MBA Programs for Mothers: A Growing Trend in Re-Entry Education

Strategic Insights -

Kathleen Harrington Clark, a photography gallery owner and Harvard Business School alumna, decided to return to the corporate world after taking time out of her career to raise her daughters. However, she needed to refresh her management skills and gain confidence before re-entering the workforce. To address this need, Harvard Business School launched a week-long program called New Path, designed for MBA mothers like Clark. The program combines online quantitative coursework with in-person training on finance, marketing, and career planning.

Key Takeaways:

  • The New Path program at Harvard Business School aims to refresh the management skills of female alumni who have taken time out of their careers. The program covers finance, marketing, and career planning, and is free to participants.
  • The program drew a strong response, with 18 participants, and is set to be repeated next year. Harvard is also considering opening it to alumni of other business schools.
  • Myra Hart, a professor of management practice at HBS, notes that the program is a confidence booster, allowing women to regain their skills and confidence.
  • Other schools, such as Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, are introducing similar programs to help both men and women ease back into the corporate world after time away.
  • The Tuck program, called Back in Business, will be an 11-day executive education program covering finance, marketing, and career planning, among other topics.
  • Universities like Pepperdine and Syracuse are also offering part-time or distance-learning MBA programs, such as the Morning MBA and iMBA programs.
  • These programs aim to help women update their skills, fill gaps in their curriculum vitae, and gain access to a career center.

Statistics:

  • 18 participants attended the New Path program at Harvard Business School
  • 11-day length of the Back in Business program at Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth)
  • 28-month duration of the Morning MBA program at Pepperdine University
  • 2002 - the year the US corporate governance law Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted

Sources:

  • "New Path" program at Harvard Business School (exact reference: "The week-long programme - which took place at Harvard earlier this year - was a mini-MBA intended to refresh the management skills of female alumni hoping to re-enter the professional job market after taking time out of their careers")
  • Myra Hart, professor of management practice at HBS (exact reference: "People who've been out of the workforce for any period of time have some erosion in their confidence and it's usually directly correlated with the amount of time they've been away")
  • Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (exact reference: "Women who leave (the working world) have trouble getting back because there's no standard recruiting process or direct channel")
  • Constance Helfat, executive director of the Back in Business program (exact reference: "This (course) provides a jumpstart to the route back in")
  • Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management (exact reference: "The most difficult position any woman can put herself in is to stay at home for more than a couple of years without a plan")
  • Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University (exact reference: "Women need to fight isolation with everything they've got")
  • New York University's Stern School (exact reference: "Women in Business Leadership" course)