In fall 2009, 52.8 percent of all students enrolled at Penn were women. This slight female majority doesn’t make Penn the exception. In fact, not only are women in the slight majority at universities, they also now constitute over 50 percent of the U.S. workforce.
But a recent study by Bain and Company reports that relatively few women are awarded leadership positions at large companies. With only 3 percent of female CEO’s at Fortune 500 companies and the fact that a majority of stay-at-home parents are female, students might wonder whether time and money invested in higher education is misspent for some women.
However, we caution Penn women from becoming discouraged by this study. Many women pursue more flexible careers, like opting to become entrepreneurs. Women also may drop to part-time over the course of their career. It would be misguided to assume that the majority of women who receive college degrees do not use them to their full potential when they choose not to pursue senior positions in the workforce, which are often only awarded to employees who follow a more traditional career path. A college degree affords women more options, and women who choose lifestyles with better work-life balance over high-ranking executive positions are making as good of a return on their educational investment as any CEO.
