GENDER EQUALITY
The MBA has a lot to offer women when cohorts are managed well by business education providers
Knowing how The second type of career capital, ‘knowing how’, involves work‑relevant skills and knowledge accrued over time. In short, it is having the practical skills to do your job. This encompasses a broad and flexible skill base and emphasises occupational rather than job-related learning. Given the fact that the MBA functions essentially as a ‘conversion’ course to business for many of its students who are moving from one career into another, it’s to be expected that learners pick up essential skills related to the world of business along the way. For example, alumni talk about not only acquiring skills and knowledge in finance and marketing, but also about being able to ‘speak the language’ of business within their organisations and being taken seriously. Knowing whom The third type of career capital, ‘knowing whom’, relates to resources beyond the individual. It involves the support network around an individual, including family and friends. This group includes those who offer career support and mentoring, as well as those with whom one has a history of mutual reciprocity. The support available might not only be based on personal relationships, but also those influential people whom individuals can access through their existing network. Increasing one’s network is one of the key selling points for most MBA programmes and alumni report not only that they
form close bonds with their classmates, but also that these individuals typically provide a network they can continue to draw on throughout their working lives. It is said that social capital is particularly important for women’s advancement to senior management levels. Yet women tend not to be well integrated in men’s networks and often have lower status within them, making advancement harder. Career capital increases How does the MBA serve to support women specifically in these three aspects of career capital that help people to climb the career ladder? Findings from our study show that women report increases in all three dimensions. The MBA equips women with purpose, skills and networks that, in theory, should help them advance at work. We were unsurprised to see that, statistically, women reported that the MBA had drastically increased their motivational energy, confidence, self-efficacy and identity in relation to career – the knowing why aspect of career capital. Women also reported that the MBA had improved their skills, experience and knowledge (knowing how) and improved their connections and networks (knowing whom). In all three aspects of career capital, women felt more equipped for success in the workplace. As they increase in self-confidence and self-knowledge over the course of their studies, they also gain vital knowledge, skills and social contacts.
Ambition | FEBRUARY 2023 | 29
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