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Diversity in the workforce is crucial for fostering innovation, driving business success, and addressing complex global challenges. As business schools play a critical role in shaping future leaders, enrolling diverse students in MBA programs could result in more diverse leaders. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2023 to ban affirmative action in college admissions presents challenges for MBA programs striving to enroll diverse students, though.
This qualitative instrumental case study explored how graduate business admissions offices are responding to these challenges. It examined the extent that admissions offices considered diversity when evaluating their graduate enrollment management (GEM) processes, the changes institutions have made to increase the diversity of their enrolled students, and the opportunities and challenges they see as they look ahead at their strategic plans.
Participants were graduate enrollment management decision-makers for fulltime MBA programs. Data were collected through a questionnaire (n = 89) and semistructured interviews (n = 8). Results suggest that while diversity is important, it is not the most important consideration GEM leaders have when setting their strategies. Results also suggest that GEM leaders are focusing on hyper-personalization, marketing and outreach strategies, and funding opportunities to recruit and enroll diverse students into their MBA programs. Opportunities include building coalitions, utilizing internal support systems, and strengthening external partnerships. Challenges include external regulations, financial pressures, institution location or reputation, competition, lack of data, and internal resistance.
The findings suggest that in the short-term institutions should focus on marketing and recruitment, reducing application barriers, implementing holistic review, increase scholarships, implement pre-orientation events and programming, and establish mentorship programs. In the long term, institutions should focus on appointing a person to be a leader of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, be intentional when hiring staff, regularly assess their strategies, and persist. This research contributes to the broader conversation on equity in graduate education, offering insights for admissions leaders navigating policy changes while upholding commitments to diversity.