|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Moderated by: Saida.M, safetyblitz, Raven, Miss Brighter Days, LadyDay, Kunjufu, Kibibi, Happiness, Dillinger, Breadfruit, Backatya |
|
|
| Author | |
|---|
COLTRANE
Villager
| Joined: | Wednesday June 2nd, 2004 |
| Location: | Virtualcity |
| Posts: | 5737 |
| Photo: | [Download] |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: |    |
Click here for your Black Profile
Search for Black Sites
|
Posted: Tuesday March 1st, 2005 16:33 |
|
Donald MacLeod
Tuesday March 1, 2005
"Macho" MBA courses are alienating women managers and neglecting the "feminine" interpersonal skills needed in modern management, according to research from Brunel University's business school.
Ruth Simpson, who has studied business schools in the UK, Canada and China, said women gain from MBA courses, but often find them sexist and competitive - what one female student described as promoting "Mighty Big Attitude".
"Women feel alienated and find them pretty macho," Dr Simpson said today.
Management in the real world has moved away from its old masculine stance, but MBA courses have been slow to catch up with the change, she believes. "Management is less about hierarchy, control and giving orders and more about making connections and being persuasive, developing personal skills - the MBA is still behind that," she said.
The MBA qualification is increasingly seen as a prerequisite for senior posts, and for many women as a way of breaking through the glass ceiling.
Paradoxically, Dr Simpson believes women may learn more from MBA courses because they find them more challenging, whereas men slot comfortably into the masculine culture of the courses, do not have their assumptions challenged and so learn less. She added: "MBA programmes need to provide opportunities for developing emotional intelligence and building better team working, communication and leadership skills as well as opportunities to learn to let go of unhelpful attitudes and behaviours, such as the need, even in class-based group work, to direct and control. "In today's diverse workplace, the 'hard' skills, which have served managers well in the past, must be added to a greater focus on 'softer', perhaps more feminine skills. Giving more time and space to critical reflection of individual and team practices could enhance personal and interpersonal skills in a work environment. Some programmes are moving in this direction, but there is still a need to adapt courses across the board to address the modern, increasingly female, environment."
But business schools find it hard to change their courses to reflect new realities, she says. "Once you have got a course accepted by the university and gone through the accreditation process for the Association of MBAs (Amba) it is difficult to change it and it gets set in stone. There are a lot of forces preventing change."
Dr Simpson's interviews with MBA graduates have led her to believe men and women benefit in different ways. "Men go up the hierarchy and earn more money. Women might not gain so much in pay and status, but they feel more transformed by the process. They come to see themselves, their colleagues and their organisations differently. They develop a lot more self-confidence. Many women felt they had gained a voice.
"They felt able to talk to their boss and ask the right questions. They felt better able to challenge other people's perspectives. For women the MBA is more transformative, a life-changing experience."
Try our business school database
Find the right business school for you
Related articles
10.03.2003: LBS students invest in their futures
26.05.2002: Rush to master MBAs
16.03.2002: Currency of an MBA increases in value
09.03.2002: British schools catch up in the MBA battle
Find an MBA course for you
09.03.2002: Ignore rankings, pick the right school for you
09.03.2002: Profiting from a worldwide peer group
09.03.2002: The value of a postgraduate degree
Courses
Find a postgrad or MBA course
Useful links
TopMBA.com - the organisers of the World MBA Tour
____________________
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.� -Malcolm X
____________________
Click here for your Black Profile
|
Sooofresh
Villager
Click here for your Black Profile
Search for Black Sites
|
Posted: Wednesday March 2nd, 2005 13:31 |
|
really?
i know lots of female students doing an MBA.....................they enjoy it...................
but
the price tag "PHEW".................................£25K just for a course
Last edited on Wednesday March 2nd, 2005 13:32 by Sooofresh
____________________
BNV...resident Feminist
____________________
www.blacksearch.co.uk - Helping to promote Black African and Caribbean Websites
|
|
|
Current time is 13:25 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join the
Blacknet
mailing list
|
|
