Women comprise around 30 percent of students at the Tuck School of Business, facing particular challenges, including a lack of role models.
Earlier this month, more than 100 people gathered to promote discussion about women in business at the Tuck Initiative for Women Symposium, which began May 1.
The Tuck Initiative for Women, which hosted the event, was founded this year by Maureen Gartner Tu’14 and Stephanie O’Brien Tu’14 to build awareness within the graduate community about issues women in business face, facilitate better faculty-student relationships and provide Tuck women with resources for professional development. The initiative also seeks to promote a healthier gender balance in business.
Only 4.8 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs were women in 2013, and 4.8 percent of the Fortune 1000, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit that researches and promotes the role of women in business.
Women currently make up about one quarter of the Tuck’s faculty directory, which consists of the school’s professors, lecturers and fellows.
Gartner reflected on her first job, working at a hedge fund after college. Out of the company’s 40 portfolio managers, she said, two were women.
The symposium is one of a number of steps to broaden the female support structure within the school, Gartner said.
Women in Business Club president Lindsey Windham Tu’15 said the current gender dynamic does not detract from her education. The initiative’s goal, she added, is not to dwell on the statistical gap.
“We would all love to see a Tuck school where it is 50 percent women and 50 percent men, but I do not believe that the gender ratio has had any negative implications on my experience here,” Windham said.
The gender gap in business school education has been under increased scrutiny since the fall, when the New York Times investigated gender relations at Harvard Business School, where men make up around 60 percent of the student body. After a two-year long experiment, interviews with more than 70 faculty members, students and administrators showed a quantitative and qualitative improvement, citing the fact that more women won awards and participated in class.
Organizers emphasized their effort to include men in the discussion. O’Brien said that, to build a more supportive community at Tuck, hearing from people with varying perspectives is important.
“I think we all want to have a multi-faceted conversation where everyone has a voice, where no one feels victimized,” Windham said. “Being aware of factors that can hold women back will make us more equipped to advocate for each other and for ourselves as we move into leadership roles.”
The women also hope to work with alumnae and female undergraduates interested in business, Windham said.
The Tuck group works with the College’s Women in Business club and recently hosted a panel over tea, allowing undergraduates to discuss career paths with Tuck students, Windham said.
Assistant dean and MBA program director Sally Jaeger said she began planning the initiative over a year ago, noting the support of Tuck Dean Paul Danos.
Elizabeth Winslow, senior associate director of the MBA program at Tuck, called the symposium a success because of the awareness it brought to the initiative.
The symposium featured a speech by Elyse Allan ’79 Tu’84, president and CEO of General Electric Canada, and discussion of gender moderated by Matthew Slaughter, associate dean for faculty and management professor. It also included a professional development workshop led by author Sara Laschever, who focuses on the life and career obstacles women face.
The group plans to increase its web presence by publishing relevant papers and articles contributed by Tuck students and alumni, Jaeger said.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: May 19, 2014
Lindsey Windham Tu'15 is not the initiative chair, as the article originally reported. Instead, Morgan McLean Tu'15 holds that position. The article has been corrected.
