Who Needs An M.B.A.?

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Going It Alone
If the corporate world is struggling to find and keep talented women, there is another sector of the business community that is having no trouble at all: between 1987 and 1997, the number of woman-owned firms increased 89% nationwide; their employment shot up 262%, and sales grew 161%. "Entrepreneurship is very hot. It's one of the most talked-about subjects on campus right now," says Myra Hart, who co-teaches a course at Harvard called Women Building Business. "For many women, entrepreneurship is viewed as a way to have a profession where you have some control over your life, which may or may not be true." But working for yourself, unlike landing a top corporate job, doesn't require an M.B.A. Just witness the success of Silicon Valley start-ups led by computer-science grads without a Finance 101 course to their name.

That may all change soon, says Stanford's Gray, who hopes to put her M.B.A. to use for one of those start-ups after graduation. "The bootstrapping engineers are starting to realize that they need some business sense. The venture capitalists are looking for companies with M.B.A.s from top schools on board," Gray says. "I think M.B.A.s will be a big part of success in the new economy."

If Gray is right, she'll be ready. But in the meantime, plenty of other women are banking on a different outcome, one in which a business degree is just an optional detour on the road to success. And in which the B school's loss is the new economy's gain.