The Rotman School of Management has pulled a controversial class assignment from a first-year MBA course after concerns were raised about its portrayal of women.

The assignment, issued last week for a class on capital markets, features a fictional female business student who is offered a public relations job with her “favourite company of all time,” jeweller Tiffany and Co. She is struggling to decide which compensation package she should accept.

Several students in the University of Toronto’s graduate business school were openly dismayed by the assignment, saying there is “just so much wrong” with its portrayal of “Elle Forest,” a ditzy female who requires the assistance of her Yale-educated boyfriend to figure out which compensation package she should accept.

The assignment, which the Star has viewed, notes Forest “really didn’t want any of those investment banking or consulting jobs,” and was “already dreaming of more little turquoise boxes on her bookshelf, where she already had quite a nice collection.”

“Just after her upcoming graduation, Elle would be getting married in the Hamptons and moving to New York to a gorgeous apartment on the Upper East Side,” the assignment adds.

Forest, who is described as being “confused about the subtleties of the offer,” enlists the help of her Yale-educated fiancé, Chip.

“I have been offered an annual salary of $85,000, but that really just isn’t enough to pay the rent,” she tells her partner. “The HR lady also said that I could choose between an additional $20,000 signing bonus in cash or company stock options that expire and vest after 2 years and after 4 years, respectively. I just don’t know what to do.”

Chip advises Forest to refer to her Finance class notes, a suggestion she enthusiastically embraces as she is a “super-organized” student with binders that are “colour-coded and organized by term.”

Chip later interjects to remind her to consider the tax implications of her final decision.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I was dreaming of that pair of Louboutins,” Forest replies, referring to the iconic red-soled designer shoes. “My marginal tax rate will be about 32%, and my capital gains tax rate will be 16%. I am so confused. Which choice is better?”

Aspiring lawyer Chip then reminds his fiancée that the couple may move to Sydney if he is transferred by his firm, which could affect her decision.

After browsing her iPad to estimate the value of her stock options, Forest falls asleep “dreaming of those little blue boxes and beautiful shoes.”

The assignment then supplies students with data and asks them to determine the value of each offer.

The Star received a copy of the assignment from a student who was unimpressed by its depiction of the hapless lead character.

The Star took those complaints to the Rotman School of Management on Thursday. Students told the Star that Professor Kent Womack, professor of the capital markets class, later apologized verbally for the assignment, which was he said written by a teacher’s assistant. He then advised the class to think carefully before speaking to the media, according to students.

One student, who asked not to be identified over concerns of reprisal, said some classmates started to clap after the professor suggested against commenting to the press. The student also expressed concern that, for some, protecting the Rotman brand appeared to take precedence over offence caused by the assignment.

The student said the topic of campus conversation shifted quickly from dismay over the assignment to concern for the school’s image.

“The (topic) Wednesday was: this is offensive; this isn’t cool. On Thursday the question was: how does this affect the Rotman brand?” the student said.

“I don’t think that’s what healthy communities do,” the student said. “Rotman actually does do a million things to enhance women. This could be an opportunity for the institution to talk about that but, again, for whatever reason it’s been ‘clam up — form a defensive position.’ ”

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The student added that Womack is generally admired by students as a professor who “actually cares,” but that the assignment had struck a clanging off note.

Womack did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.

The school’s media manager, Ken McGuffin, told the Star that the assignment was “an ill-advised satire of a pop-culture character.”

“The faculty involved with the course will be apologizing to the class and the assignment has been retracted and will not be used again.

“The Rotman School is proud of our efforts to create a welcoming environment for our diverse group of students and our very supportive programs such as the Rotman Initiative for Women in Business and the student-run Women in Management Association,” he said.