More Women Studying at Harvard Business School

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 06/07/2013 - 15:00

Each year, individuals with an interest in applying to business school take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, 2012 was a year for the record books thanks to the 122,843 women who took this assessment. Not only was this the highest number of women ever to take the GMAT, but it was also the fourth year in a row that female test takers completed more than 100,000 exams.

Of course, these women typically want to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) somewhere, with a record number of them choosing to do so at Harvard Business School. According to enrollment data on the institution's website, 41% of the incoming Class of 2015 will be women.

While this percentage is only a one-point increase over 2012's 40%, it marks a significant growth over 2003, when just 35% of the incoming class was female, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. This seems to be a trend across many business schools, as their classrooms gradually become less male dominated. For example, at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, 42% of the incoming students with plans of pursuing an MBA degree were women.