Sexual equality: The call for MBA “manbassadors”

Dec 7th 2016, 13:54 by C.S-W

WE have lamented before the fact that business schools remain—despite the best efforts of many—a man’s world. Things are changing, but slowly. One thing holding institutions back is that the call for equality is often led by, and sometimes solely promoted by, small groups of women. Precisely because there is still not parity of the sexes in the business world, getting men onside with the goal of improving women’s lot is crucial. A new initiative, launched by the Forte Foundation, a non-profit lobbying group, aims to do that.

So-called “manbassadors” at 10 business schools, including London Business School, NYU Stern, Wharton and the Fuqua School of Business, have joined forces to help form the Men As Allies initiative, which will work with women’s groups at business schools across the globe to help address issues, often imperceptible to men, that stymie women’s progression. The Forte Foundation has collated their insights into documents that interested parties at other business schools can use to begin a “male ally” group, and to start a conversation about improving parity.

The initiative helps bring to light the issue of disparity between the sexes, says Elissa Sangster, executive director of the Forte Foundation, and also provides public guidance for well-meaning men who want to address the imbalance, but do not know how best to get involved. The hope, she adds, is that adding more voices to the call for balance will create a positive ripple effect, both in management schools and in business.

It is lamentable that such actions are needed, but they are necessary. This newspaper’s “glass-ceiling index” (right), published on International Women’s Day on March 8th, showed that although things are improving, women are still far from being equal in business. A survey released in November, found that less than half of respondents believed women made better managers than men; 83% believed men would deliver better financial returns for a company than women.

Individually, people are aware of the enormous disparity between men and women in business, both in the absolute numbers signing up to MBA courses or in the boardroom, and in the way business is shaped to favour men. But individuals alone can do little to change things. Organisation is needed to collate the voices into something louder; organisations like this new initiative of formalised “manbassadors”.

guest-ajinwwij Dec 9th 2016 14:57 GMT

"As a graduate of Fuqua, I am thrilled to see that they are part of this charter group and are actively taking steps to better support women's advancement in the business world. Looking back almost 20 years, I wish I'd had a better understanding of what it would mean to try and balance work with family.

In my peer group, all of us married professional men who work 50+ hours in demanding jobs involving frequent travel. I had no clue what it would mean to be the lead parent, and the CEO of our household. In an attempt to shed some light on this, I have mapped out all of the C-level roles that women so often play at home. I think we need more leverage on the homefront and understanding what's involved is a first step to getting additional support in the form of human resources, outsourcing and technology.

While there are surely issues that are imperceptible to men, there are also these issues that are imperceptible to young women MBAs. I hope this org chart can be helpful!

Julie Paul
Fuqua '99
Founder, Heard It From A Friend

https://www.facebook.com/hearditfromafriend/photos/a.1705155206466784.1073741828.1611608975821408/1705155143133457/?type=3&theater"

Which MBA?

Sexual equality: The call for MBA “manbassadors”

Readers' comments