Source: Wall Street Journal
By Lindsay Gellman
2:08 pm ET Apr 6, 2015
The school is set this week to roll out a new recruiting program, dubbed PEEK, which targets students at women-only colleges, said Dee Leopold, the school’s head of M.B.A. admissions and financial aid. HBS will host about 70 to 80 rising juniors, rising seniors and fresh graduates from women’s colleges in June for a weekend of case studies, presentations and discussions designed to familiarize students with the M.B.A. program “at a time when they’re making decisions about next steps,” Leopold said. The average incoming HBS student is age 27 and has about four years of work experience, according to the school.
Business schools are taking steps to shore up the pipeline of qualified women candidates into their M.B.A. programs. The M.B.A. is “a misunderstood degree,” Leopold said. Students think “that must mean you want to go work in a bank forever and sit in a cubicle and wear a suit,” she said. The program aims to broaden students’ picture of what an M.B.A. can lead to, she said.
Graduates of women-only colleges make attractive M.B.A. candidates because they have opted into an educational environment where women naturally hold campus leadership positions, Leopold said.
“It’s the construct of a women’s college we’re finding intriguing,” Leopold said. Students at these schools “have been leaders on their campuses,” she said.
HBS staff will visit Wellesley College and Barnard College this week to drum up interest for the program, Leopold said, though it will also be open to students from other women’s colleges.
Leopold added that attendance at Peek won’t necessarily give candidates an edge come M.B.A. application time.
“The advantage will be to the candidate in terms of understanding what b-school is about,” she said. “We will notice that [attendees] have done their due diligence, but by no means do we want to anoint this as a credential.”
There will be a basic application form for the program available online and due May 15, Leopold said. The weekend costs $500, she said, and need-based aid will be available.
