Dear Students,
LAST WEEK WE ASKED:
Should B-schools encourage more women candidates to join?
BEST RESPONSE
Diversity of opinions is one of the most important requirements for any B-school and it comes not only through varied work experiences but also with gender. A man and a woman can see the same problems differently and come up with entirely unique solutions. Most of top 10 B-schools have around 10 per cent female students. B-schools should strike a better gender balance with increase in proportion of its women candidates but it should not be done to an extent that it dilutes the overall competence of the institutions.
- Rajeev Upadhyay, NITIE Mumbai
OTHER RESPONSES
Women are integral to the functioning of an organisation since they bring in a completely different point of view. They are extremely capable and can handle stress and pressure quite easily. At a B-school that produces future managers, there needs to be an adequate representation of both men and women. Encouraging women to join reputed institutes will help them break the infamous 'glass ceiling' and empower themselves for the future. It will give them a fair opportunity to rise to the top and display their abilities.
- Sanchita Dasgupta, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)
Women have flooded the world's best law and medical schools, but have largely overlooked the top business schools. Young girls and women have no idea what a business school degree leads to and are not naturally drawn to the stereotype of the ambitious and money hungry business management graduates. On their part, parents don't project their daughters into leading business roles, nor imagine them becoming CEOs. And role models of women in business are scarce too. That's why B-schools need to proactively attract young women to the idea of a business career by educating them about business education.
- A Bhuvana Bhimaiah, Alagappa University
B-schools should not encourage more women candidates to join in order to avoid compromising with the talent. B-schools should not set any priority of selecting one candidate over the other irrespective of whether it is a boy or a girl. This would mean jeopardising with the talent of students which ultimately will degrade the status of the institute in the long run.The only criteria B-schools should follow for the selection of students is on the basis of talent.
- Shivam Chhabra, Integral University, Lucknow
It is generally found that women are better at management than men, perhaps because they maintain a good balance between home and work. So B-schools should have to offer various management courses to encourage women candidates to join. Nowadays women are also taking keen interest in various management aptitude tests for admission. Other than that B-schools are also providing recruitment efforts, scholarships, interaction with eminent personalities and other facilities like hostel, library, and good equipped classrooms to candidates, which can encourage more women candidates to apply in B-schools to join.
- Paavan Jayendra Jingar, Amrut Mody School of Management (AMSoM), Ahmedabad
Gender bias has gradually faded with the advancement of time. These days, women can be seen in every walk of life including being a pilot to a civil servant. The business domain is also not left untouched by the fairer sex. It is seen that women solicit new ideas, are more patient and sensitive to the problems in the workplace than their male counterparts, hence making them better managers. Women should definitely be encouraged to hone their managerial skills and experience the unexplored world of male dominated management sector.
- Dipika Sahoo, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar
Sound gender ratio in B-schools will led to sound learning as women pay more attention to the individual they work with, by helping, guiding and mentoring them and taking the situation into the account. Secondly female are more synergetic and democratic than males. Thirdly, women use a more optimistic approach by applauding and entreating others rather than a pessimistic approach of admonishing and denouncing them.
- Nilaya Mitsah Shanker, Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial College Of Engineering And Management (SRMCEM), Lucknow
Women should be encouraged to become better managers since they are capable of infusing values into the next generation. However, instead of motivating women, it is imperative to change the social issues that stop them from growing in this area. Hence, more than B-schools, women should be encouraged by the society and their families to take the initiative. Once they become competent enough, there is no reason which stops B-school from getting their classes crowded with women.
- Vaishnavi Nagarajan, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
In this day and age of blurring gender demarcations, to encourage women candidates to join B-schools is not just a choice but a duty. Christine Lagarde and Indra Nooyi stand testimony to the fact that the world has woken up to the dexterity of the fairer sex. But empowerment in the true sense and on a mass scale is achievable only through education. B-schools are the incubators of future decision makers. For women to have a say in the days to come, it is imperative that B-schools take measures to ensure that 'fair' connotes 'fortitude' and not vulnerability.
- Arun Babu, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
Women are more conscious about their career and in a fast moving economy like India, they will enjoy the purchasing power parity. Moreover, the frame of reference of patriarchal Indian minds will be different. But the B-schools should make sure that those women who choose management education would help the society in some way or other. Then only it will be a win-win situation for both of them- colleges will earn more and society will have more number of woman managers.
- Suvadro Chakraborty, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
Today women have set their feet in all the fields regardless of nature of work. Women opting for MBA seem to be increasing than compared to earlier days. However, the B-Schools must create awareness about the advantages and knowledge women can gain from management education. If possible, B-schools can provide concessions for women, which might motivate them to join the institutes.
- Saranya Damodaran, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
A woman can truly multitask which is what management and entrepreneurship is all about. A woman can talk on the phone, open & read her email and schedule her activities for the day all at the same time. Also, women are simply natural marketers. They can easily connect with people and get on the same emotional wavelength. The most powerful tool that a woman has is her 'intuition'. And this quality of following her instincts makes her a quick and better decision maker. Hence, the B-schools must make genuine efforts to gift the world with better managers and entrepreneurs by encouraging woman candidates.
- Sharika Dinesh, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
Women have been excelling in every field and are giving serious competition to men even in the management scenario. B-schools must encourage women to join in and give tough competition to men and be at or above par with them. It also gives B-schools the brand recognition and status that most capable and intelligent women are in their college. This leads to constructive competition and that urge or zeal to achieve higher goals in life to come true.
- Siddanth A, Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore
Our world is embracing new ideology and gravitating towards a more diverse corporate environment. This paradigm shift can be sustained by reducing the disproportionate share of female representation in business and increasing women role models to emulate from. Female managers breakaway from the perception bias, are more risk averse and excel at consensus building. Yet, there is paucity in their supply. B-schools, thus, need to bridge this gap by making management education more accessible to women and provide encouragement.
- Tushar Bakshi, Symbiosis Institute Of Management Studies, Pune
Your responses should reach us at edu@businessstandard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute’s name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the ‘Best Response’ will be awarded Rs 500.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
B-schools are worried about job hopping their students do. How long do you think students should stick around their first job?
