An increasing number of women are heading to business school, citing a weakened economy, the flexibility the degree affords and an effort by universities to actively recruit more female students according to a recent Forbes article.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, women received 44% of M.B.A.s in 2007, up from 39% a decade earlier, translating to a 75% increase over the last 10 years. Furthermore, based on currently recrutting trends at Ivy schools, this number maybe continue to increase -the Wharton Business School’s, class of 2011 is comprised of 40% women, up from 32% in 2007.

But despite the increasing numbers of women pursuing M.B.A.s, they are still under represented within that particular field of study. Women currently receive 61% of all master’s degrees awarded but only 44% of all M.B.A.s, according to the U.S. Department of Education. And this is something that peopple like Elissa Ellis Sangster are working to change. Sangster is executive director of the Forté Foundation; a consortium of schools and businesses dedicated to increasing the percentage of women pursuing M.B.A.s,

“It’s great that women are close to the 50% mark, but there’s still a lot[of work] to do,” says Sangster. She hopes to see women’s enrollment in elite schools continue to rise, along with women’s representation in senior leadership roles. “We’re still relatively new to the workforce. We need more examples female leaders, mentors and role models.”