The GMAC Advisor Blog

Data and Insights to Enhance Your Diversity Recruitment Strategies

Written by GMAC Research | Feb 13, 2019 4:15:00 PM

Updated with the latest numbers, GMAC’s Key Diversity Statistics series provides your school with timely market intelligence to execute on your recruitment goals.

Growing the racial and ethnic diversity of applicant pools and incoming classes remains a top recruitment priority of many leading business schools in United States. According to GMAC’s annual Application Trends Survey, most US full-time MBA programs (57%) reported conducting special recruitment and outreach to increase the number of applications they receive from underrepresented populations (URPs), including US citizen GMAT examinees who identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and/or Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.

To help schools in their efforts, this week GMAC Research published a series of research briefs to inform their work. Compiling data from GMAT examinees and the mba.com Prospective Students Survey, the Key Diversity Statistics series includes four research briefs: one on URPs collectively and individual briefs on GMAT examinees who identify as Black or African American, Hispanic American or Latino, and Native American or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Each report has sections on:

  • Population and Geography – Includes market sizing, basic demographic statistics, and US region and metro area residential information
  • Work Experience – Includes details of candidates’ work experience at the time of their GMAT exam registration
  • Educational Attainment and Business Studies – Includes candidates’ undergraduate majors and GPA, GMAT exam score band, educational attainment, preferred program types, and study plans
  • Financing Plans – Includes survey data on how candidates plan to pay for business school
  • Connecting with URP Candidates – Includes survey data on candidates’ media habits, social media use, and key influencers
  • Demographic Profile – Includes a detailed table with relevant data collected from GMAT examinees

The research briefs are available now to professionals from GMAT-accepting schools. For additional insights on connecting with URP candidates, check out our recent white paper Unpacking the Appeal of For-Profit Graduate Business Programs to Underrepresented Populations, which examines the URP recruitment success of for-profit GME programs and what possible implications may be for nonprofit programs in their efforts to increase diversity in their applicant pools.