Forté Reports Historic Women’s MBA Enrollment
2023 is a banner year for women enrolled in full-time MBA programs, according to the latest report by Forté Foundation. The nonprofit founded to boost women’s opportunities in business leadership through access to business education and professional development reported a record 42% women’s MBA enrollment at their 58 member schools.
Key highlights of Forté’s 2023 report include:
- Women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs in fall 2023 rose to a record 42%, up from 41% in 2022, 38% in 2018 and 34% in 2013.
- For the first time in Forté’s history, five business schools reached gender parity with three schools close behind. In 2022, three schools achieved gender parity and only one in 2018.
- Thirty-four out of 58 Forté member business schools reported 40% or more women enrolled, up from 27 in 2022 and 19 in 2018.
- Fifteen schools enrolled 45% or more women, down from 17 in 2022. However, five schools came close at 44%, a substantial jump from only four schools with 45% or more women enrolled in 2018.
- Business schools based outside the U.S. saw an increase of over three percentage points in women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs, aligning them with U.S. schools for the first time since Forté started reporting in 2011. Non-U.S. schools had nearly 42% women enrolled in 2023, up from almost 39% in 2022.
Forté was founded in 2002 in response to groundbreaking research illuminating the differences in female enrollment among various professional education programs. The research revealed that while law and medical schools enrolled nearly equal numbers of men and women, MBA programs averaged less than 28% women.
Two Decades of Progress in Women’s MBA Enrollment
“Given economic and other headwinds, including diversity, equity, and inclusion challenges, we are thrilled to see women’s MBA enrollment continue its slow but steady climb this year,” said Elissa Sangster, Forté’s CEO.
Sangster has led the organization to grow from 12 business schools and eight corporate partners in its early years to 66 corporate partners and 58 top MBA programs in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Europe.
“Our efforts over the past two decades, along with our member schools and companies, have significantly impacted the increase in women interested in business careers and advancing to leadership,” says Forté CEO Elissa Sangster.
The five schools that achieved gender parity in 2023 include:
- George Washington University (School of Business) – 65%
- Oxford University (Saïd Business School) – 51%
- Johns Hopkins University (Carey Business School) – 51%
- University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School) – 50%
- Penn State University (Smeal College of Business) – 50%
Three additional business schools are close behind:
- University of Rochester (Simon Business School) – 49%
- University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management) – 49%
- Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) – 48%
The following additional seven schools achieved 45% or above women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs:
- University of Washington (Foster School of Business) – 47%
- Stanford Graduate School of Business – 46%
- Queen’s University (Smith School of Business) – 46%
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Sloan School of Management) – 46%
- Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business) – 45%
- Harvard Business School – 45%
- Alliance Manchester School of Business – 45%
Five additional schools reached 44% women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs:
- Arizona State University (W. P. Carey School of Business)
- Columbia Business School
- Dartmouth (Tuck School of Business)
- ESADE
- Michigan State University (Broad College of Business)
An MBA degree is often the stepping stone to increased earning potential, business leadership, and influence. In fact, Forté’s research also reveals that 45% of women CEOs of the S&P 500 hold an MBA or equivalent advanced degree in business. That’s why the organization is so driven to address the barriers women face in pursuing an MBA and building successful business careers.
“Every year we see about a percentage point gain in women’s enrollment and trust me it’s not easy to achieve. Getting to gender parity in MBA programs is an uphill climb but it’s critical to drive change and help more women lead in the C-suite, on boards, and as business owners.”
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Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
