Why Gender Diversity Matters At A B-School - Case In Point

Gender diversity has always been a concern for b-schools and corporates alike. Industries today demand a diverse work-force and capitalizing the potential of female workers is crucial for companies to do well. In this article, we have examined SDABAC’s diversity growth for the last few years and found them emerging as one of the fastest-growing gender-diverse b-schools in India. 

A Progressive Growth Towards Gender Diversity 

Year	Batch Size	Total No. of Women	%age of Women
2019	170	78	46%
2018	116	58	50%
2017	84	32	38%

Highlights

1. There has been a significant increase in the batch size and number of women who have got admission to SDA Bocconi Asia Center.
2. Even after 50% increase in its batch size since the last year, SDA Bocconi Asia Center continues to ace their gender diversity ratio by having 46% women in its batch, just marginally lower than about 50% last year.
3. Regardless of their growing batch size, SDABAC has not only maintained the healthy male-female ratio but seen a rise in diversity by 8 to 11%, from 2017 to 2019.

SDA Bocconi Asia Centre Gender Diversity Analysis

Does size matter?

In SDA Bocconi Asia Center’s case, it does not. They started their journey in 2012 with a batch size of 30. In 7 years it has increased almost 3 times with a batch size of 170 in 2019. And, yet out of the 170, 78 are women. This goes on to prove that size does not matter. What matters here is liberal thinking and innate responsibility to foster student’s individual growth regardless of their gender or any other socio-economic background.

Fueling The Future Of Female Leaders

The business world is heading into an uncertain future. We need an inclusive leadership, now more than ever. And women leaders are a crucial piece of this leadership. SDA Bocconi Asia Center realised the importance of women’s contribution to the business world and their need to occupy a more prominent role in leadership. Hence, SDABAC has initiated the Women in Leadership Scholarship program. The scholarship amount is Rs 2 Lakhs. High potential female candidates who emit exemplary leadership skills in the area of academics, team, community, and creative leadership could be the recipients of this award. Such initiatives are one of the many reasons why SDA Bocconi Asia Center has seen a constant increase in the number of female applicants, students and is able to maintain a healthy gender diversity ratio.

Beyond Marks

Yes, your CAT, GMAT, GRE, NMAT and Bocconi Test score are important. But, that’s not the only thing that is expected of you. Weightage also goes to your academic, professional, and extracurricular background. SDA Bocconi Asia Center’s liberal approach to admissions criteria and evaluation gives MBA aspirants, especially women (who may not be from an engineering/commerce background) hope to study from a good b-school with or without ‘excellent’ test scores. 

A Gender-Inclusive Metamorphosis 

In the recent 2019 SDABAC placement report, it was found out that every one of the 38% women got placed in companies like H&M, Vodafone, KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, Belgian Waffles, OYO Rooms, Nykaa and so on with an average CTC of INR 11.13 LPA. These women are getting appointed in important roles, where they can create an impact not only in the company but also cause the much-needed disruption in the business world.

Author's note:

The way a b-school classroom is formed has changed over time. With changing business landscapes, it has become crucial for top b-schools to bring diversity in the classroom. This, however, benefits not just the b-school but both male and female students.

1. For a male student, diversity helps in fostering innovation, forging global mindset and understanding diverse nuances of business. A diverse classroom that encourages spirited debate, group projects, differing opinions, and viewpoints encourages innovation and global thinking. You learn that people from different backgrounds have different thought processes and think about problems differently. You learn to stretch your brain to think beyond the proverbial “box”.
2. For female students, gender diversity is an invitation to a world (called business) that was initially considered a man’s world. You can see a subsequent rise of female applicants that started from 2017 and continuing in 2018 to this year. In 2017, 78,009 female candidates registered for the exam. In 2018, there was a rise of 50% in the registration form 2017 with as many as 84,350 women registering for CAT 2018 exam. The numbers are estimated to be higher in 2019. Liberal policies, point allocation and scholarship opportunities, are the reason why more and more women are coming out of their ‘place’, learning the business ways and finding agency in not just their private but public space. 

In, 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favour of third gender rights, the conversation of gender is going beyond the spectrum of male-female binary. In the very first year after the ruling, 80 participants registered for CAT under the transgender category. We are still hoping for a growth in the number of third gender students in top b-schools and their placement in top corporate firms of the country. But, for now, we can say that b-schools like SDA Bocconi Asia Center is heading the right way.