MBA Scholarships for Women
Even though more women than ever before are applying for MBA programs, just 39% of full-time MBA students at the best business schools in the world are female. Business schools and other organizations provide targeted MBA scholarships for women to help correct the balance.
These subsidies assist in removing the financial obstacles that sometimes keep women from enrolling in business schools, enabling them to build the network, confidence, and leadership qualities necessary for professional success. Scholarships can lessen the need for loans, enabling graduates to get a speedier return on their educational investment. Additionally, scholarship recipients become a part of a select group of professional women who provide excellent networking and mentorship opportunities.
The top MBA scholarships for women are listed here, along with advice on how to apply for them. Individual business schools provide the vast majority of gender diversity scholarships, and many of these institutions provide a variety of awards. These well-known MBA schools are offering the following scholarships to women:
- Chicago Booth: The Wallman Fellowship is made available to female MBA candidates at the Chicago Booth School of Business who exhibit exceptional leadership and a dedication to supporting women in business. For this full tuition grant, women from underrepresented minority groups are prioritized.
2. INSEAD: There are various scholarships available at INSEAD that are just for women. The Groupe Galeries Lafayette Endowed Scholarship provides women who promise to serve clients regardless of socioeconomic background or race with US$12,000 awards—in keeping with the ideals of the Groupe Galeries Lafayette. Women with retail experience often get this grant, and applicants must write an essay on the role of women in retail.
A female student is also given the Judith Connelly Delouvrier Endowed Scholarship, worth $15,000, by INSEAD in every MBA class. Essays on ways to better incorporate women in business must be submitted by candidates for this scholarship. Female engineers who are accepted into the MBA program will be awarded a scholarship worth $15,700 from the INSEAD Piet and Wina Van Waeyenberge Endowed Scholarship. To apply, candidates must finish the Diversity Scholarship application.
3. London Business School: Women who can have an effect in business and society are eligible for the 30% Club Scholarship, which is offered by London Business School and includes rewards of up to 50% of tuition costs.
4. AHEAD Scholarships: Female MBA and Masters in Finance applicants from emerging nations are eligible for the AHEAD Scholarship, which stands for A Higher Education Advancing Diversity. The prize is worth $35,000 USD. Additionally, LBS provides the Carlsson Family Scholarship, worth $28,000, which is available to deserving female MBA applicants.
5. Kearney Australia New Zealand Women’s Scholarship Program: All successful female MBA applicants from Australia or New Zealand are eligible for the Kearney Australia New Zealand Women’s Scholarship Program, which has a maximum value of US$11,700.
6. Forté Foundation Scholarship: There are more scholarship options outside specific business schools. Through networking opportunities, peer support, and scholarships, the Forté Foundation is committed to advancing women in business. Since its founding, Forté has given female MBA students attending one of its 54 partner institutions scholarships totaling US$226 million.
Forté’s roster of partner institutions includes schools like Harvard Business School, Wharton, Columbia Business School, HEC Paris, London Business School, and INSEAD. At one of these institutions, women who are offered a position in the MBA program are automatically considered for a Forté fellowship. Students who have demonstrated strong leadership qualities and the desire to support other women in business are more likely to get this honor from their schools.
7. Laidlaw Foundation Scholarships: The Laidlaw Foundation, which seeks to empower underprivileged women through education, is another organization that provides MBA scholarships for women. Over 300 women have benefited from its Women’s Business Education Scholarship, which was recently expanded to give full and partial scholarships to women accepted to London Business School and Oxford’s Sad Business School.
The goal of this initiative is to enable female candidates for leadership positions to enroll in MBA programs that would otherwise be out of their financial grasp. The specific application procedures for the Laidlaw scholarship are listed on the websites of Columbia, LBS, and Oxford Sad.
8. The Nestlé scholarship for women: The multinational food and beverage company Nestlé annually awards MBA scholarships to female applicants at the Swiss IMD Business School. The average recipient of each scholarship, valued at US$27,246 each, is a woman from a poor country. The Nestlé scholarship, among others, is automatically evaluated for female applicants to the IMD MBA program. IMD is also a Forté partner institution, and 79% of women enrolled on the MBA program get financial aid of some type.
9. Oxford Executive MBA Scholarships for Women in association with the 30% Club: These scholarships are intended to assist deserving female applicants and promote the consideration of women for top leadership positions.
Selection Standards
• Academic excellence (assessed through CV, transcripts, and scholarship statement).
• Professional success, particularly indications of leadership or potential for leadership (assessed through CV and the scholarship statement).
• a desire to serve as an example for others (assessed through the scholarship statement).
• a commitment to reflecting the School’s principles as an enthusiastic and dedicated ambassador both during the program and afterwards (assessed through the scholarship statement).
• Other requirements are based on the type of scholarships you apply for.