Even if women are still underrepresented in management – something is happening, at least as far as the additional qualifications are concerned: Was the proportion of women in the Executive MBA programs, i.e. the MBA programs for positions in upper management and with particularly great responsibility in the year In 2016 it was 29.7 percent, it rose to 32 percent last year. That is the result of a survey by the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), a global interest group for business schools. But what does a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or EMBA really bring? Is it really a so-called career booster – especially for women who are in the middle of their professional life? Three graduates report how the qualification has affected their professional careers.
College colleagues advised Corinna Lindinger to leave her father’s company, which she did.
(Photo: Saatbau Linz)
“The exchange and the network are extremely important to me”
Corinna Lindinger, 40, completed the MBA program “Management and Leadership for Women” at the Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria and is now HR manager in a medium-sized company:
Alone among men – for most of her professional life, Corinna Lindinger has dealt with male colleagues. When she decided on an MBA program specifically for women in 2018, the Austrian was initially skeptical: “I was worried that it might be a bit of a catfight, only with women,” she recalls. “But the doubts were quickly dispelled. Our course with the twelve women was very harmonious from the start and showed absolute solidarity with one another.”
Lindinger had previously worked exclusively in her father’s company, a mold and tool maker in the metal industry in Traun in Upper Austria. She started there right after high school with a commercial apprenticeship. When she had her son at the age of 21, she paused during maternity leave, but then quickly returned and – a few further training courses later – took over the company’s quality management.
In 2013 the father retired and Lindinger switched to the management. In the beginning everything started off well: The new boss started a restructuring process, reorganized the production area and introduced team leaders. “But I noticed that I couldn’t run the company as well as I would have wanted – I lacked knowledge in the areas of leadership and organizational development,” says Lindinger. By chance she came across an advertisement for an MBA course at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and knew straight away: That’s it. “For me that was the theory for the lived practice.”
The course started part-time in 2018. “The MBA made me realize how much I had suffered from conflicts that I had ignored for a long time,” says Corinna Lindinger. “My father was still very present in the company because different management styles clashed,” she reports. “That burdened me so much in the long run that I decided to take a break and leave the company after completing my MBA.” Her fellow students encouraged her to break new ground.
While she was writing her master’s thesis, Lindinger was thinking about which area I could go into in the future. This also became the topic of her master’s thesis entitled: “Flexible working hours as an important aspect in employer branding”. Since June of this year, the MBA graduate has a new job in Linz as HR manager in a company with 500 employees that deals with seeds. And she still meets once a month with her former fellow students for the MBA regulars table: “The exchange and the network are extremely important to me.”
She already had a doctorate when Bettina Möckel signed up for an EMBA program.
(Photo: Andreas Fechner)
“I was really fascinated by understanding how markets react”
Bettina Möckel, 56, is Vice President Corporate Business Development and, at the age of 40, completed an EMBA at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar (Rhineland-Palatinate):
“I’m a scientist, I have a very specific view of the world,” says Bettina Möckel. “As a biologist, I was used to analytically dealing with problems and going into great detail – a different way of thinking had to be found for the positions in which I later worked.” Bettina Möckel’s career was already picking up speed by the time she began her studies: after completing her doctorate, the biologist had worked in the diagnostics industry. She then moved to Qiagen, a provider of testing technologies for healthcare and research, where she was responsible for sales and product management. “I was in my early 40s when I thought: something can still be done,” says Möckel, summarizing her thoughts at the time. You asked yourself: “How can I reach the next career step faster? Professional life doesn’t end at 40.” For the scientist, the next logical step was an Executive MBA: “I wanted to learn to take a meta-level, to link data points and draw conclusions – in short, to establish a different, faster way of thinking.”
It was clear to her from the start that the EMBA should be part-time. They chose WHU’s EMBA program, and their selection criteria included: a good ranking, not too far away from their place of residence, internationally oriented, with modules abroad. “Of course it was very sporty. You have to decide to cut back on friends, family and hobbies for two years.” For the enthusiastic athlete, that meant: no marathon, hardly any racing bike tours and rarely meeting friends. Nevertheless, it was all worth it: “The EMBA was like an accelerator, especially when it comes to my way of thinking in terms of strategy and strategy development for companies. Understanding how markets react fascinated me very much.”
She found it particularly good to work on case studies in groups that came from very different disciplines: “When, for example, a lawyer, an architect, a psychologist, a controller and a biologist work together on something and then try to find out different points of view To synthesize the different disciplines – then it’s a super exciting process. You learn to deal with different points of view and to think on a different level. “
After completing her studies, Möckel asked the Corporate Business Development department if there was a position for her. She actually did exist – today she is in charge of strategy development for an important part of the company. “I think I have the most exciting job in the house,” says the EMBA graduate. “Fortunately, I took the initiative myself back then.”
Maria Roßbander delved deeper into financial topics during her studies and is now a blockchain expert.
(Photo: Götzer Schleser / BFF)
“Much more self-confidence and courage developed”
Maria Roßbander, 39, did an MBA at the Berlin Professional School and works as a program officer of the Berlin urban development program “Siemensstadt Square”:
She had already been in the job for ten years when Maria Roßbander had the feeling: “I’m treading on the spot – I have to do something in order to develop myself further.” From the outside, it actually looked like success for the then 37-year-old: Even during her business studies she was employed as a student trainee at Siemens AG. After completing her studies, she was taken on straight away and worked in various areas, from the communications department and assistant to the management to strategic marketing. From there she wanted to get ahead. “My mentor finally advised me:” Learn something new, acquire an additional qualification – have you ever thought about an MBA? “, Formulated Maria Roßbander’s advice, which convinced her. Three weeks after the interview, she had it already decided on a part-time MBA program and registered at the Berlin Professional School.
You hear and read from many MBA students how hard their studies were and how difficult it is to combine academic training and work, but Maria Roßbander sees it differently: “I really enjoyed the two years, that was pretty much the one best time of my life – even if it was exhausting and demanding. ” She was enthusiastic about the exchange with fellow students and the international composition of her course – 20 of 35 people came from different countries. And with it the different perspectives that she got to know. And another big plus point: the MBA enabled the business administration graduate to delve deeper into finance subjects and into her blockchain area of interest and finished her studies as a specialist in this field. The blockchain, i.e. distributed, decentralized networks that are used in the context of Bitcoin, for example, to manage financial transactions without having to involve a middleman such as a bank – that had already interested her. When she applied for a special blockchain talent program for women towards the end of her studies, she was immediately accepted. It is only obvious that her master’s thesis also deals with the new technology.
A few weeks after completing her MBA, she received the job offer for “Siemensstadt Square” in Berlin. “I am sure that my MBA gave me this opportunity in the first place,” says the 39-year-old. As a program officer, one of her tasks is to build a new ecosystem for the district that combines aspects such as sustainability, inclusion and technology. Sounds like a dream of the future, it is. Maria Roßbander explains: “The target group of this new district is the generation after me. We want to secure their future. Through the MBA, she has” developed a lot more self-confidence and courage – I need that, especially when I venture into new areas. “