Doors open for gay MBA graduates

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Nick Deakin had a very specific reason for going to business school. After working as a doctor for two and a half years at Barts hospital in central London, he enrolled on an MBA because he thought a commercial career would suit him better as a gay man.

“When I was a medical student I did some work with McKinsey and I felt part of a strong network,” he says. “It was fantastic.” Indeed, the atmosphere in consultancy was far more positive to those who are LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) than that in the medical profession, he adds.

On graduating from London Business School he opted for banking, joining the healthcare group at Citi. “I am out at work. I talk about my partner,” he says. “I think it is my duty as someone who is out to talk about it.”

Though investment banking is a tried and tested career path for MBA graduates, its reputation as a testosterone-ridden industry often deters those from the LGBT+ community, believes Matt Kidd, executive director of Reaching Out MBA (Romba), the non-profit set up 20 years ago by students from Harvard and Yale to promote the interests of MBA participants who identify as LGBT+.

One of Romba’s missions is to help change the perception surrounding finance and business. “How do you convince graduates that business school is the place for them?” he asks. “For business schools it is becoming a priority.”…