Winners and Losers: Who Benefits Most from the MBA?

Abstract

This article sets out to consider the benefits of the MBA and the extent to which these benefits vary by gender and by organizational sector. To explain the differential career progress of men and women MBAs, it uses as analytical frameworks the sex difference approach, which emphasizes differences in individual attributes, and the organizational structure approach, which locates career disadvantage in structures and processes within the organization. Results from a UK-based research project into the MBA and career success are discussed. These results suggest that while women appear to benefit more from the MBA than men in terms of intrinsic career factors such as credibility and confidence, men have the advantage in terms of pay and status. At the same time, while little sectoral difference emerged for women in terms of career progress subsequent to the MBA, a wide gap existed for men, with private sector men the clear winners in terms of nearly all measures of career success. Structural and attitudinal barriers were found to be strong contributory factors to the different labour market position of women MBAs in general and of the differential career progress of private sector women and private sector men.