By Francesca Di Meglio

A graduate of Brown University, Rachel Hochheiser says she was out to heal the world when she first joined the workforce in the nonprofit sector. In her wildest dreams, she never imagined she would set foot inside a business school, let alone graduate from one. But she did just that in May, 2005, when she received her MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

What changed her mind about B-school? Her role model, Rhoda Weisman Uziel, the executive director of The Professional Leaders Project, a group that cultivates young leaders in the Jewish community. Uziel, by example, showed Hochheiser that applying for-profit skills to nonprofit work would help her make even more of a difference.

Recent research suggests that showcasing the achievements of women in business would attract women to MBA programs. For years now, B-schools have been struggling to understand why the share of women students pursuing an MBA plateaus at about 30%, while increasing percentages of women seek medical and legal degrees (see BW Online, 12/1/04, "Breaking B-School Gender Barriers").

GENDER PARITY.  Catalyst, a research and advisory group based in New York, recently teamed up with University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan to survey 1,684 female students from 12 top B-schools. More than half of the women said having few role models was the main reason why women don't pursue the MBA. Nearly 90% said that B-schools should feature more women business leaders to attract a diverse student body.

But what do women MBAs really want in a role model? You could probably come up with as many different answers as there are women. But a brief, nonscientific survey of some of the women that B-school administrators consider role models sheds some light on what it takes to set a good example and how to get gender parity in the classroom.

For starters, women need representation in the administration at top B-schools. That's why the recent appointment of Judy Olian, currently dean of the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University, as the new dean at UCLA's Anderson School of Management is noteworthy. When Olian starts at Anderson in January, she'll be one of very few women heading a top-tier business school. She says she'll be doing all she can to attract a more balanced student population. "Schools must have representation of both sexes, so it's clear that each can have success in business," she adds. "There's a much bigger picture than what goes on in B-school."

SPEAKING PARTS.  Women want to see reflections of themselves in academia and their chosen profession. They're also asking for more representation at top-tier schools in the faculty, student body, and roster of guest speakers and lecturers. Case studies should feature more women leaders, they add. "When you don't have people to emulate, you're left floundering," says Erika Hayes James, an associate professor of business administration at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business.

Sometimes, simple suggestions can do the trick. Nan Langowitz, the director of the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College, noticed that one of her male colleagues was always inviting male speakers to discuss finance issues. She offered to help him track down potential women guests for the next series of lectures, and he welcomed her ideas. "Women role models are out there," says Langowitz. "Educators just have to find them and bring them into the classroom."

Emulation is only part of the equation. Self-confidence is a necessity. "Women need to know that they can be women and still be incredibly successful," says Catherine Tinsley, associate professor of management at the Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. When Tinsley first launched her career, she thought she had to be gender-neutral in her behavior to succeed. When she realized what she was doing, she decided to liberate herself by recognizing her femininity.

MINORITY BENEFITS.  Women applicants to B-school need to see patterns in the lives of the other women who have come through the school's doors, says Erin Cochrane, regional director of development at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Students say they look to role models to get a sense of how they can navigate both school and the job search.

Meghan O'Meara, a second-year student at Olin, quickly noticed that being in the minority has its benefits. Women have a high level of support because they're fewer in number and therefore tend to stick together, she says. "I realized that as women, we have a built-in differentiator when marketing ourselves to recruiters," adds O'Meara. "Our opinions and thoughts are highly valued and sought out because they're often different from those of our male counterparts."

What most B-school administrators are recognizing is that they have to embrace the differences between the sexes and make women feel welcome. One way of doing this is by creating women-friendly venues. Linda Wells, the executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business is offering a course called "Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of Women," which lasts five days and features women from the venture-capital community. The idea is not only to showcase powerful women but also to help female entrepreneurs find each other.

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