The Forté Foundation, a non-profit working to increase opportunities for women in leadership, has released its 2024 report on women’s enrollment in full-time MBAs. Enrollment has climbed to new heights of over 6,000, they report, and eight of their member schools have reached gender parity—an all time high.
Forté has been working closely with business schools, corporations and universities since 2002 to increase opportunities for women at every stage of their careers. This report details the latest development in a considerable and steady upward trend of women’s MBA enrollment, proving once again the impact and importance of Forté’s work.
Eight Schools Reach Gender Parity and Women’s Enrollment Skyrockets
Forté’s report brings good news for gender parity. A record eight Forté member schools reported that at least 50% of their enrolled students were women in the fall of 2024. This is up from five schools in 2023, three in 2022 and one in 2020.
The eight schools are noted below with the percent of women enrolled as of fall 2024:
- Johns Hopkins University (Carey Business School) – 59%
- George Washington University (School of Business) – 58%
- EDHEC Business School – 58%
- Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School) – 53%
- Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim School of Business) – 53%
- University of Texas at Dallas (Naveen Jindal School of Management) – 53%
- Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business) – 51%
- Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) – 50%
Other schools in Forté’s member group also took steps towards gender parity, with 19 schools reporting 45% or more women enrolled, and 36 reporting 40% or more women enrolled (up from 8 and 22 in 2020, respectively).
Enrollment grew in Forté’s non-US schools, too, making 2024 the first year that both non-U.S. and U.S. schools both reported average women’s enrollments as 42%.
The number of business schools achieving gender parity wasn’t the only statistic to increase. The total number of women enrolled in top full-time MBA programs “climbed to an historic 6,166”.
The record-breaking number comes as no surprise when considered alongside the growth of women’s enrollment at Forté’s member schools. Women’s enrollment has far outpaced overall enrollment growth; the latter has grown by 3% from 2020 to 2024, while the former by an astonishing 13%.
The addition of nine new schools to the Forté member group between 2020 and 2024 (raising the total from 52 to 61) will have also influenced the high number of women enrolled in MBAs—not least because these nine new schools report high percentages of average women’s enrollment of 45% this year.
How Does This Report Compare to Previous Years?
Followers of Forté and Clear Admit will have read last year’s report, released in November 2023. “Women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs,” this report claimed, “reached a record 42 percent.”
With records broken in both years, what’s the difference between the 2024 and the 2023 reports?
Keen-eyed readers will have noticed that, despite rising numbers of women enrolling and more schools than ever achieving gender parity, the average percentage of women enrolled in MBAs across the member schools “held steady at 42%.” The last time there was no growth in percentage of women enrolled in full-time MBA programs was in 2020, “during the height of the pandemic.” In the years before that, women’s enrollment had climbed steadily year on year. It was 41% in 2022, for example, 39% in 2020 and 34% in 2014. When Forté was founded in 2002, only 28% of MBA students were women.
Despite this, Forté CEO Elissa Sangster is confident that “the percentage of women enrolled will continue its slow, but steady, climb.” The percentage of schools inching towards gender parity proves her right: that 19 schools reported women’s enrollment at 45% is a new record, representing nearly a third of all Forté member schools—and an additional four schools followed close behind at 44%.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” Sangster says, “and the same is true for women’s MBA enrollment this year.” In the midst of an “economy with slower hiring,” MBA applications have surged, and women are making up large proportions of those heading “back to school to earn an MBA.”
Why Does Women’s Enrollment Matter?
“Countless research,” Sangster says, “shows that diversity has a positive impact on the bottom line.” To achieve diversity throughout business, diversity is needed at the top, in leadership positions.
This is where an MBA comes in. Forté reports that 41% of the 37 women CEOs of the S&P 500 have an MBA (or equivalent advanced business degree). It makes sense, then, that “having more women pursue an MBA helps to ensure they have the education needed to become senior leaders at companies and on boards.”
To achieve their goal of gender parity in MBA enrollment, Forté will “continue to pull out all the stops.” They’re doing this through multiple initiatives that include (but are not limited to):
- Forté Undergraduate Campus to Business Leadership Conference, College Fast Track to Finance Conference, Women of Color Leadership Symposium, and Undergraduate Leadership Summit – Events that provide opportunities for college women to “build leadership skills, explore career paths, and network with leading Forté partner companies and business schools.”
- MBALaunch – Through which Forté provides road-map-based support for business school applications. These last eight months and include “weekly webinars, monthly peer group sessions, and feedback from experienced advisors.”
- Alumni Leadership Council – MBA alumni leaders who engage a 30,000-strong alumni community, serving as mentors to incoming women leaders. The council has been running since 2022.
Forté’s report on gender parity is conducted annually and studies its 61 member business schools. These schools offer top-rated MBA programs in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. Read the full report here.
