Chanda Kochhar blames focus on QA in entrance tests for less women in B-schools

A B-school graduate herself, ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar wants excessive focus on quantitative aptitude (QA) in entrance tests to be done away with, for greater participation of girls in business schools.

Girls constitute only 10-15 per cent of the B-school students at present.

"The MBA entrance exams are so quantitative-oriented that it keeps out more and more women from joining the MBA classes. If we were to make the entrance exams more all-rounded you could see more participation," Kochhar, the managing director and chief executive of the countrys largest private sector lender, said in a speech.

She also questioned need for so much focus on QA, saying a course on developing general managerial abilities does not require so much of focus.

Her remarks come in the wake of several institutes of repute holding MBA tests focus on QA, data interpretation, logical reasoning and verbal ability while selecting students. QA includes topics considered tedious like trignometry, quadratic equations, logarithm etc.

Kochhar also called for more percentage of women in workplaces to make it diverse. She said they can help a business achieve better results on account of the fact that they can understand consumers better because half of the consumers are women.

She highlighted that 80 per cent of workforce-ready women are not joining the organised sector, and that they should believe in themselves and be ready to put in long hours and travel if the work demands.

"You can maintain work-life balance even while pursuing careers," she said as adding that opportunities of "cottage entrepreneurship" like made-to-order meals, handicrafts etc are areas women can capitalise on.

(Image credit: Economic Times)