Women across the western world have achieved a revolutionary success in the last 40 years. According to a recent article from the Financial Times the proportion of women with paid jobs across the western world has risen from 48 per cent to 64 per cent since 1970. This has given a massive boost to the economy and changed women’s lifestyle and thinking. However, there are still income gaps and the boards of big companies are widely deserted from female executives. A lot could be gained from achieving these last steps of equality. It is time to call for action – something that some of Europe’s leading business schools have done now. Amongst them is the University of St. Gallen. MBA Channel has spoken to Prof. Dr. Simon Evenett, the Academic Director of the St Gallen MBA programme, about the ideas behind the initiative.

A recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) found that the wage gap between men and women is smaller among MBA graduates than it is among the general U.S. population. Female graduates of full-time MBA programmes received starting salaries equivalent to 85 per cent of the earnings of their male counterparts. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the average percentage in the U.S. workforce is as low as 77 per cent.

Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business was the big winner of this year’s FT ranking. The American business school moved up to first place – an absolute first in the 14 years that The Financial Times has ranked full-time MBA programmes. Stanford leads the ranking followed by Harvard Business School, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and London Business School, which had both tied for first last year. Columbia Business School made it to fifth place this year.

Western Australia is home to only 2.4 million people, a bit more than a tenth of Australia’s population, but the state accounts for almost half of the country’s exports. While Western Australia’s economy and job market are expanding, the population growth can’t keep up and skill shortage has reached record levels.

Amidst renewed talks of a financial crisis, employees all over the world are more reluctant to give up their positions and go back to school for one or two years. This might be one of the reasons why the Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) is so successful these days.

A new survey by Training The Street (TTS), a corporate training provider, found that MBA graduates needed more hands-on training to prepare themselves for Wall Street careers. The training company conducted its analysis amongst a training class of incoming associates at a global investment bank.

Fear of another financial crisis has caused a slowdown for enrolments at Indian business schools. The impact has been relatively low in the top institutes, but a majority of the approximately 4,000 schools in India are facing a shortage of students. In some cases, they have lost up to 50 per cent of their students according to IIM Calcutta director Shekhar Chaudhuri.

Germany’s „Mittelstand“ – a term that stands for smaller and medium sized companies – are in desperate need of skilled workers and executive staff. Estimates show that the “Mittelstand”-sector could add about 33 billion Euro (43 billion US dollars) to its revenues by recruiting sufficient qualified personnel.

The Ross school of Business at the University of Michigan takes its executive MBA programme to Los Angeles. The programme is a once-a-month format.  Applications will be accepted in January, with the first course starting in August 2012. A key feature of the programme is the so called ExecMAP where students work in teams to conduct high-level strategic projects. These cover a variety of industries and company sizes from multinationals to start-ups. The course enables students to get to know different industries, gain overseas experience, or get inside an entrepreneurial venture.

More and more business schools are embracing sustainability. This is the positive finding of a study published by the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, part of Nottingham University Business School. The Centre conducted the analysis on the integration of sustainability in business schools amongst the first 100 schools that have signed the UN initiative „Principles for Responsible Management Education“.

Public relations has not been the focus of most MBA programmes. Usually most programmes touch the topic briefly, mostly in the way of teaching writing and communication skills. This might change in the near future as new research reveals gaps in MBA hires in this particular area.

Why study for an MBA? Which school to choose? And by which criteria? There is no one better qualified to answer these questions than the programme directors of business schools who observe the industry, its trends and its relative competitive advantages. Therefore the English national daily newspaper “The Independent” and Audencia Nantes School of Management in France asked the heads of 58 business schools in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, but not the United States for their opinion. The data such collected challenges some of the accepted facts concerning the Master of Business Administration.

“The Financial Times” ranks the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad as the highest placed newcomer in its 2011 global ranking. That is due to impressive salaries for alumni and due to an extensive international network with other prestigious schools like Stern, Booth, WHU, Essec and HEC. MBA Channel spoke with IIMA’s director Professor Samir K. Barua about the school’s image to be one of the toughest business schools to get into and the relative value of international accreditations.

Lorraine Lucas is Business Engagement Manager – Careers, Alumni & External Relations at Bradford University School of Management. She supports MBA students in career planning before, during and after their studies. For MBA Channel she put together her five most important pieces of advice for MBA students.

Each prestigious business school claims to look for its own specific type of candidate. Yet, ironically enough each year there seem to be some applicants who manage to get into all of the top programs. Does that mean they have all the required traits of all those schools? Probably not. They simply understand the emphasis that each school places on specific traits and then highlight the desired criteria in their application.  After all, success means a proper fit with the desired school. But how do individual applicants prove their fit convincingly to their school of choice?

Gaining experience, finding the right industry, developing skill sets and meeting the right people that might offer you a job after graduation – all this could eventuate from the right internship. A recent survey of graduates and employers by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) confirmed how important internships are for MBA students. 42 per cent of MBA and specialized master’s graduates said they gained work experience while at business school. Those who did an internship were 26 per cent more likely to have a job offer upon graduation compared to their classmates without the same experience. The survey also showed that the success rate of interns getting a job offer after graduation was especially high in the consulting and the high tech sector (70 per cent).