Gender diversity has been a major concern for both b-schools and corporates alike, with industries demanding a more diverse work-force and capitalizing on the potential of female workers. The InsideIIM Gender Diversity Reports address this concern and portray the on-ground gender statistics in India's premier b-schools.
Highlights of the report -
- When it comes to IIMs, IIM Indore, IIM Trichy and IIM Rohtak come out on top as the most gender-diverse b-schools. On the other end of the spectrum, IIMs Sirmaur and Sambalpur suffer from the least gender-diverse batches in 2018.
- FMS has seen a colossal 110% increase in the number of female candidates for their MBA batch, therefore setting a benchmark for other management institutes.
- SDA Bocconi Asia Center and IIM Trichy have 1:1 gender ratio. MICA has a higher percentage of women in its batch; no other b-school has been able to achieve this feat.
- As compared to previous year's data, SJMSoM has seen the biggest drop in the percentage of women who are a part of their Master of Management programme, seeing a drop of close to 30 percentage points.
- While for the batch of 2017-2019, KJ Somaiya was leading the pack as one of the most gender-diverse b-schools, it has fallen behind a significant number of its counterparts for the Class of 2020.
2017 was marked as the year of the highest recorded women applicants for CAT in the last 5 years. Even though there is a growth in the number of women who are now pursuing higher studies, there isn't much representation seen in the corporate framework. More so, even business schools are yet to see a balanced gender ratio.
In this report, we study the data from the top b-schools in the country to understand why some may have a higher gender ratio than the others. Over the years b-schools have understood the importance of inter-gender interactions and have welcomed applications from women candidates. While we may see some of the top b-schools having a disheartening gender ratio, it is important to understand how the other schools have managed to maintain a healthy ratio.
Let us look at data for the Class of 2020. This report looks at 34 b-schools that have shared data with us. (If your b-school has a higher ratio but still hasn’t featured in this list, it is not because we don’t like your school, it is because the data wasn’t shared with us. Please feel free to send your batch’s details (total number of students and the total number of women in the class of 2020) to nidhi.malkan@insideiim.com.
*ISB is a one year program. 301 women to enter corporate India in 2019 from ISB.
Let’s also take a look at the top b-schools with the highest percentage of women from last year and compare the chart of this year’s top b-schools with the highest percentage of women.
After analyzing the data from over 34 schools, it is safe to say that size does matter. It is tougher to maintain a good gender ratio with a batch of 500+ students as opposed to having a batch of 75 or even 150 students.
However, a lot has changed over the last 5 years. More women are registering for CAT and are competitive about getting into the tier-1 schools. A slightly liberal admission criterion has also worked positively in ensuring a more gender-diverse batch in some of India’s top schools.
Gender Diversity Ratio at B-Schools with a batch of more than 300 Students – Class of 2020*
| Business School | Program | Batch Size | Total Number of Women | Third Gender | % of Women |
| IIM Indore | PGP+IPM (students entering final two years of IPM) | 624 | 233 | 0 | 37.34% |
| NMIMS Mumbai | SBM | 630 | 215 | 0 | 34.13% |
| ISB (Hyderabad + Mohali) |
PGP | 887 | 301 | 0 | 34.00% |
| MDI-Gurgaon | PGPM+PGP-HRM+PGPIM | 359 | 115 | 0 | 32.03% |
| XIMB | BM | 364 | 115 | 0 | 31.59% |
| IIM Lucknow | PGP | 430 | 135 | 0 | 31.40% |
| XLRI | BM+HR | 364 | 113 | 0 | 31.04% |
| KJ Somaiya | Core+IB+RM+FS+Comm+HS | 380 | 117 | 0 | 30.79% |
| IIM Bangalore | PGP | 430 | 121 | 0 | 28.14% |
| IIM Calcutta | PGP | 462 | 123 | 0 | 26.62% |
| IIM Kozhikode | PGP | 422 | 101 | 0 | 23.93% |
| IMT-Ghaziabad | PGDM | 500 | 90 | 0 | 18.00% |
Note - In the initial version of this report, IIM Calcutta's percentage of women was 43.29% (200 women), but the institute has changed that figure to 123 women (26.62%) women on 12th September 2018.
ISB (when taken account of both the Hyderabad and Mohali campus) will send the most amount of women managers to the industry in 2019. It is followed by last years champions - IIM Indore and NMIMS Mumbai.
However, if the ratio and its percentage are to be considered, IIM Indore steals the thunder, with close to 40% of the PGP students being female. There are 233 females students in a batch of 624. This is also a result of extra marks being allocated to female applicants. However, as compared to last year, there has been a drop in IIM Indore’s percentage of women from a consistent 40% to 37.34%.
We are reporting ISB’s stats for the first time and while it may not rank the highest according to the gender ratio of the batch, it will send out the most number of female managers in 2019. In a batch of 887 students, 301 are female, which accounts for 34%.
XLRI seems to have its numbers gradually rising up from 27% to 31.04%, while IMT Ghaziabad has seen a downfall from its usual 30%+ to a meagre 18% this year.
It is also worth noting that NMIMS Mumbai with a batch of almost 700 students has managed to keep the percentage of women on campus above 30%. NMIMS will send 215 women to Corporate India in 2020. This is despite the fact that they do not award any additional points for female applicants. This could be because the cutoff for NMAT is quite reasonable and NMIMS puts a decent weight on Academics, Personal Interview, and Case Discussions.
Also to be noted is that, in a major step to improve the gender ratio, IIM Kozhikode has announced 60 seats for female candidates for the PGP batch of 2019-2021.
Gender Diversity Ratio at Top B-Schools with a batch of 300 Students or less, but more than 150 – Class of 2020
Business School |
Program |
Batch Size |
Total Number of Women |
Third Gender |
% of Women |
MICA |
PGDMC |
180 |
96 |
0 |
53.33% |
IIM Tiruchirappalli |
PGPM |
183 |
92 |
0 |
50.00% |
IIM Rohtak |
PGP |
241 |
118 |
1 |
48.96% |
XUB |
XAHR + XSRM + XSC - MBF + XSoS + XUMG |
300 |
144 |
0 |
48.00% |
IIFT Delhi |
MBA-IB |
173 |
75 |
0 |
43.35% |
SIBM Bengaluru |
MBA |
202 |
85 |
0 |
42.08% |
IIM Shillong |
PGP |
180 |
75 |
0 |
41.67% |
IIM Ranchi |
PGDM+PGDHRM |
255 |
104 |
0 |
40.78% |
SPJIMR |
PGDM |
238 |
92 |
0 |
38.66% |
FMS Delhi |
MBA |
231 |
88 |
0 |
38.10% |
IFMR |
MBA |
187 |
66 |
0 |
35.29% |
IIM Udaipur |
PGP |
265 |
65 |
0 |
24.53% |
IIM Raipur |
PGP |
209 |
42 |
0 |
20.10% |
IIFT Kolkata |
MBA-IB |
153 |
29 |
0 |
18.95% |
NITIE |
PGDIM |
241 |
32 |
0 |
13.28% |
MICA maintains its position as the most gender-diverse b-school with 53.33% women in its 2020 batch. There have been years where the number of women has been more than the number of men.
IIM Trichy, IIM Rohtak, and XUB follow close with 50%, 48.96% and 48% women in its most recent batch respectively. Founded in 2009, IIM Rohtak and IIM Trichy are the more recent IIMs but have been garnering attention with 100% placements from top recruiters. It also gives points to its female applicants. XUB’s total strength inclusive of all their courses offered is 300, of which 144 students are female.
Unlike the previous year, IIM Rohtak, IIM Shillong, and IIM Trichy have good gender ratios.
SPJIMR shows a small drop in its gender diversity ratio. Last year SPJIMR’s gender ratio was 41.23% and it has come down to 38.66%. It is a private b-school which gives a lot of weight on the profile of a person while selecting candidates and has always appreciated a good gender ratio.
The other standout b-schools are IIFT-Delhi, SIBM Bengaluru, IIM Ranchi and FMS. These schools have a good gender ratio, especially when compared with other b-schools with larger batch sizes. It is also interesting to note that FMS has seen a 110% increase in the intake of female students for the full-time MBA program since last year. This significant change has been credited to the change in the selection criteria - the weightage for CAT score was reduced from 85% to 60%, additional 10% weightage to 10th and 12th grades, and an introduction of the GD round.
IIFT Kolkata, IIM Udaipur, IIM Raipur, and NITIE are at the lower end of the charts and need to work on their gender ratio numbers.
Gender Diversity Ratio at Top B-Schools with a batch of less than 150 – Class of 2020
Business School |
Program |
Batch Size |
Total Number of Women |
Third Gender |
% of Women |
SDA Bocconi Asia Center |
IMB |
116 |
58 |
0 |
50.00% |
TISS Mumbai |
MA HR |
62 |
22 |
0 |
35.48% |
IIM Jammu |
PGP |
65 |
14 |
0 |
21.54% |
SJMSoM Mumbai |
MMP |
115 |
20 |
0 |
17.39% |
IIM Visakhapatnam |
PGP |
105 |
18 |
0 |
17.14% |
JBIMS Mumbai |
MMS |
137 |
17 |
0 |
12.41% |
IIM Sirmaur |
PGP |
99 |
1 |
0 |
1.01% |
IIM Sambalpur |
PGP |
97 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
SDA Bocconi has seen an increase in the number of female applicants, so much so that there are more female students than male. Their Women in Leadership Scholarship could be one of the major reasons for such a healthy gender diversity ratio.
SJMSoM has seen a massive drop from their last year’s numbers. As compared to last year’s 46.02% of female students, SJMSoM has now a weak display of 17.39% female students.
IIM Sirmaur finds itself in the same spot as 2016. Even though 2017 fetched a decent amount of female students for IIM Sirmaur, the b-school seems to be back to only 1 female student in a batch of 99 students.
IIM Sambalpur is part of the 3rd generations of IIMs that started in 2015. It fairs rather poorly in comparison to its sister-IIMs - IIM Jammu and IIM Visakhapatnam.
Schools with less than 150 students in a batch ought to have a better gender diversity ratio since it should be easier to ensure a lower absolute number of women who take admission.
Note: The data for IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode and NMIMS is unverified.
Author's Note -
Times are changing. Back in the day, gender diversity meant having an equal pool of male and female participants. All the institutes, led by the IIMs started allocating weight points to women participants to balance the gender ratio.
The ratio of women in the top b-schools gradually increased, and the mission to make it an equilibrium pool still continues.
In the year 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the third gender with the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill. All top government institutions made room for another checkbox in their forms. In the very first year after the ruling, 80 participants registered for CAT under the transgender category. The top b-schools started allotting weight points for students of the third gender and prepared to welcome students on board. We are still to see a growth in the number of third gender students in top b-schools and even more, their placement in top corporate firms of the country.
(If your b-school has a higher ratio but still hasn’t featured in this list, it is possible that the data wasn’t shared with us)
In case you want your b-school to be featured on this list, please send the required stats to Nidhi at nidhi.malkan@insideiim.com
*This article was edited on 7th September 2018 at 16:30 pm.
Chat
Comments
Kunal
Kozhikode - How does an NPV analysis benefit us here. That the NPV is positive over a lifetime is no justification of a high fee. Look into any education system in the world and into any discipline the lifetime NPV is bound to be positive. Infact even if the fees were 1 crore the NPV would still be positive. Does it mean the fees could be hiked to 1 crore? I firmly believe that cost should be the firm driver behind fees. If the IIMs believe that they need to charge higher because they think it will help them pay their faculty more and retai top professors then bingo - go for it. But we really need to see if this is happening. I don't think it is happening. I understand that higher fees has given the IIMs more autonomy as govt subsidy has come down but people ( and by people I don't mean the participants here) should really file an RTI and find out the expenditure and then how much revenue is being obtained out of the fees. I still feel the IIMs could lower the fees by 20% - an personal opinion though given that i have read one RTi filed which came an IIM some headroom for reduction. Thanks, Kunal
5 Aug 2012, 01.36 PM
Rohit Kumar
By making an argument only looking at ROI, the team from IIM Kozhikode has taken a very myopic view. Comparing ROI vis-a-vis Schools like Harvard etc. is not a great comparison because there is a lot more that BSchools like Harvard and Stanford offer in terms of quality of faculty, network, long term brand value etc. I am sorry IIM Kozhikode you are on your way out. I'll be shocked if you qualify with this argument. Also, we havent seen your counterpunch yet!
5 Aug 2012, 02.03 PM
Amit
Against-One of the major flaw of the analysis is they are determining individual returns, not totally wrong but is not it against the over all economic effect. We need to see what value addition these courses do and how they contribute to the economy as a whole, an angle totally overlooked. We do compare with foreign B-schools but do not see the way the education is financed, many a times they are government sponsored and many a times company sponsored, the reason being they look for value addition to the company in particular and the economy in general. But in India its mostly guided by individual ambition, so the comparison does not really make sense. On the other hand, if we consider the executive MBAs they are more costly, owing to the fact that they make more sense in the value addition to the economy. Probably by charging more the intention is to give better quality facilities to aid the value addition process, which is the service a B-school provides.
5 Aug 2012, 02.06 PM
Obu
Against : I am making a little radical suggestions but these points are valid I guess....I question the entire concept of Indian B Schools...They are more like placement agencies...remove placements from the Program and ask the students to fight it in the open job market..!! And see how much students would be wiling to pay for the flagship program. And if the courses are market priced and if students can choose and pay lets say from 100 courses offered in IIM's,how much would they be willing to pay? The point I am trying to make is students are forced to pay and its not a democratic process where students determine the value of the course he/she is taking. Comparing median salaries I don't think is appropriate for the guy with lowest salary still pays the same amount of fees. Making a quantitative return calculation I think is as people said myopic to determine the fees.Also for such a person if ROI is considered, its negative. He forgoes two years of salary, burdened with 7 years of loan and after EMI will definitely be getting lesser than if he had continued with his earlier job. So MBA from India is not for short term gain at all.For a few, the returns are huge, but not for all for at-least a decade.
5 Aug 2012, 03.07 PM
Saurabh
As a former IIM Kozhikode Placements Committee member, I have to say the assumptions taken here are simplistic to the extreme... With such an exponential increase in batch sizes and no. of IIMs themselves, an average salary of 12 Lakhs(not even getting into the in hand components here) for the thousand or so IIM(and XL, FMS, ISB) grads passing out each year in the current job market is big assumption... taking into account the rising course fee....which a few years back was not even half of current levels(the salaries haven't doubled since those days)...a student taking an education loan even getting the 12L salary is not at a better lifestyle level compared to his/her pre mba days...someone with an education loan might be paying around 30k+ just for the loan which will last for years... In simplistic terms...just compare the no. of IIMs, the no. of students in each IIM(and XLRI, FMS etc.) the course fee and the salary levels year on year from 2007 onwards and you can notice there is no rise in salary levels to compensate for the other factors... My assumptions might be wrong since its been a few years since I passed out and the placement scenario might be back to as good as in PGP10 days..
5 Aug 2012, 03.10 PM
gaurav
An NPV analysis does not work right because if u look at he cost of living in a city like Mumbai where it is impossible to own a house except somewhere far in the suburbs. You need to look at the NPV in times of high inflation today..!!
6 Aug 2012, 12.32 AM
1yrmbaprograminindia
A lot of B schools offer only one year MBA programs. Almost all the European MBA programs are one year programs. These programs are designed for people with work-experience, and hence, are compact programs. Often, they do not have the mandatory industry internship. Since these programs have traditionally been one year programs, the curriculum is designed accordingly. As a result, students gain complete benefit out of the program including placement opportunities. Some of the top European B schools which offer only one-year MBA programs areOxford, Cambidge, IE, IESE, INSEAD, etc.
7 Aug 2012, 01.15 PM
Gaurav
To be precise, the arguments (& counter-arguments) presented by both the sides is at best juvenile with regards to the pedigree of the institutions. These are some glaring flaws: 1. Surprisingly, nobody pointed out the obvious flaw in the NPV analysis. One needs to consider only "incremental gains" due to an MBA degree & not the entire 12L i.e.. a graduate without a B-school degree isn't going to earn Rs. 0/year Many Graduates reach similar packages (with IIMs) with 2 yrs work experience. (Again these are not any graduates but those worthy of being in IIMs) 2. B-school degree costs tuition fee + opportunity costs of 2 years labor + psychological costs for studying - benefits of Fun.... 3. The returns are: Salary + positive externalities to economy (subsidized by Govt.) + returns due to enhanced macro-economic outlook (which leads to promotion to senior mgmt.) + personal growth (personality/ self-esteem/ better marriage prospects? if you will) So yes, stamping an NPV tag on an MBA degree is not such a meek task. 4. The comparison with foreign B-schools & median salary figures is disappointing. Its like comparing 2nd rate B-schools with IIMs. 5. we also have to keep in mind that the costs for MBA’s abroad are generally 3-10 times higher than those in India ??? Even by their naive "Ratio" arguments, none of the ratios are even twice. What about PPP? If we use WHO-2010 figures 1$ = Rs.20 @PPP. That would put their MBA costs in perspective. (Infact, the salaries of developing countries are fast-approaching their developed counterparts in accordance to the "theory of convergence" of connected economies) 6.. All said, the counter-arguments by IIM-Indore are juvenile. The contempt & haughtiness, which is easily palpable in their statements, are not those suiting an MBA grad of any lineage. 7. Instead of countering the mathematical arguments by delineating the flaws in the NPV analysis, IIM-Indore chose to resort to tactics of intimidation by calling the opponents arguments "laughable, ridiculous & harking upon". (There's a difference between a GD and a written debate) 8. The only valid point in IIM-Indore's argument was regarding the foreign B-school comparison. The rest of the counter-argument is based on disparaging the opponent's argument without elaborating on their own thoughts. Also, MBA from abroad becomes more affordable due to the 20-year (under 5% interest) payback period. 9. NO. The executive-PGP program from any B-school (even IIM-A) doesn't carry as much weight as the corresponding PGP program + 4 years work exp. Care to speak to any e-PGP programmer & you'd know. 10. By this judgment, it is obvious that if the cost of the flagship programme were made lesser, they would derive even more value from it ??? How can price-reduction in isolation enhance value? Value remains constant. Net benefit increases. 11. The counter-argument doesn't present a "broad-picture" (as claimed) at all. The envy of Facebook packages at NIT/IITs & regret of PGP program is evident in the counter-argument. Now you should ask me, "what's my stand?" It's simple: 1. Taking the macro-economic view in mind, these MBA degrees are highly over-priced considering the incremental value the nation would derive by enhancing indigenous skill-sets. Greater managerial talent (along with general Human resource talent) assists private & public policies, national development, better governance, inflow of FDI & FII & other positive externalities that benefit the country as a whole. Hence, the govt. should cap these fees as they are fairly over-charged (Premium market charges even for hostel & IT facilities). 2. From an individual perspective, the degree is neither over-priced nor under-priced. It is the fallacy of the students to exhibit a herd-mentality & follow their friends into an MBA program without any concrete objective or fore-thought. Even an NPV analysis has no relevance for complex heuristic decisions. So, if the market is behaving irrationally & you don't have reasons enough to be in a B-school Campus, you most likely shouldn't be. Still if you find yourself in such an unholy mess, stop crying over spilled milk & make the most outta an unenviable situation! ^ And That's how a sensible argument is made.
7 Aug 2012, 11.33 PM