meaning than staying at home taking care of children, however, women found it difficult to find executive roles that had the flexible hours they needed.

In the 1970s, conditions in the workplace remained challenging for women MBAs during the. Women felt like they had the skill set and experience throughout the training of the MBA program, however, they struggled to be accepted by the male counterparts within companies. There were consistent challenges of balancing family and career choices.

1980s - 1990s

In 1980, the school tenured a female faculty member, Regina Herzlinger for the first time. Despite this milestone, tensions over diversity and the presence of women on the faculty remained high¹. Diversity on campus remained minimal, stereotypes were prevalent and it was noted that students felt 'unsafe' and uncomfortable to express not only their sex but as well as their sexual orientation. There was anti-women rhetoric and homophobic discrimination¹.

The school was slow to embrace the differences. But the school continued to focus actively on increasing female, minority, and international enrollment. At that time, international and the women student body was about 20%². A study at that time showed that women still perceived business to be male-dominated and businesspeople to be highly conservative and sometimes unethical¹.

In an attempt for greater gender parity, there was a concerted effort to increase the number of female case protagonists within the cases students studied. In 1989, of the 224 new cases written, 26 (13%) had female or minority protagonists¹.

In 1995, women comprised about 28% of the HBS class. In 1997, HBS worked steadily to increase the number of women on the faculty through providing the resources to assist female instructors in their teaching ability, build their research programs, and provide a line-of-sight towards promotion into leadership roles. Kim B. Clark, dean at that time made a concerted effort to look throughout the school and begin to bring women into positions of responsibility. By doing so, it created a space for women to gain credibility and physically recognize women's capabilities to the rest of the staff and students.

Challenges Post HBS Experience in 1980s - 1990s

Alumnae of the 1980s found difficulties in their careers, especially within mentorship and networking. Women working in established companies felt that their male managers had difficulty providing them feedback¹. There was a lack of role models and guidance for women in the workplace. Furthermore, alumnae from the 1980s reported having handled career and family issues differently than did women even 10 years younger. Many felt they had to trade off family for career, delaying having children until late thirties. Whereas, women 10 years ago got married in their twenties and had children in their late twenties. They felt that this was a part of the feminist movement.

The business working environment was also slow to adapt. Many women continued to be children's primary caregivers, and many would have to exit the workforce, either permanently or temporarily, after a child was born. Men did not have any notion of taking time off when children were born. There was little opportunity for women to take time off and be able to come back to the same job after maternity leave⁷. Federally mandated maternity or paternity leave was still several years in the future, for example, the Family Medicine Leave Act was not passed until 1993¹.

The 2000s

By 2005, 35% of students in the MBA program were women². Classroom dynamics had evolved. There were more women and other minority students in the HBS classroom, they were also vocal participants in the debate. Female students also increasingly arrived at HBS with experience and credentials comparable to those of their male classmates. Programs for international students and students from nontraditional backgrounds created a pipeline for furthered diversity.

There were common themes of challenging the credibility of a woman protagonist in a case and gender-biased actions discriminated against women, whereas the questioning the credibility of a man in a case was never an issue.

Challenges Post HBS Experience in 2000

There was the ongoing challenging of accommodating the career ambitions of a dual-career family. Many families participated in nontraditional relationships styles including travel and arranged days of the week spent together. Women and men both struggled with deciding when the right moment would be to focus on family¹.

2010 - Today and Future Efforts of Gender Equality

Women accounted for 31% of business school classes, up from about 26% in 2001 ². Selective U.S. MBA programs continued to make a concerted effort to improve the diversity of their student bodies, including attracting more female students. In 2012, the average female enrollment for business schools was 36.8%.

The present day well recognized Harvard Business School logo

In 2010, Nitin Nohria, became Dean of HBS. Nohria made inclusion one of his top-five priorities for the school to pursue, and to advance these efforts, he launched the Culture and Community Initiative (CCI), emphasizing the need for culture and community.

The school made efforts to diversify faculty recruiting to increase female role models within the school. HBS acknowledged that it took time to shift the school's long-standing male culture. Though the school had made dramatic strides toward parity for women, the working environment students faced after graduation was not at the same pace.

There are still continued challenges about marriage and children among the men and women who join the workforce right out of business school.

As of currently, HBS's enrollment statistics reveal that of the 932 students at matriculation, 383 are women (41%), 233 students are U.S. ethnic minorities (25%), 321 are international students (34%), and represent 49 different industries contributing to a high percentage of students with post college work experience ². HBS boasts a 94% offer rate for students who actively seek employment, with a median base salary of $130,000 ².

HBS has actively changed their ways and methodologies to support women and students of all backgrounds to be treated fairly and successful in their MBA program. Although the gender-wage gap, and unequal representation in women executives and boards continues to exist, HBS works on preparing women leaders to navigate those challenges, and has identified the role the school should play in promoting change in the business world to better accommodate women's and men's choices about family, life, and work.

References

Citations

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Women in the Workplace. (2015). Lean In and McKinsey & Company, 1-30. Retrieved April 08, 2016, from http://womenintheworkplace.com/ui/pdfs/Women_in_the_Workplace_2015.pdf?v=5
MBA Program at Harvard Business School: 1963 - 1970. (2013, February). Retrieved April 8, 2016, from http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/wbe/exhibit_mba-program.html
Wusu, N., & Patten, E. (n.d.). AASU History. Retrieved April 8, 2016, from http://www.hbsaasu.com/history/
Harvard Business School: Faculty & Research. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2016, from http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/browse.aspx
Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead (First edition.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.