Business is a man’s world. Traditionally, more men have been accepted to business schools and gone on to be entrepreneurs than any women. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is the first school to majorly tip the scale, accepting more female M.B.A. students than males. Wharton is on the list of the top business schools in the US, also known as the “M7.” This year, for the first time in the school’s nearly 150 years, over half of it’s students will be female.
Recently, more women have shown an interest in business. One large reason for this is that MBA programs have changed to allow things like deferred admissions allowing undergraduates to apply, which appeals to the female population that have planned ahead in comparison to males. Schools market an MBA as ‘investing in themselves and their future’ which many women have taken interest in. The concept of being their own boss and taking control of their own careers has appealed to female students, adding to the rise of female entrepreneurs.
The gender wage gap hasn’t changed as much, with a 2018 census showing male owned companies earning twice as much as those headed by a woman. Almost 90% of women owned businesses make less than $100,000 annually. In contrast, a Boston consulting group found that investors have a safer chance investing in women-owned startups than those created by men. Women have always had to work harder to receive what any male has and such statistics bring us closer to creating the true balance that school’s like Wharton are finding.
The recent pandemic caused a concern that the gender disparity in business schools would tip again toward favoring the male’s after so much hard work. Instead, the acceptance rate at Wharton has shown that the schools managed to keep the balance they have been working toward for the past two decades.
