Less than 4% of the U.S. senior leadership is Hispanic or Latino. We want to change that.
At embiei, we believe that the access to this network and top positions shouldn't be reserved to just a few. We want to see more Puerto Rican faces in the C-suite. We thought we could start by seeing more Puerto Ricans in the U.S. business school application pool. Boricua, you too could get an MBA, and rise to the top.
approach
At embiei, we focus on 3 main goals:
Early awareness
Proactive outreach to Puerto Rican undergraduates and professionals to raise awareness of MBA as future path.
Accessible tools & resources
Useful and relevant content for Puerto Rican candidates through webinars and blog posts.
Community Building
Space in which all Puerto Ricans interested in an MBA can connect with each other, and with MBA alumni.
Puerto Rican MBA Stories
“I’ve always had business in mind and I wanted to have a leadership role. When I graduated from [engineering] undergrad, I knew I wanted to pursue a graduate degree. I was between Engineering Management and an MBA. I decided to do an MBA based on feedback from my peers”
Yanira Ruiz, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, Class 2020
“In the last two years, I’ve partnered with my husband and two friends to start two businesses, a food truck and a restaurant, and have become very involved in the operational aspects of the business. This interested me to the point of starting my MBA at NC State University, where I am focused on growing my career with a path towards Supply Chain and Marketing.”
Gretchen Grajales, North Carolina State University Poole College of Management, Class 2019
¿qué es un MBA y cual es el big deal?
An MBA is a Master in Business Administration. Most programs aim to provide a general business education, and some have specialties or focus you can select from (e.g. Strategy, Marketing, Entrepreneurship). There are 2-years full-time programs (some schools now offer 1 yr), and there are part time evening/weekend/executive programs which can take up to 4 yrs.
Here are 3 things why we think an MBA is differentiated from other masters and it's pretty awesome:
ACCELERATE (or change) your career
Most MBA programs require at least 2 yrs of work experience (avg. in top 10 is 5 yrs). This allows you to 1) contribute in the classroom, and 2) have a better idea of your long-term professional goals. With an MBA you can either accelerate your career within the same company, function or industry, or completely change tracks.
In the last several years, GMAC has seen an increase in MBA candidates who plan to enhance their current career path (42% ) and a decrease in the share who plan to switch to a new job function (34%) or industry (26%).
Check out these articles: GMAC 2018 Alumni perspectives survey, US News MBA career change , GMAC 2018 Prospective Students Survey
network
One of the critical components and key differentiation of the MBA is the networking aspect. Your classmates will be from diverse backgrounds, industries, countries. You will not only get great new friends, but potentially also meet future business partners and leaders.
Most MBA programs have a heavy social component which consists of volunteering activities, mixers, parties, international travel and other fun stuff. This is a great way to get to know your class and form strong relationships.
Financial Times 2017 MBA ranking survey respondents listed networking as one of the top three reasons for getting a degree.
increase your earning potential
An MBA can give you access to roles reserved for MBA grads. Also -average post-MBA salary is $142k. That being said, the tuition cost is pretty steep and rising, which makes our section on Resources/Scholarships ever more important.