In both the past and the present, the world of business has seemed like a boy’s club. But that’s not stopping the millions of women who are taking the reins of entrepreneurship.
The number of female-owned businesses in the U.S. has ballooned by 114 percent over the past two decades, as women increasingly demand freedom and flexibility from their professional lives.
Business schools are actively recruiting women in higher numbers than ever, and if you’re a female entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, there could be no better move for your career than earning an MBA of your own.
- You’ll gain the business knowledge you need to build a successful firm from the ground up.
- You’ll enjoy career growth and a higher salary.
- You’ll benefit from the professional network business school provides.
- And, last but not least, you’ll emerge from business school brimming with confidence.
1) Business Schools Accelerate Women’s Careers
There’s never been a better time to be a female entrepreneur.
Forbes reports that the nation’s 60 most successful self-made women are collectively worth $71 billion and that a record number of these women – 24, precisely – are billionaires.
We’re living in what some have called the golden age of female entrepreneurship, and more of these women have MBAs than do not.
Female business leaders who don’t have MBAs exist, but they’re mostly in the lifestyle industries – think Mary Kay Ash, Debbi Fields, and Rachel Ray.
Women who want to succeed in STEM-based industries largely earn MBAs. Women with MBAs have no shortage of job offers, even if they’re running their own companies.
They’re also likely to get hired for mid or senior-level positions in a range of industries.
2) Women Earn More Money After Business School
Women who graduated from full-time MBA programs in 2015 earned an average of $95,000 a year to start. Graduates of part-time MBAs in the same year earned about $75,000.
Graduates of online business certification programs earn an average of $56,000, and most allow students to earn credits toward the completion of a two-year MBA.
Of course, many female MBA graduates are shattering the pay gap by going into business for themselves and building companies that earn them six figures or more.
3) MBA’s Give Women Business Acumen
Going to business school is about more than just bringing home bigger paychecks. It’s also about the valuable skills you learn along the way – skills you’ll need to build and sustainably grow a successful business.
You’ll learn how to make a business plan, how to develop a minimum viable product and how to approach marketing, accounting, social media, negotiations and more.
Your MBA program will provide a proving ground where you can test and improve your business idea in an environment where failure won’t be catastrophic, so you can walk out of graduation with a viable plan for a strong company.
4) Business School Builds Support Networks
A substantial network of professional contacts is vital for any female entrepreneur who wants to succeed, and business school will give you that network.
This is especially true if, like many women, you choose an online MBA program because these programs tend to attract adult students with full-time jobs and years of business experience.
You’ll be able to brainstorm, plan and work on solutions to your business problems with a virtual room full of other experienced business pros.
Once you graduate, you’ll have a network of former classmates, alumni, professors, and mentors to call upon for advice, help, job candidates or anything else you might need.
5) Business School Helps Women Close The Confidence Gap
Many female entrepreneurs go into business for themselves because they’re fed up with the corporate grind. They want to break the glass ceiling, overcome the pay gap and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
But while they’re forging a network, hammering out a business plan and learning strategies and skills, they also pick up something a little less tangible – confidence.
Research shows that women in the workplace are often less confident than men and that the so-called “confidence gap” holds women back professionally.
Here are 5 Ways To Boost Your Self-Confidence.
Business school closes that confidence gap, giving women a greater sense of credibility and self-assuredness that can help them pull ahead professionally and feel more career satisfaction long-term.
That sense of confidence can be just as important for female entrepreneurs as any amount of hard business skill.
Do you want to become a successful, self-made woman?
The right education can get you there.
Earn your MBA, and find out for yourself where a business school education can take you.