Though colleges across the nation have seen an increase in overall female enrollment in recent years, most business schools still tend to be heavily male-dominated.

Statistics from the Ithaca College School of Business reported that of the nearly 700 students currently enrolled in business administration majors, only 32 percent are women.

Susan Engelkemeyer, dean of the School of Business, said these are not uncommon numbers.

“It is a national phenomenon that roughly a third of business school students are women nationwide,” she said.

The business school faculty also mirrors the national trend. As of fall 2008 the dean’s office reported that 32 percent of the School of Business’ full-time faculty members are female.

To Engelkemeyer the statistics are not surprising. She said these proportions have existed for as long as she can remember.

“There is still a notion that it is a more competitive, cut-throat type of environment,” she said.

Susan Rosenthal, associate professor of management at the School of Business, said to understand the lack of female business majors, one needs to look no further than the faces of the Fortune 500 companies. According to www.CNN.com, only 12 of the top 500 companies had female CEOs in 2008.

“The glass ceiling is still there,” Rosenthal said. “It may not be as bad as it once was but it is still there.”

Senior Jen Kirby, a business administration major with a concentration in marketing and management, said though her male-dominated major was a little intimidating in the beginning, she quickly got used to it.

“It is kind of good in a way because going into a business career, it is probably going to be more male-dominated,” Kirby said.

One way the business school is trying to encourage female students is through the Women in Business Network.

Founded in the fall of 2007, the student-run organization emphasizes the importance of women in business through lectures, networking and mentoring

opportunities. Recent events include a workshop on balancing careers and families as well as an introductory golf lesson at Hickory Hollow Range.

“It is a skill that is used a lot in business. A lot of deals are done on the golf course,” Kirby said.

Upcoming events include workshops on how to dress business-professional and on how to negotiate, the latter hosted by Engelkemeyer on Feb. 25.

“In my experience women are not quite as effective as men at negotiating, for example, first job’s salaries,” Engelkemeyer said.

The group’s most anticipated event is the annual networking dinner to be held April 3, where 12 professional businesswomen are invited to dine and speak with members.

“We try to get women from all areas including finance, accounting, marketing, banking and human resource management, so there is someone in the field that each of our members are interested in,” Kirby said.

She said listening to successful businesswomen encourages women that they can be successful in the field as well.

“We want to show women that there are opportunities, and the fact that we have a female dean and female faculty shows them that they can do this,” Rosenthal said.

Business classes open to non-business majors have seen an increase in female enrollment. The School of Business reported 45 percent of students enrolled in Introduction to Business in spring  2007 were female.

“Roughly half of the students I have every semester are business school students, and the rest are from all over the place,” Rosenthal said.

Of all the business concentrations, Finance and Corporate Accounting typically see the lowest numbers of female enrollment.

“When Enron collapsed, women in particular said, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with that,’” Rosenthal said.

The only concentration women trump men is in international business, in which 55 percent of total membership is female. She said this might be attributed to preference.

“It might be that women are more relationship- and people-oriented and want to explore international issues or do business overseas,” she said.

Because enrollment in this concentration is lower, the numbers should be looked at carefully, Kirby said.

In these uncertain economic times, accounting majors are seeing more demand than ever.

“With accounting we could probably place all of our good students in jobs three times over,” Engelkemeyer said.

She said there is a misperception of what accounting is and many students think it only involves sitting in a cubicle all day, crunching numbers.

“Everybody needs to know something about stocks and bonds, investments, personal finance, financial accounting and know how to read an income statement and a balance sheet,” Engelkemeyer said.

As graduation approaches, Kirby said she is happy with her choice of major.

“I thought going into business would open more doors for me,” Kirby said. “You can get into virtually any career path by having a business degree.”

To get involved with the Women in Business Network, e-mail
womeninbusiness@ithaca.edu.