View our Flickr album from this event!
The number of Fortune 500 executive officer positions held by women has crept from 13.5% in 2009 to 14.6% in 2013; clearly, a gender gap still exists — not just on the retail floor or in a cubicle in middle management, but especially in the corridors of leadership.
UCLA Anderson embraces the challenge of diversity recruiting. It’s a sensitive topic, but, according to Alex Lawrence, assistant dean of MBA admissions and financial aid, a hot one in admissions offices. Recognizing the need and usefulness of targeting women for recruitment into MBA programs, the Anderson admissions office and Women’s Business Connection (WBC) recently co-hosted a luncheon and information session for prospective MBAs. Some 45 women prospectives visited the campus and attended the event, and more than 20 current first- and second-year students participated and helped organize it.
Alumnae Diana Christie (’06), Kate Aveline Edwards (’14), Dana (Taylor) Old (’10), Diana Rosen (’14) and Maggie Sandoval (’10) talked about their decisions to pursue an Anderson MBA and how their choices shaped their careers. Currently enrolled candidates shared experiences of student life at Anderson and offered advice about securing summer internships. Parker Career Management Center staff were on hand to answer questions about job search, résumé and interviewing resources available.
Jane Chynoweth (’15), who participated in the student panel and volunteered to help the admissions office organize the luncheon, entered business school for the education and training necessary to help small businesses expand globally. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, she sees herself incubating startups with a mission to cross the Pacific Rim. “I aim to support Australian firms that have social enterprise potential in third world markets,” she says. “For example, the solutions to address drought impact on the Australian agriculture industry may have appeal in similar arid markets in Asia, Africa and South America. Global access for these innovative ventures is paramount; however, despite a thriving national economy, Australia remains a challenging landscape for capital-raising, as local support for commercialization is in decline.”
Chynoweth says, “One of the greatest pleasures I have taken within my short time here has been to see the successes of my female peers in their bold and admirable career pursuits.” The recipient of a Women in Business Fellowship in Memory of Rita Korney, she feels that “It’s an honor to give back to the Anderson community by investing in the support and engagement of prospective women. Recognizing that each of our aspirations has been validated, and are within reach here at Anderson, has been an amazing realization. This is the message I strive to share with other women who have their own courageous goals and want to take that next big step forward.”
UCLA Anderson cultivates a relationship with the Forté Foundation, a nonprofit consortium of leading companies and top business schools working together to launch women into careers with the help of access to business education and a community of successful women. Associate Director of Admissions Kelly Ogiba discussed Forté Foundation resources available to female MBA students, while Lawrence detailed the full-time MBA program for the audience of prospective applicants.
Comments