Manali Mathur, with a BSc degree, needed a diversified and professional skillset to pursue a career in the corporate sector. Mathur, who recently joined IIM Kashipur’s 2024-26 MBA batch says, “Joining MBA is a path-breaking decision. I aim to have a successful career in the corporate sector and secure a leading managerial position.”
Ridhima Jain from IIM Sambalpur’s 2024-26 batch dreams of stepping into strategic roles where she can influence decisions with her degree. The MBA will equip her to navigate an ever-evolving competitive market, and engage with real-world business challenges and develop innovative solutions, she feels.
A silent revolution
Deepa Pudukode Krishnan was aware of the ground realities of running a business as a designer in a jewellery start-up, she was interested in the intricacies of an organisation. “I want to explore and hone my business acumen and critical thinking,” said Krishnan of the 2024-26 MBA batch at TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal.
Management education is witnessing a silent revolution with hundreds more like Mathur, Jain and Krishnan joining B-schools across the country. From 11 per cent in 2017, the percentage of women enrolling for an MBA, especially in the IIMs, is near-equal in some B-schools this year.
While the 2024-26 MBA cohort of IIM Sambalpur enrolled 76 per cent female students, IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K) enrolled 59 per cent in the PGP batch. Female students constituted 48 per cent of TAPMI’s MBA batch and 47 per cent of MICA-Ahmedabad’s three main courses. IIM Kashipur recorded 42 per cent female representation in its flagship courses. IIM-B and Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) enrolled around 40 per cent of women and IIM-A around 25 per cent.
This shift can be attributed to the initiatives taken by the B-schools.
Mahadeo Jaiswal, IIM Sambalpur’s Director says the institute’s 2017 policy to grant an additional 5 per cent cut-off for female candidates in the interview round and the formation of a unified merit list have taken the women enrolment ratio to 50 per cent that year. Other IIMs also embraced this practice subsequently, improving the gender balance across all IIMs to 30 per cent.
Increasing representation to level the playing field is given more weightage, says Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode. Diversity scores at IIM-K are given at the shortlisting stage for interviews, but not carried forward to the final selection criteria.
Abhradeep Maiti, Chairperson, Admissions, IIM Kashipur, explains: “We encourage the entry of female students through special consideration during the admission process, keeping gender diversity paramount after the academic record.” Prof Aniruddha, Outgoing Chairperson (Admissions), TAPMI, says 10 scholarships are earmarked for the top 10 female students based upon merit.
Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIM-A, says: “We see diversity as an important factor that contributes to a richer learning environment for students at IIM-A, but merit is the foremost criterion for selection of students.” Kunal Dasgupta, Chairperson, Admissions, IIM-B, says, “It is not that more women are joining MBA. But more women are being selected, at least in IIM-B.”
However, many academics attributed reasons such as increase in awareness about career benefits, efforts by companies to promote diversity in their organisations, urge to take up entrepreneurship, aspirations to take up leadership roles and break the glass ceiling, for more women opting for management education.
Jaiswal (IIM-S) elaborates that this shift could be due to inspiring management role models, initiatives taken by B-schools to enhance gender diversity and inclusion, flexible programme format, supportive industry-academia environments and global trends towards women in business.
TAPMI’s Aniruddha explains that the increase in the number of women pursuing graduation in commerce, engineering and arts is likely to have cascading effect on the number of women pursuing MBA.
IIM Kozhikode’s Chatterjee says more and more corporates are welcoming women at every level of their organisations. Gender diversity in the classroom brings a wider range of perspectives and experiences, enriching the learning environment for everyone. IIM Kashipur’s Maiti says women leaders hold significant positions globally, and their numbers are increasing. Management education supports them in breaking the glass ceiling in India as well.
Future ready
Asked if the enrolment of more female students is aimed at meeting future requirements, as the thrust is on giving more representation to women both at the general and director levels in the companies, Maiti says female leaders from IIM Kashipur’s MBA (Analytics) will occupy key leadership roles in the developing analytics industry. MBA (Analytics) cohort has 75 per cent female students this session.
Jaiswal explains that as academia, businesses and industries recognise the value of diverse leadership, concerted efforts are being made to cultivate a qualified women leaders pool that will enhance decision-making through diverse perspectives. Chatterjee, who has been at the forefront of inducting women candidates, says, “Diversity is the basis of innovation in any ecosystem and recruiters are on the lookout for such traits.”
(With inputs from Avinash Nair in Ahmedabad)