Limited Access - Exploring the Barriers to Executive Style Graduate Degree Programs for Women of Childbearing Age

Women make up over half of the population in Canada, yet they comprise less than half of the participants in many executive graduate degree programs and only 34 percent of managers and administrators in the work force. For many women of childbearing age, these statistics provide insight into the cycle of frustration encountered when they seek admittance to graduate programs. Despite the changes that have taken place in a workforce where more education is required to obtain positions that could previously be achieved without a graduate degree or professional designation, executive graduate degree programs have failed to adapt their programs to meet educational needs of women and their changing roles. Further, most recent literature focuses on the successful careers of women over 40. Most of these women, however, are childless and single or they are on their second marriage with stepchildren. It was, therefore, important to obtain feedback from women planning for a successful career who anticipated the need to balance a career and family. This study concentrated on the barriers that limit access for women, ages 25 to 39, to executive graduate degree programs.