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Plotting an MBA Career Path: Female vs. Male Infographic

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By Tim Dhoul Updated Sep 19, 2014
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Infographic comparison of male and female prospective MBA students
Why the journey to find the right MBA often begins online

What industries are the female MBA students of tomorrow targeting and how do their goals compare to their male counterparts?

Results from this year’s Applicant Survey suggest that although the top three reasons for pursuing an MBA remain the same regardless of gender, female prospective MBA students are more likely to be focused on using the qualification to improve their MBA career prospects.

The infographic below shows that some target MBA career sectors still seem to be favored strongly by either male or female MBA candidates, particularly among industries that have been slow to lose their male-dominated reputations, such as consulting. Media/advertising, for example meanwhile, is an MBA career path that continues to appeal to female candidates.

Still, it’s worth pointing out that these are applicants’ ambitions before they become MBA students and these choices could easily change once a program gets going. Challenging traditional gender stereotypes held by certain industries is something that business schools should be looking to dispel.

Achieving greater proportions of female MBA students is still a key challenge

Another point of contention in achieving gender equality at business school is, of course, one of demographics. With the proportion of female MBA students in a class typically somewhere around the 35% mark, it was also a clear highlight of this year’s survey to see female candidates outnumber males in North America for the first time.

Although, less positive is that results for Asia Pacific are moving the other way, where numbers have become more male for the second year running, to the point where the ratio is now almost 2:1.  

A comparison of prospective MBA students’ aims by gender is shown in the infographic below, but more detailed results can be found by downloading the QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey 2014.

2014 gender trends among prospective MBA students

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Written by
Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).