Diversity of backgrounds and perspectives adds to the business school classroom experience. In the words of Jindal School of Management professor Sheen S. Levine and David Stark of Columbia University in a December 2015 New York Times op-ed: “Diversity improves the way people think. By disrupting conformity, racial and ethnicity diversity prompts people to scrutinize facts, think more deeply and develop their own opinions.”
US business schools continue to work towards enhancing the level of diversity in their incoming classes through a variety of diversity recruitment initiatives. According to our annual Application Trends Survey, last year nearly 2 in 3 US full-time MBA programs (65%) conducted special recruitment and outreach to increase the number of applications they receive from underrepresented populations (URPs), including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans.
To help schools in their efforts, last week GMAC Research published a series of data briefs to inform their work. Compiling data from GMAT examinees and the mba.com Prospective Students Survey, the Key Diversity Statistics series includes four data briefs: one on URPs collectively and individual briefs on African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. 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 data briefs are available now to professionals from GMAT-accepting schools.
