This blog is Part II of the series, "Are We There Yet? My Climb and Journey". A conversation with John T. Delaney, PhD., Dean of the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, about the current state of women in executive leadership and why women do not choose to get advanced business degrees at the same rate they obtain professional degrees in other areas, like law and medicine, was the catalyst for this series. ____________________________________ I remember driving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in January 1996 like it was yesterday. I braved a wintry mix praying at least two of the approximately five hours that it took to drive to Pittsburgh because my Toyota Camry ran out of windshield wiper fluid halfway through the trip. You see, driving was a last minute decision. Although snow had been in the forecast, I wasn’t sure if we’d really get any snow. U.S. Air was the only airline who flew non-stop into Pittsburgh from the Washington, D.C. area and well, let’s just say, given the number of winter airplane accidents that had occurred at that time, I felt driving would be less stressful and safer. Nothing short of a blizzard was going to keep me from arriving in Pittsburgh for my orientation as a student in the Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.
I was so excited to be beginning my MBA program. Months earlier I had been accepted into this program that was fully supported by my company, AT&T. An Executive MBA program meant that I could attend school full-time and yet remain employed full-time. It also meant that the company was making an investment in me and continuing its commitment to develop a pool of diverse leaders. I had ambition and I wanted to move up in the company and I had been advised by supervisors and mentors that an MBA would increase my chances of being promoted. Most of all, I was motivated to increase my ability to manage people make and sound business decisions.
I chose the University of Pittsburgh because their program offered several unique attributes that appealed to me. Number one...
