While I absolutely hate the headline of this article (“Demand for Hispanic MBAs is caliente“), it has some very interesting points about how the lack of Latino presence in business school is creating a “war for talent”:

But with Hispanic MBA students representing only 4.5% of the B-school populace, according to research by the Graduate Management Admissions Council, the pipeline is not flowing fast enough to satisfy the changing demographic (see BW, 5/12/03, “B-Schools: A Failing Grade on Minorities”). Many MBA recruiters are scrambling ever harder to attract the top Hispanic candidates.

Companies like Merrill Lynch are now hosting targeted events on campus, offering scholarships, and promoting internal Hispanic support networks, to compete with huge consumer-products companies like Procter & Gamble (PG ), whose core business depends on reaching a variety of consumers.

“It’s a war for talent,” says Elizabeth Wamai, head of global markets and investment banking diversity recruiting for Merrill in New York. “If you don’t attempt to market to Hispanics differently, you’re missing out on a key talent pool.”

The reason for so much demand is the explosion of the Latino market. You wouldn’t have seen companies on campus targeting Latinos any more than any other group a few years ago. But suddenly companies have realized that to reach the lucrative Latino market they are better off employing MBAs who come with the added bonus of cultural identification.

Via / Business Week.com