Bentley University News

There’s no set formula or clear-cut “solve-for-X” equation that can propel recent female college graduates to success in their careers, even though more than half of the corporate recruiters surveyed in Bentley University’s PreparedU research say that women are better job candidates than men.

In the end, I believe that moving ahead depends on the individual, and on so many other variables — like mentors, timing, opportunities and company culture.

Each year, more than 95 percent of Bentley seniors have jobs or are in graduate schools within six months of commencement. And Bentley’s Career Services Office is ranked third in the nation by the Princeton Review.

And somehow they felt they had to do better.

Something in Bentley’s PreparedU study caught my eye: About a third of business executives and recruiters surveyed disagreed that a college degree is a sign that someone is ready for the workforce. 

Despite the fact that 85 percent of all brand purchases — a total of approximately $7 trillion annually, or more than half of the American GDP — are made by women, men still dominate the leadership, branding and product development decisions at most consumer brands. At advertising agencies, a paltry 3 percent of all creative directors are women, according to the Marketing to Women Conference, and men also firmly dominate investment decisions in consumer-facing ideas at venture capital firms.

In the competitive nonprofit sector, charitable organizations constantly have to prove themselves and their relative merit, to the general public and to funders, just to survive. Some believe that this requirement to prove worth especially reflects what women in business do every day. And it may explain why many of America’s charitable organizations are (and historically have been) driven by female leadership.

Let’s not fool ourselves. Qualified women of today are unlikely to find themselves on the board of directors at top companies in Massachusetts. However sad and counterproductive, this is a statistical reality. 

Yet there are reasons to hope for strong and lasting change. Every year, the business world is held accountable and pushed forward by the annual Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies.

There’s one career strategy that is rarely considered but could prove useful, even pivotal, in the advancement of young women in the workplace.

It is simply this: Stop and find out if women exist in the upper echelons at a given company. Are there any women in the executive suites or on the board of directors? If you can’t find any, watch out.

Although the United States still ranks a disappointing 23rd on the Global Gender Gap Index, personal finance social network WalletHub had some good news last week for Massachusetts, just in time for Women’s Equality Day: In its 2014 in-depth analysis of the Best and Worst States for Women’s Equality, the publication ranked Massachusetts 13th best overall.

At a convocation rich in pomp and tradition, Bentley University welcomed the Class of 2018 to campus August 28 with a words of wisdom from a digital age marketing strategist dubbed the “millennial master of the universe ” by Fast Company.

In a keynote video address to 980 freshmen from 36 states and 42 countries, Sharma Hyder, CEO of Marketing Zen Group and a participant in Bentley’s PreparedU Project, offered “10 tweetable tips” for students to make the most of their time at Bentley.