Balancing Life While On the Quest for Perfection

In my first few years in student affairs work as an academic and career counselor, the thought of gender differences in higher education never crossed my mind.  Now fast forward six years later as I enter the home stretch of a PhD program and a dissertation topic on gender differences in enrollment in graduate business programs, I have a greater appreciation of the existence of gender differences. 

My evolution of awareness kicked into high gear when I attended a Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership conference and the main theme of the conference was balancing personal life with work responsibilities.  I remember being frustrated as the panel spoke about how they balanced children with work responsibilities.  Being someone who does not have children nor plans on having children; my own bias clouded my judgement leading me to thinking “well that was their choice to have kids and they just have to figure it out…”  Sounds harsh and judgmental, as it was and my naive brain allowed me to go down that route.  As I reflect on that bias and train of thought, I realize I needed to look at this issue from a different angle.  Why are women such as those on the panel at the conference constantly worried about how they will balance their home life with work life?  Do men have these same thoughts? 

Recently I listened to Deborah Spar, President of Barnard College and author of Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection. Her words just floored me and resonated greatly.  Great strides have been made in regards to women grabbing a piece of that equality pie with men but have all of those previous “roles” ever gone away as more and more is expected of women?  Female leadership is increasing in Chancellor, Provost, Vice President roles and at the same time women are still expected to and holding on to the roles of lead parent, homemaker, wife, and everything else.  So while we are climbing the corporate ladder, women are also carrying the weight of those responsibilities while they climb.

While the increase in female leadership seems to be a welcome evolution, it is still seems divided by discipline in higher education. My personal experience is within the world of business education and is what motivated me research a topic like gender differences in graduate student enrollment in business.  Overall women have generally been earning more degrees than men since 2000 according to the National Center for Education Statistics.  The academic discipline the degree is in may also determine who is more likely to earn such a degree. Business is considered a social science which is a discipline area that the majority of degree earners are female; yet, business still remains a male majority of degree earners.  Good news is this gap is slowly lessening as more females are earning business degrees.  According to a survey by Forte Foundation, the percentage of women enrolled full-time in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the top business schools increased to 36 percent in 2015. 

The fact that female enrollment is increasing in business schools is encouraging; however, that must also be taken in context.  The percentage reported was for full-time enrollment, it is not reporting part-time enrollment or enrollment in online or hybrid MBA programs.  The MBA programs with the largest percentage of women in their applicant pool were flexible on-campus MBA’s with 43 percent, online MBA’s with 38 percent and part-time MBA’s with 41 percent.  So why are female enrollments in full-time MBA programs lagging behind the more flexible or online programs?  Think back to Deborah Spar’s thoughts…while women are moving up the career ladder they are still juggling all of those expected roles women have had over time.  Can women juggle all of these roles and be enrolled in a full-time MBA program? Are such expected roles causing women to compromise their education goals and career goals? 

This does not mean every person needs to be enrolled full-time in a MBA program who wants to earn the best MBA.  The College of Business I work at has one the leading MBA programs online and many students earn a high quality degree through our online program.  But it goes back to, do men have to consider all of their roles outside of work in making decisions on where to enroll for an MBA?  Or is it just the considerations females must go through?

As a female and a lone female administrator in a business school I now feel and see the gender differences that occur in higher education.  When I review the enrollment reports and notice the gender differences in specific business disciplines and overall, it drives me to look at women in higher education and how I can support opportunities for females to understand how historical roles are often driving decision making.  What we must keep in mind is our quest is personal and while the expectation is for women to take on every social norm role that has historically been imposed (housewife, homemaker, mother, etc…) while also taking on every new social norm role (CEO, leader, chancellor, etc..) and do this all while being perfect, it is our best interest to be imperfect. By understanding a personal path and quest, women can understand what roles they want to continue with and work to discontinue a role or lessen a role they that is limiting their quest towards the goal ahead.  That becomes the true balance of personal and work and can assist in the ultimate quest for power, one’s own power to lead her life as best fit for her.

Stephanie Douglas serves as Assistant Dean at the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater College of Business and Economics.