One MBA Woman’s Perspective: on doing the 1-year Ivey MBA

Guest writer: Rebecca Liu
Date: March 22nd, 2008

I feel fortunate to be a woman in this day and age. It was only a few decades ago that women excelling to management positions, let alone studying for an MBA, was considered rare. These days, the business community not only welcomes more women in the senior management ranks but even encourages it. The issue is whether enough of us women are willing or able to answer this call.

My class is perhaps somewhat unique. There is typically a 30% composition of women per cohort, yet mine started with 17%. Understandably, it’s a big commitment to step away for a year. There are women in our class who have husbands and children. I come from the dynamic world of IT consulting yet even I considered whether it was worthwhile to study in London, Ontario for a year. Yet I feel that this has been the best personal decision I’ve made in my life – at least so far! I would definitely encourage any woman who wants to understand management and/or get to senior management to do her MBA. Ideally, it would be after about 3-6 years of work experience, as this gives you enough work experience to fully grasp the concepts and enough to leverage the greatest impact in your career, and probably the best time for minimal disruption in your life. However I firmly believe there’s no time limit for when to invest in your own education.

Now the other question may be whether the high male to female ratio has hindered me while in the program. And my answer would be a resounding no. Being a woman has not stopped me from being elected to the Ivey MBA Association executive team as VP Internal. It hasn’t prevented me from participating in the activities that I truly wanted to be part of, such as the Ivey China Teaching Project or Community Consulting Project. There’s also a club for Women in Management, run by Ivey students. In the past, senior executive women have been asked to speak to us, including our own esteemed Dean Carol Stephenson. But keep in mind that there are times when there is only one woman in a team of 6. This could be reflective of what teams are like in the professional world as you start advancing in your career but it’s better for women to learn how to deal with these situations now. As a woman, the key is to leverage it as an invaluable learning opportunity within a safer environment than the professional world. You’d be surprised how much learning you can get out of it and even more rewarding, how much of a positive difference you can make.

I’m looking to take the greatest opportunities that life can offer me regardless of my gender. The rewards that I’ve gotten have far outweighed any challenges I’ve had to face in the program. These past 11 months have taught me to manage my time much more wisely. And it’s allowed me to reflect on who I really am, and what my greatest strengths and areas of improvement are. It has ultimately steered me into understanding what I truly want and need from both professional and personal standpoints. I’m confident that the Ivey MBA will enable me to more effectively seek and more quickly achieve all that I want.

Cheers,
Rebecca

P.S. Dean Carol Stephenson has written a wonderful article on how a diverse board that includes women has benefited organizations. Check this Ivey Business Journal article out at: http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article.asp?intArticle_ID=507