Hombres y Mujeres

According to data available on NetVestibule as of today:

• The INSEAD Class of July 2008 consists of 495 students, 362 of which are male and 133 of which are female for a 73.13% v 26.87% split
• 333 will start in Fontainebleau, and 162 in Singapore
• 63 nationalities represented (including dual-citizenship holders)
• Top 3 nations represented
  • 57: USA
  • 54: France
  • 52: India

At first glance, this seems to be a boon for the INSEAD women, and to bode ill for the INSEAD men. I wonder how it’ll play out? Hard to say right now, but here’s hoping that most of us will be the mature adults that our profiles paint us to be. The devil that sits on both of my shoulder keeps whispering something about “The Real World: INSEAD,” but I want to pretend that it won’t dip to that level. On second thought, that might make all the accounting courses a tad more interesting. I’m currently taking side bets as to the number of marriages that result from this year. And for us cynics, the number of broken hearts.

The country representation amuses me. Without even looking up population metrics, the French contingent carries a disproportionate weight in our headcount. China (18 students) only shows up in the top 5 if we include Hong Kong (3) and Taiwan (14). That latter bit might win me a pair of cement boots in the Strait of Formosa next year, so I’ll qualify it with, “Your Aegis cruisers are bigger than mine. More power to you and your nascent independence movement.”