It became a common HBS practice to hire young women to grade the Written Analysis of Cases (WACs) assignments. The graders typically were recent college graduates with degrees in English, history, political science, and economics. The position was strictly entry level; graders were expected to move on after one or two years. This group of graders is from 1949.
This 1962 Mademoiselle article profiles the “fifteen amiable young women in positions of authority” as graders. Why were women more likely to serve as graders than men? The article suggests that “men who are interested in business are likely to be in business.”13
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