Did you know that women account for only about a third of graduate business students in the United States?  Why do you suppose men in the majority in MBA programs?  It isn’t because women are being rejected by the schools.  It’s because women aren’t applying to MBA programs at the same rate as men.

Given the fact that women are working outside the home in greater numbers than ever before, I was curious as to why more women weren’t seeking advanced business degrees.

I found an answer to that question in an article on cnnmoney.com by Anne Fisher.   Fisher interviewed Elissa Sangster of the Forte Foundation to find out why women are reluctant to pursue MBAs.  The Forte Foundation’s mission is to encourage women “to substantially increase the number of women business leaders by increasing the flow of women into key educational gateways and business networks.”   The Forte Foundation was launched in 2001 after a study by the University of Michigan and Catalyst found four main reasons that women were not seeking MBA degrees.  According to the article, these four reasons are still in play today.

• Concerns about being about to handle responsibilities of home and work if they returned to school
• Lack of female role models who have successfully managed this balancing act of home life, work, and school
• Questions about whether they had the advanced math skills and quantitative background to handle MBA coursework
• Little to no encouragement from employers to pursue an advanced degree

As I read this I couldn’t help but wonder if men have any of these same concerns. What do you think?

Preferred Employers

Both genders selected Google as the most desirable employer.  But, the sexes did not agree on the second and third preferred employers.  Males selected McKinsey & Company (#2) and Goldman Sachs (#3), while women chose Johnson & Johnson (#2) and Apple (#3).  That difference is likely explained by the industry that survey respondents selected as the one they’d ideally like to work in after graduation.  Men choose management consulting, while women ranked marketing/advertising at the top of the list.

Salary Expectations

I was particularly struck by the differences between men and women on the subject of first-year salary expectations.  I see this as evidence of our tendency as women to undervalue ourselves.  Given the current state of the economy, the numbers are down from last year’s survey for both genders.  However, the drop is much greater for the women than the men.  Women expected $87,599 in annual base compensation, down from $91,142 last year – a difference of $3,543.  Men expected $99,142 – a whopping $11,543 more than the women!  And, it seems the men aren’t letting the bad economy put too much of a damper on their expectations.  The drop from last year’s survey was a mere $818 for the male MBAs.

Career Goals

According to the survey, the top three career goals for the female MBA students are:

• Work-life balance
• Intellectual challenge
• Opportunity to lead people

Note the absence of a competitive compensation package in that top three.  Hummm…  Maybe the students just assume they will be paid a competitive salary.  Or, perhaps they are willing to give up some cash in exchange for meeting other career goals.  I haven’t seen the full text of the Universum study, so I’m not sure where compensation ranked for the MBA students surveyed.

Defining Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance ranked at the top of the list of career goals in last year’s survey also.  Fortunately, Universum is interested in knowing what work-life balance means to the female MBA students they surveyed.  As it turns out, work-life balance means more than flex time and not having to work 80 hours a week.  Below is an excerpt from the Fortune article.

“Work-life used to be shorthand for a reasonable balance between responsibilities in the office and at home,” says Rachele Farri, global director of employer branding at Universum. “Today we hear women MBA students saying things like, ‘I want the ability to be myself,’ ‘I want to be appreciate for what I bring to the table,’ and ‘I want to work for a company that places social responsibility and community involvement high on its list of corporate goals.’”

I’m very interested in the notion of work-life balance and what it means to women (and men).  In future posts, I plan to discuss why women are reluctant to pursue MBA degrees and to share my thoughts on a new study from the Families and Work Institute and the emergence of the term “work+life fit.”  In the meantime, I welcome your comments and feedback.

So, what else did the IT professionals say that they wanted if they couldn’t have a raise?  Well, 32 percent want company-funded training and certification classes and 31 percent chose flexible work hours.  Now we’re talking.

The advantages of rewarding key staff with training is two-fold.  One, you send a strong signal that you want to invest in your people.  Something that many employees will remember when they are tempted to jump ship when the economy  improves.  Two, unlike a salary increase, the cost of a training class is a one-time expense.

So, what about flexible work hours?  The fact that 31 percent of the poll respondents chose this may indicate that they don’t currently have a flexible work schedule.  I’ve discovered that a flexible work schedule means different things to different people.  To some, it may mean you can begin work at either 7:30, 8:00 or 8:30.  To someone else, it may mean that work can be performed whenever and wherever desired as long as measurable goals are met.  As a manager, if you think you are offering your people a flexible work schedule, find out if your employees agree.

The Dice.com survey offered four choices of reward in lieu of a raise.  The least popular with just 2 percent of the vote was C-level recognition.  So, a nice pat on the back from the CEO or CIO isn’t a good substitute for cash money.   However, as discussed in my previous post, Inexpensive Ways to Show Employees You Care, don’t let that deter you from showing your team how much you appreciate them.

For some people, the idea of reinvention seems huge, daunting, and a scary proposition.  These folks may be thinking, “I’ve put a lot of time and energy into building this career and I can’t just throw it all away and start over.”  That is certainly one perspective, but there are plenty of others.  Here’s one that might just help someone move forward instead of staying stuck in the comfort zone: “I’ve learned so much in this career and I’ve gained competencies and strengths that can help me successfully transition to another area that really interests me.”

Think about some well-known people who have reinvented themselves.  Every former US President has had to reinvent himself after leaving office.  The same can be said of famous athletes who retire from professional sports.  As they transition into philanthropy or business or whatever, they build on their existing foundation of experience, skills, and knowledge.  Imagine you are a one story building and you want to be a two story building.  If you have a strong foundation, you can build a second story on top of the first one.  You don’t have to tear down the house and construct an entirely new two story structure.

We all need to get comfortable with the idea of reinvention because the days of staying in the same job, same company, and/or same profession for a working lifetime are long gone.  In fact, young people entering the workforce today will likely have four or five different careers and dozens of different jobs over their working life.

Regardless of your age and career stage, you can reinvent yourself.  Enjoy the journey!

Last year, I developed and delivered a short business presentation on how to develop goals using the SMART formula.  In that presentation, I began by talking about Dr. King’s dream and the dreams of a few other inspirational people.  I knew it was a bit unconventional to talk about dreams in a formal business presentation, but I didn’t let that faze me.  I wanted to make the point that the really important goals, the ones you are bound and determined to achieve, are firmly rooted in your dreams.  If they weren’t, it would be too easy to give up on them.

“All successful people, men and women, are big dreamers.  They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward that distant vision, that goal or purpose.”  – Brian Tracy

What is your dream?  Is the work you are doing moving your closer to the dream?

And, what happens when an adult child has to take an extended leave from work?  One of the reasons I left corporate American was because I needed to care for my father, who has a progressively debilitating neurological disease. I first tried taking a leave of absence (FMLA allows up to 12 weeks over a 12-month period) and then tried cutting back to part-time work.  In the end, the only way to get the degree of flexibility and the amount of time that I needed was to quit my job.

I don’t have the answers, but the growing number of workers in the Sandwich Generation is something to think about for employers and for our elected officials.

I went online and found the story here. The company, Lincoln Industries, encourages employees to improve their health through a variety of ways, including:

• All employees are required to undergo a checkup every three months, where their weight, body fat and flexibility are measured.
• Employees receive annual blood tests along with hearing and vision checks.
• All employees are ranked according to their fitness level with incentives to achieve fitness goals.
• On-site massages and pre-shift stretching sessions are available.
• Three full-time employees support workers in learning to eat healthier foods, lose weight, exercise, and stop smoking. Classes are also offered on health-related topics.

Employees who meet their fitness and wellness goals are invited on a three-day company-paid trip to climb a 14,000 foot peak in Colorado each summer. What a great incentive to get healthy!

The company spends $400,000 on this health and wellness program. The return on investment is five times that amount. Lincoln Industries pays less than $4,000 per employee for health coverage, about half the regional average.

Here is a quote from the article on CCN.com:

“Tonya Vyhlidal, Wellness and Life Enhancement director, says Lincoln Industries doesn’t pressure workers who don’t want to participate. But sooner or later, she says, the company’s “culture” attracts most employees to live healthier lives.”

It makes good economic sense to invest in a comprehensive wellness program. So, why are so few companies doing what Lincoln Industries is doing?

• 88% of small companies and 80% of medium size companies offer employees paid time off to volunteer
• 74% of small companies and 76% of medium size companies pay an employee referral bonus
• 80% of small companies and 60% of medium size companies allow employees to use a flexible schedule as a regular work arrangement at least 20 percent of the time
• 64% of small companies and 56% of medium size companies allow employees to telecommute as a regular work arrangement at least 20 percent of the time
• 40% of small companies and 32% of medium size companies pay 100 percent of employees’ health care premiums

If you work for a small or medium size company, how does your company compare?

This is the fifth year that SHRM has published its list of the top small and medium size companies. A common thread over the years is the respect these companies show to their employees and to work-life balance. These companies demonstrate how much they value their people in very tangible and less tangible ways. I applaud these companies.

On a personal note, my stepson is in the Naval Reserve. He recently completed a tour of duty in Iraq and returned home to California. While he was gone, his employer communicated with him regularly through email, updating him on company news and ongoing projects. His employer also assured him that his job would be waiting for him when he returned to the States. The company’s management also checked in on my daughter-in-law and grandchild every month to ensure they were doing alright. I am incredibly impressed with the caring this company’s management showed to my stepson and his family. And, I am grateful.

According to www.thefreedictionary.com, touchy-feely is an adjective and is defined as:

1. Marked by or emphasizing physical closeness and emotional openness
2. Based on sentiment or intuition, especially to the exclusion of critical judgment

What’s wrong with emotional openness and using your intuition? Granted, you could end up with a harassment charge if you did the physical closeness thing with everyone at work. But, among consenting co-workers, I don’t see a problem with giving and getting a hug now and then.  Business should be more personal, in my humble opinion.  Wouldn’t be nice if people brought their whole selves to work instead of having to check part of who they are at the door? 

The top 10 companies on Fortune’s 2008 list of the Best Companies to Work For are:

1. Google
2. Quicken Loans
3. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Edward Jones
5. Genetech
6. Cisco Systems
7. Starbucks
8. Qualcomm
9. Goldman Sachs
10. Methodist Hospital Systems

The lesson here? Companies that are able to attract and keep great employees are better able to serve customers and create value for stockholders.