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Increasing Graduate Management Education Candidate Diversity: Improving Attraction to Underrepresented Segments

Diversity Enrollment, Research, United States, 2016, White Paper

S. White and J. Rea

The white paper, "Increasing Graduate Management Education Candidate Diversity: Improving Attraction to Underrepresented Segments," presents findings from a research study that GMAC commissioned from globalsojourn, a market strategy and research firm, to gain insights into the dynamics of the perceptions and interest of U.S. underrepresented populations (URPs) in the pursuit of graduate management education (GME). The report is the second part of a two-part series of research studies to provide insights into the URP population in the United States and their path to graduate management education.

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Overview

The research study undertaken between June and September 2015 by GMAC in partnership with globalsojourn was designed with specific research objectives of gaining insights into underrepresented US populations and their level of engagement with GME, as follows:
  • URP perceptions of business careers vs other career choices,
  • Consideration of GME relative to education and work experience,
  • Key motivators to pursue GME,
  • Factors influencing choice of program formats,
  • Barriers to pursuing GME, and
  • Key influencers.
The study consisted of two phases: a qualitative research sample consisting of 84 online individual in-depth interviews and a quantitative online survey with a total of 1,216 respondents who represented URP populations of different educational levels and diverse ethnic and racial groups. The report presents recommendations to assist graduate business schools in their efforts to improve the attraction to GME among these candidate segments.