Announcing a New Scholarship for Women Applicants

We know that women who consider an Executive MBA Program weigh a number of criteria when making the choice to enroll. Women at Booth report that learning for the sake of personal development and positioning themselves for career success is of paramount importance in their decision-making process. They also place a great deal of value on program fit, diversity and inclusion measures, and financing options. To that end, we are pleased to share a new scholarship designed to help usher more talented, ambitious women into the Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program.

The Global Dean’s Initiative Scholarship for Women is new this year and will support high-potential female students in the Executive MBA Program from Chicago, London, and Hong Kong. Our intention with this scholarship is to recognize the outstanding women who apply to our program each year and support their efforts in pursuing an MBA degree.

In recent years, we have seen more women seek an MBA to empower and propel themselves in their work and to explore and prepare for possible new career directions. A recent survey conducted by EMBAC showed that EMBA programs reached the highest percentage of female enrollment ever in 2021 at 33.4 percent as compared with 30.1 percent in 2017. The Chicago Booth Executive MBA Class of 2023 includes 32 percent women, our largest percentage of women students ever. While we are encouraged by this, we still have a long way to go toward achieving gender parity in the classroom. Our female students' contributions are invaluable to the Booth classroom and community and we are committed to continuing to grow the pipeline.

The students in this program juggle demanding careers, busy personal lives – and then they decide to add a rigorous MBA program to the mix. I am often in awe of their accomplishments and their ambitions. This quote from Laurel Van Allen, a member of the Class of 2021, sums up beautifully what this Executive MBA Program has meant to her.

“As a woman in a male-dominated profession, I am used to being the only woman in the room. I’ve had clients mistake me for my male colleagues’ assistant, I’ve been bullied, and I’ve had my ideas and opinions marginalized. It is important to me to have the confidence and know-how to successfully advocate for myself and my opinions in those situations. Shoring up my formal education and credentials is one way I can build a stronger sense of belonging in those environments. I have three sons, and I want to instill in them the idea that there is no limit to what their mom—or any woman—can achieve.”