New-age women skip IIMs for cooler options

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It is finally women on top. Many women are saying no to IIMs and IITs and prefer to stay away from it. Though it is not because they are not competent or can’t beat the boys, but some women feel why waste a full year preparing for CAT. So, the adventurous ones are ready to try other interesting and lucrative career options.
A recent report said that in the last common admission test (CAT), the qualifying exam for getting a seat in the IIMs, women made up just 26% of the candidates who applied to take it. Seems like IIMs are losing their sheen among young women today.
Says Priyama Pandey, who did her MBA in Marketing and Sales, “With so many interesting career options available, and many opportunities knocking on my door, I didn’t want to chase one particular choice for MBA. I did take classes for CAT, but dropped it mid-way as I realised Mathematics wasn’t something I liked. I couldn’t do all those technical subjects and decided to give it up.”
The rising cost of an IIM education also deters many women from middle-class families from applying. Says Monica, a 19-year-old B Com (Hons) student, “My father is the only earning member in my family, and I can’t spend so much money preparing for CAT. The fee is way too high, and there are bleak chances that I’ll be able to make it through the best B-school. So, I have erased MBA as a career option. More so, if I get a good job after my graduation, I’d rather prefer an MBA through distance learning and earn simultaneously.”
Another reason that many girls list is that they don’t want to “waste” time in preparing for IIMs due to marital constraints. “My family wants me to get married by the age of 25. So, I did enroll myself for MBA classes, but gave it up and now I’m pursuing it from ICFAI rather than wasting a year on preparations when I know I may not be able to clear it. I want to see myself working before I get married,” says Manisha Yadav, an MBA student.
There are also some who feel MBA is a “cliché”.
For Dhruv Primlani, a DU student, most girls don’t prefer an MBA. “As many of my female friends are not really interested in managerial jobs. I somehow feel women are more willing to try different careers, as they are somehow gutsy enough to experiment, whereas boys want to settle down with a definite professional choice,” he says.