The underrepresentation of women on boards and in other positions of responsibility is one that, arguably, begins at business school.
Historically, women students have always been in the minority on MBA programmes. According to Financial Times data, the average proportion of women on MBA courses in the current academic year among schools taking part in FT rankings is 31.6 per cent, down from 32.2 per cent in 2008.
However, the picture is beginning to change. At the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, for example, this year’s incoming class consists of 45 per cent women, compared with a 36 per cent female intake in 2009. At Stanford Graduate School of Business the number of women MBA students hovers at about 36 per cent, too.