GENDER EQUALITY
Provide opportunities to link theory to practice All higher education contexts provide an opportunity for learners to develop their network – they are, after all, places for interactions to take place. Given that they share a common language, the business school environment can serve as a proxy for the real world of business and management. Within this learning environment, students work on group assignments that mirror the real world in the sense they are often without complete information and up against time pressure. Business schools can further simulate the real world by providing authentic assessment and opportunities, such as consultancy projects where the client is invited to provide feedback. These authentic learning situations provide the opportunity to try out new skills and identities and learn ‘the rules of the game’. Once women have got to grips with the language, rules and customs of the business world in the context of the MBA, they’re better equipped to enter the field of business and management practice. Support identity work In their promotional material, business schools often advertise MBAs as an opportunity for personal transformation. For example, at Henley, we aim to help learners establish their identity in their careers and have the confidence to lead well. On our MBA programme we support this through a compulsory personal development module, which requires learners to reflect on who they are and their values. At the same time, the programme provides the opportunity to engage in identity work as described above, as students work on authentic assessments. They can then transfer this learning to the real world of business and management. This process can be supported not only through peer collaboration but also through the availability and access (as a form of social capital) to other
mechanisms of support from people within the wider programme context. I’ve seen two considerable areas of development during my time working with MBA students at Henley. First, there has been an increase in the amount of career support. This includes the extension of such support in the form of one-to-one sessions and tailored workshops. Second, for a number of years now learners have been offered sessions with a qualified coach to support them on the next steps of their career journey. With this career support, I have seen learners improve their confidence and identity. The importance of enablers The MBA is indeed a useful vehicle to support the development of careers for female learners, according to our research. During my long tenure at Henley, the proportion of women on the programme has increased as they become increasingly aware of the qualification’s potential to transform their working lives. We receive reports of ongoing change in the careers of our female alumni, as well as reports that they are continuing to reap the benefits of the experience 10, 15 or even 20 years later. The MBA looks set to continue to be a desirable business qualification for women as we see an increased drive towards gender equality at senior levels. However, there remains work to do. Our work has highlighted some useful enablers for female students, such as small groups with skilled facilitators, access to career coaching and a specialist personal development module. These enablers must be kept, despite any pressure on programme budget or need to find space in the schedule for new ‘hot topics’. Looking to the future, we need to chip away at the curriculum so that all prospective students are able to see that the mainstream world of business education no longer looks so male-dominated.
BIOGRAPHY Elizabeth Houldsworth is an associate professor of leadership, organisations and behaviour at Henley Business School. This article is based on Houldsworth’s research, Career capital and the MBA: how gender capital supports career capital development , which was published in the journal, Studies in Higher Education , and was conducted with Henley Business School and University of Reading colleagues Karen Jones, Richard McBain and Chris Brewster
Ambition | FEBRUARY 2023 | 31
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