女性讀MBA應(yīng)受到鼓勵

It seems many already have an opinion about the value of an MBA – “it is a cash cow” or “why don’t you just send some emails on LinkedIn, schmooze at networking cocktails, and take an online finance course?” I beg to differ, and I say that especially as a woman.

不少人似乎對MBA的價值已有定見——“它能讓你掙大錢”，要不然就是“你干嘛不在領(lǐng)英上發(fā)發(fā)郵件、在社交酒會上聊聊天、再讀一門線上的金融課程就好了?”這些想法我不敢茍同，尤其是作為一名女性來說。

Despite recent efforts by companies to recruit more women into the C-Suite, fewer women choose to pursue a post-graduate business degree compared with men. Out of my 327 peers at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, for example, 36 per cent are female. And yet, while that number may seem low to some, it is still higher than other European MBA programmes. Workplace equality may have progressed over the past few decades, but the gendered workforce and misguided expectations on women persist.

即便近來企業(yè)努力聘用更多的女高管，但相較男性，選擇攻讀商科研究生學(xué)位的女性要少得多。例如，我在牛津大學(xué)(University of Oxford)賽德商學(xué)院(Said Business School)的327名同學(xué)中，女性只占36%。然而，雖然這個比例在一些人看來也許并不高，但這仍舊超過了歐洲其他院校的MBA課程。近幾十年來職場性別平等或許有所進步，但是人們依然有區(qū)別地對待男女員工以及對女性抱著具有誤導(dǎo)性的期望。

It seems intuitive to assume that one would be praised for working hard at one’s job while taking the initiative to earn a second degree. But as a young woman, I still encounter negativity for making my academic and career choices. Friends, co-workers, and family all ask why I have not settled down in one place to start a family? Why return to school for my second master’s degree?

人們似乎會憑直覺認定，誰要是一邊努力工作一邊積極攻讀第二學(xué)位，那一定會受到贊許。但是，身為年輕女性，我仍然為自己在學(xué)業(yè)和事業(yè)上的選擇承受著很多負能量。朋友、同事以及家人都在問我：為什么還不安定下來組建一個家庭?干嗎還要回學(xué)校攻讀第二個碩士學(xué)位?

I am committed to a successful career, yet I am often made to feel that such a decision is selfish. A female classmate and close friend of mine worked in London at the head office of a large bank, where she had been vocal about not wanting to get married or have children. Because of these choices she often experienced disdain when discussing her future, especially with other women.

我追求事業(yè)成功，但卻經(jīng)常被迫感到這樣很自私。我的一位女同學(xué)兼好友在倫敦一家大銀行的總部工作，她在公司已公開表示過自己不想結(jié)婚生子。因為這些選擇，每當說到她的未來，她就常常被人家瞧不起，尤其是跟別的女性聊天時。

One evening we were having drinks after a debate at the Oxford Union when the topic of female leaders came up. The union has been around since 1823 and has hosted world leaders from Albert Einstein to Mother Theresa, and even Michael Jackson. The union bar, adorned with pictures of many of those faces, made for the perfect setting for us to discuss our aspirations and our sacrifices as future female leaders in the workforce.

一天晚上，在牛津辯論社(Oxford Union)的一場辯論結(jié)束后，大家聚在一起喝酒，聊起了女性當領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的話題。這個社團成立于1823年，許多世界名人來過這里，從阿爾伯特•愛因斯坦(Albert Einstein)到特蕾莎修女(Mother Theresa)，甚至還有邁克爾•杰克遜(Michael Jackson)。辯論社的酒吧里，布置著很多這些名人的照片，營造了一種絕佳的氛圍，讓我們可能暢所欲言，談?wù)撟约合胍蔀槁殘雠I(lǐng)導(dǎo)的抱負以及將要為此做出的犧牲。

The sentiment was echoed at a recent dinner party with other female Oxford MBA’ers, who admitted they opted to do the business qualification as a means to gain professional credibility that they lacked due not to ability or intellect, but to gender. While it is illegal, we have been asked in job interviews if we had a boyfriend or a family of our own – an indirect question to see if we were a maternity leave risk.

在最近的一個晚宴上，另外一些在牛津攻讀MBA的女同學(xué)們對這個話題也是深有同感，她們承認選擇來念這個商科學(xué)位是想藉此獲得專業(yè)信譽，而她們欠缺專業(yè)信譽并不是因為能力或才智不足，而是性別所致。即使不合法，我們在面試時也屢被問及是否有男友或是否已成家——這種迂回的提問意在弄清我們會不會有休產(chǎn)假的風險。

My friend sees the MBA as a way to buy some time on our resumés – if employers see that we have just invested quite a bit of time and money into an extra degree, then they may not jump to the conclusion that all we want to do is have children. We may not be a “risk factor” because we are seen to be prioritising our careers.

我的朋友認為，MBA學(xué)位能夠令招聘方多留意一下我們的簡歷——倘若雇主們看到我們投入了大量的時間和金錢去多讀一個學(xué)位，那么他們也許就不會輕易斷定我們只想要孩子。由于他們看到我們以事業(yè)為重，或許就不會再覺得我們是個“風險因素”。

The boys’ club will not dissolve overnight. But I hope as more women excel in the workplace and as the number of women earning their business degrees increases – by choice and not by necessity – the discourse will shift from that of surprise and judgment to that of praise and encouragement.

“男孩俱樂部”不會一夜之間消失。但我希望隨著職場中出類拔萃的女性越來越多，以及獲得商科學(xué)位的女性越來越多——出于自愿而非迫不得已——人們的態(tài)度將不再是驚訝和審視，而是贊賞和鼓勵。