Leadership Pipelines

Increasing numbers of women are heading to business school due to a weakened economy, the flexibility the degree affords and an effort by universities to actively recruit more female students. According to the U.S. Department of Education, women received 44% of M.B.A.s in 2007, up from 39% a decade earlier, which translates to a 75% increase in the last 10 years

The glass ceiling remains. Among Fortune 500 companies, women occupy 15% of board seats and are 3% of CEOs. In Canada, women make up 14% of board seats and 4% of CEOs at Financial Post 500 businesses. There are only four female CEOs leading the 100 most highly capitalized blue chip companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, while 10% of board seats in Europe are held by women — a percentage largely buoyed by Norway's strict boardroom diversity laws.

Companies must take care to level the playing field from the start. The student body at Harvard Business School is 36% female, France's INSEAD, an international business school, is 29% and London Business School is 27%. When these talented women graduate this year, they should look for companies with a robust pipeline of women in middle management and at the top.

For decades, M.B.A. programs have failed to attract a critical mass of female students, even as admissions offices scramble to target their recruiting practices at women.

The numbers of women pursuing business education remains low. While law and medical schools have nearly reached gender parity, M.B.A. programs admit only about 30% women annually.

Women M.B.A.s also lack professional mentors and role models in the classroom, where female faculty represent a minority.