At Simmons since August, Dean Cathy Minehan hopes to become part of the solution to equity disparity in gender representation in management by attracting more students to the women’s college, and particularly to its MBA program, the only one in the country designed exclusively for women. Enrollment in the Simmons MBA program has been rising slowly over the past few years, from 195 in 2005 to 207 this year. The program, which has been around since 1975, has survived because there is still a strong need to teach women how to get ahead in hard-nosed business environments dominated by men, Minehan says. Women account for more than half of entry-level professionals in the largest American industrial corporations, but only 14 percent of the seats on executive committees, according to research by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and the women’s advocacy group Catalyst Inc. The odds of advancement for men are about double what they are for women, McKinsey found.
