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Prospective Students Thoughts on Increasing Diversity in B-Schools

What prospective students think b-schools could co differently to increase diversity in the classroom

GMAC’s Marketing department runs a prospective student survey on a monthly basis to gain insights from prospective students on various topics in our North and South American regions, from both digital and in-person events. In September, we asked candidates what they believe business schools can do to increase and/or promote diversity in business school classrooms. The top six themes out of the 128 total responses were:

  1. Hire diverse faculty, add more diverse professors and students in the classroom, and teach more diverse content to students
  2. Recruit more at HBCUs, HSIs, and internationally, use channels minorities use the most to reach them, and start mentoring and recruiting younger minorities in underprivileged areas
  3. Provide more money for minorities to go to school, waive application fees and lower tuition
  4. Add more international students to classrooms, organize events in foreign countries, and save seats for foreign students
  5. Understand the motivations and concerns of under-represented minorities and international students
  6. Be more transparent about what to expect in business school

Hire diverse faculty, add more diverse professors and students in the classroom, and teach more diverse content to students

The top theme from the survey, is that candidates want more diversity in the classroom, whether it is faculty, the curriculum being taught, or their classmates, as this showed up in 28% of the responses.

  • Teach about different practices worldwide in business
  • New idea[s] [on] how to effectively manage my own business and promote benefits
  • Do more dynamics activities where it can show the real structure and problems from business
  • Provide complex examples of real-life scenarios
  • Add more promotional speakers for events from diversity organizations
  • Hire more professors of color, and various backgrounds that not only know their subject matter but who also understand the diverse group of people who might be in their class
  • Accept more diverse students

Recruit more at HBCUs, HSIs, and internationally, use channels minorities use the most to reach them, and start mentoring and recruiting younger minorities in underprivileged areas

The second most popular theme from the responses, coming in at 23%, is that candidates believe there should be more information about the value proposition of business school specifically for under-represented minorities and international candidates.

  • If schools will reach out to underprivileged populations with information about funding options for business school, especially the most selective programs, they may feel more capable of applying and being successful, thus organically increasing diversity
  • Continue to feature diverse students in marketing and promotional materials
  • Recruit more from HBCU's, Hispanic serving institutions, internationally, and mentor undergraduates with potential to succeed in B-school
  • Reach out to more underprivileged groups in the forums that they use
  • Promote graduate programs at under-represented community resource centers
  • Recruit directly from social media - many young individuals are very gifted with social media management and have a high following
  • Business schools can specifically partner with nearby impoverished high schools in the community to work underrepresented juniors and seniors to create Pre-MBA workshops, learning experiences, and service-learning projects that expose students to business at a young age. This allows students the opportunity to explore and become familiar with business programs so that when they apply for undergraduate institutions, they can major in business or look forward to B-School as an option post-undergrad.

Provide more money for minorities to go to school, waive application fees and lower tuition

The next theme, at 20% of responses, focuses on funding resources for business school. This includes providing scholarship opportunities, reducing the overall cost of tuition and fees for applying to programs, and partnering with companies from different industries to offer payment options to employees so they can pursue business school.

  • Offer more financial aid to minorities
  • Offer scholarships for people with different backgrounds, based on different criteria, such as age, culture, industry, and achievements
  • Reduce the fee [for business school]
  • [Shed] more light on scholarships for meritorious and female candidates who often are hesitant to [make] MBA decisions due to financial situations

Add more international students to classrooms, organize events in foreign countries, save seats for foreign students

The fourth theme, coming in as a tie with the prior theme at 20%, is that schools should do more to invite international students to the classroom by organizing admissions events in foreign countries and saving a certain number of seats for foreign students.

  • Consider applications from various industries and continents
  • Receive people with different professional backgrounds: engineering, science, economy, teaching [etc.]
  • Do more online promotion to include more countries, maybe partner with local education bureaus [in foreign countries]
  • Integrate more cultures and point of views
  • Attend events/hold info sessions abroad - encourage people who perceive themselves [as] a "non-target" to apply

Understand the motivations and concerns of under-represented minorities and international students | Be more transparent about what to expect in business school

The fifth and sixth themes, both coming in at 4% of the responses each, were about understanding the motivations and concerns of under-represented minorities and being more transparent about what to expect in business school.

  • Gain a better understanding of the motivations and concerns of students depending on their specific nationality, geographic location, industry, and experience
  • [Conduct] personal [interactions to candidates] to explain [business school] better and to understand how our current situation is, by taking in consideration that many Latin American countries situations and cultures are different. We are consistently affected my political and economic issues
  • Offer broad topics that can include all individuals but keep it specific enough to still pertain to the objective being covered
  • Consider implementing diversity training for both [admissions committees] and applicants
  • Diversity comes from the top down, encourage top leaders to provide opportunities to someone different from themselves

From the responses for this survey, it shows prospective candidates have a desire to see more diversity in business school and believe business schools can do more to personally invite diverse and international students into their classrooms. To discuss ways to promote your program domestically or internationally, contact your Market Development Manager today.