フィナンシャル・タイムズ (FT) Top MBAs for Women

For the first time, the FT has ranked MBA programmes based on the outcomes of their female graduates.

This ranking has 

• 11 different criteria and alumni responses inform eight of these, contributing to 70% of the full weight. 
• 30% of the ranking is based on data reported by the schools.
• Pay discrepancy is published as the average female salary as a proportion of average male salary, where 100% means equal pay. But the full score also takes into account salary increase to capture whether the gender pay gap widened or narrowed after the MBA.
• The gap varies by school, but the average gender pay gap for graduates of the best MBAs for women is 88%. 

Gender diversity scores are calculated slightly differently than for the Global MBA ranking as a maximum score is not awarded for schools with a 50/50 distribution of men and women. This is to take into account that some schools are better at attracting female students, faculty and board members.

To be eligible for this ranking schools had to have a minimum number of female respondents, and 58 schools that participated in the global MBA ranking made the cut. Several programmes that ranked highly in the Global MBA ranking do not appear on the Top MBA for women ranking, because not enough of their female graduates responded to the FT survey.

To read more about the data collection process and the other criteria, read the methodology for the Global MBA ranking here.

Key for the table:

• Weights for ranking criteria are shown in brackets as a percentage of the overall ranking.
• Global MBA rank: the place at which the school ranked in the 2018 Global MBA ranking. This figure is not used in the ranking.
• Salary today (15): average female alumnus salary three years after graduation, US$ PPP equivalent, with adjustment for variations between sectors.
• Salary increase (15): average difference in female alumni salary from before the MBA to now. Half of this figure is calculated according to the absolute salary increase and half according to the percentage increase relative to pre-MBA salary.
• Gender pay gap (15): average female salary as a proportion of average male salary. Half of this score is calculated using salary today and half using salary increase relative to pre-MBA salary. A higher average female salary does not result in a higher score.
• Female students (15): percentage of female students on the full-time MBA.
• Female faculty (10): percentage of female faculty.
• Women on board (5): percentage of female members on the school’s advisory board.
• International mobility (6): based on female alumni citizenship and the countries where they worked before their MBA, on graduation and three years after.
• Value for money (5): calculated using salary today, course length, fees and other costs, including lost income incurred by female graduates during the MBA.
• Career progress (5): calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of company female alumni work in now, compared with before their MBA.
• Aims achieved (5): the extent to which female alumni fulfilled their stated goals or reasons for doing an MBA.
• Careers service (4): effectiveness of the school careers service in terms of career counseling, personal development, networking events, internship search and recruitment, as rated by their female alumni.

MBA worsens average gender pay gap for women, FT research finds

Analysis of data from an FT ranking of the best MBA programmes for women found that they earned, on average, 9% less than men before their studies. Three years after graduation, the gap had widened to 14%.

Pressure to increase the number of women in higher education means many business schools have upped their efforts to attract female students.

At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the gender pay gap. In the UK, new laws mean employers with more than 250 staff must this year for the first time report the gap.

The FT ranking also highlights gender pay differences for MBAs in different parts of the world. Women at business schools in China have a lower average salary gap after graduation, while in the UK, it widens from 9 to 26%.

More information can be found at the FT