The MBA through Women's Eyes

Abstract

Disquiet about the fitness and future of management education prompts this exploratory study of the MBA experience from women's points of view. Interviews with 16 women MBAs yield findings that are broadly consistent with research suggesting that women prefer to learn and be taught in ways which depart from traditional MBA approaches. In particular, interviewees identified four sources of tension in their educational experience: centralization versus decentralization of authority in the classroom; defenses against admissions of uncertainty and ignorance; learning by looking outwards or inwards; and knowing by analytical replication versus imaginative and emotional engagement. Several implications for management education are drawn. Knowledge that is delivered through traditional pedagogues is accepted as legitimate, while understanding gained through alternative processes is viewed as inferior or lower-order. Some learning strategies are devalued, particularly those women have often preferred. Both men and women suffer from the resulting narrow array of learning opportunities. Secondly, this research helps explain why women teachers, when judged against traditional norms of equating dominance with authority, are often valued less. It is concluded that institutional experimentation with a wider range of learning and pedagogical strategies would better equip managers when working with diverse contemporary workforces, and would also help them build wider repertoires for learning and understanding.