What's Keeping Women MBAs from Earning Their Value?

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal posted an article summarizing the findings from a Catalyst study that female MBAs are still not earning as much as their male counterparts, despite having similar work and education backgrounds. There were 9,000 respondents that participated in this study, all of whom had graduated from business school between 1996 and 2007. On average, women earned $4,600 less in their first job out of business school than men. Plus, men are twice as likely to reach CEO or senior executive level in their current job than the women are.

Why is this happening? Are women still bound by a glass ceiling in the workplace? The WSJ interviewed Ann Bartel, an econ professor from Columbia Business School on the matter. She says that women are less likely to be considered for higher salaries and promotions because employers assume that women will eventually be taking leave to have children and start a family. But the blame doesn't fall entirely on employers. Many women don't strive as hard for the higher up positions for the same reason - the anticipation of starting a family.

Bartel goes on to say that in order for there to be real equality in the workplace, employers need to offer more flex-time or work from home options. That way, women who also want a family life will be able to move up the ladder and fully earn their value as an MBA - just as much as men.

I have hopes that we are moving in the right direction, though. The NYT recently reported that, for the first time in history, women outnumber men in the workplace. Over the last few decades, women have been steadily gaining a greater share of the nation's payroll, but the recent recession finally put women over the 50% mark. The article actually uses the term "man-cession" because men have been losing their jobs faster than women during this economic downturn. Even if men take the lead again after the recession is over, it's still gives me hope that women are quickly earning their fair share in the workplace. Women MBAs may not be lagging in pay and promotions for much longer.