More women than ever are considering pursuing an MBA, which has led to some unexpected pipeline trends revealed by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) in this month’s Graduate Management News.

GMAC has reported that the number of GMAT tests taken by women surpassed 100,000 for the first time ever last year. Exams taken by women in the testing year ending June 30, 2009 represented 39.5% of all exams taken, a figure that has changed only one percentage point in 10 years.

However, Lamia Walker, GMAC regional director for Europe, Middle East and Asia,  points out some major shifts by region, age, and career intent. “When we break down gender distribution by regional citizenship, we find a wide range – from 56.1 percent of exams in Eastern Europe to just 24.6 percent in Central Asia,” she says.

(source: Graduate Management Admission Council)

Key findings from the 2010 mba.com Registrants Survey Report indicate that:

Schools need to recruit women sooner. The average woman first considers business school less than two years after finishing her undergraduate degree, almost nine months earlier than the average man. Women also sit for the GMAT exam sooner than men and submit their first business school application more rapidly than male counterparts.

Women typically submit fewer applications. Female applicants considering full-time MBA programs submitted an average of 2.4 applications, compared with 3.0 for men. Women in Central Asia and in Asia Pacific submitted the greatest number of applications on average, 3.7 and 3.3 respectively.

Don’t write off the female quants. Female prospective students are more likely than men to consider MA/MS in Accounting programs, and the average number of submitted applications reported by women to any graduate management education program type is highest among those applying to MA/MS Finance programs (3.2 applications on average in 2009).

The survey report found numerous differences between men and women when it comes to preferred study location, financing plans, information sources, business school preferences and employment outcome, as well as significant differences by gender in the skills that prospective students hope to improve in business school.

Armed with this information, MBA programs should be able to more effectively outreach to talented female applicants.

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, so it’s only fitting to check in on the state of women and the MBA. Ben Lopel’s recent piece in the UK digital media site, Exec Digital, takes a look at two prominent surveys which show that more women than ever see business school and corporate careers as a viable option.

Both the 2009 QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey and the GMAC Alumni Perspectives Survey 2010 show a marked increase in the number of women applying to and graduating from B-school.

Lopel quotes Ross Geraghty, co-author of the QS TopMBA.com Applicant Report, who said: “The proportion of women attending the QS World MBA Tour annually has increased year on year since records began. These figures are supported by the fact that, for the first time, more than 100,000 GMAT takers in 2009 were women. This proves two things, firstly that business school is more popular than ever before, in general, and that women have become motivated and inspired by their female peers to achieve the same business success.”

MBA.com, the official GMAT website, indicates that 40% of GMAT test takers are women. But despite the numbers, some lingering trends remain. According to MBA.com, admissions officers say there are still many myths which keep women from applying to B-school.

The notion that an MBA is only for those who want to work for a big corporation, or the perception that the business school culture is not supportive of women, are just two mental hurdles today’s women need to overcome.

Zoya Zaitseva, Regional Marketing Director at QS, points out a more serious problem. “Unfortunately, women still continue to believe that they will receive lower salaries than their male colleagues: only 32 percent of women, compared with 43 percent of men, expect to earn more than $100,000 per year after graduation.”

But changes in the educational landscape are afoot. Last month, BusinessWeek’s Alison Damast reported on the growing interest in business programs at women’s colleges. Currently 44 such schools offer a business management curriculum, according to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)–viewed by many in the management education world as the gold standard for B-school approval, Damast writes.

“I think women’s colleges, like all other colleges and universities, are looking very closely at a number of market-driven variables and making sure that their programs are reflecting the needs of what today’s students are looking for,” says Susan E. Lennon, executive director of the Women’s College Coalition.

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An ever-increasing number of MBAs are finding work upon graduation in clean energy, says Jackie Wilbur, senior director of the career development office at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article, Where MBAs are Finding Jobs.

Students are coping with the sluggish job market by focusing their interest on consumer product companies, which include medical devices and clean energy technology, Wilbur says, adding that “A larger number are interested in energy, particularly in the space of green technology—there’s a lot of room for growth, particularly in introducing new technologies in an emerging market.”

Sustainability is also a growing theme at B-schools, WSJ’s Alina Dizik wrote Thursday. Corporations are pushing for a more hands-on approach to train potential future employees, as they’re finding that case studies become quickly outdated.

Business schools have reacted to the effort with a mixture of gratitude and skepticism, saying that despite the emphasis on integrating these hot-button topics into the curriculum, it’s business as usual at recruiting time, Dizik writes. For more on the work corporations are doing with schools to train potential employees in social responsibility and sustainability, read the WSJ’s piece here.

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If you are feeling stumped by your application essays and need some additional guidance, check out our NEW series of essay guides for MBA applications. Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton available now. They are seriously terrific and we are proud to say that almost every person who has ordered one has come back for more!

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In the March issue of Yale School of Management’s Admissions Newsletter, the school tapped a handful of second-year student interviewers to share tips to give you an insider view of the process.

The interview is a critical component designed to give admissions a more complete understanding of you, the candidate, beyond what appears on paper. But remember, it’s also a two-way street–in the sense that the interview allows you the chance to confirm your fit with a particular school and learn even more about the program.

Want to know what you can expect in a Yale SOM interview and how to nail it? Check out these tips…

Tip #1 — Share stories that demonstrate your leadership skills, team experience and approach to solving complex problems.

Tip #2 — A confident appearance goes a long way.

Tip #3 — Be passionate about future goals.

Tip #4 — Be authentic with your interviewer, and don’t assume SOM is looking for a specific candidate.

Tip #5 — Have clear career goals upon graduation, and explain how an MBA from Yale SOM with help get you there.

Tip #6 — Show how your goals tie in with the school’s mission of “educating leaders for business and society.”

Tip #7 — Don’t “over-sell” your volunteer work, and have confidence in the contributions business makes to society.

Remember, demonstrating that you’re passionate about where you want to go and what you want to do will go a long way in the interview process. Best of luck to all applying!

* * * * *

If you are feeling stumped by your application essays and need some additional guidance, check out our NEW series of essay guides for MBA applications. Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton available now. They are seriously terrific and we are proud to say that almost every person who has ordered one has come back for more!

We are on Facebook – join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman.

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