The Graduate
Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association of leading graduate
business schools, today released a first-of-its-kind longitudinal study. In the
report entitled “The Value of Graduate Management
Education: From the Candidate’s Perspective,” GMAC surveyed roughly 3,600
individuals globally over the past 12 years about the motivations behind their
pursuit of graduate management education (GME). These individuals - now reaping
the rewards of their distinguished business degree in a wide array of job
functions and industries - shared their views from their business school
experience.
Overall, 9 out of 10 graduates rated the value of their MBA or
business master’s degree as good, excellent or outstanding. Over 85% concluded
that their investment in graduate business education had a positive return.
Most graduates (84%) reported that their business school experience helped
improve their professional situation while about 7 out of 10 reported that it
helped achieve personal (72%) and financial goals (68%).
“In the face
of an ever-evolving work environment, international travel restrictions and
rising education cost, many are asking the question: ‘is a business degree
worth it?’” said Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC. “Our
groundbreaking research surveyed thousands of individuals from around the
world, spanning from the last financial crisis to the current pandemic-prompted
economic uncertainty. An overwhelming majority of them testified that their
business degree increased their employability and earnings power, prepared them
for leadership positions, and supported their desired lifestyle. Without a
doubt, their answer to the question is a resounding ‘yes!’”
Key
Findings
Women,
less often than men, pursued GME for entrepreneurship skills or business
ownership
Women and men
mostly share the same view on the value of graduate management education and
its impact on their career advancement. When it comes to motivation behind
their pursuit of GME, most women (77%) and men (72%) identified “increasing job
opportunities” as a top driver. However, the greatest gender difference was
observed when men (41%) were more likely to go to business school to develop
entrepreneurship skills and own their own business than women (28%). In
addition, a greater percentage of men (56%) reported that their graduate
business education experience prepared them well for international employment
opportunities compared to women (46%).
“The findings
suggest that in today’s evolving work environment, women - perhaps more
risk-averse and resource-deprived - shy away from starting their own companies
and choose to work closer to home,” said Maite Salazar, Chief Marketing Officer
of GMAC. “Understanding this dynamic could inform business schools on how to
encourage more women to pursue graduate management education by providing them
access to and addressing their challenges in entrepreneurship.”
READ MORE: Choosing a college
Business
degrees facilitate growth through promotions, moving across functions and
industries
Survey results
confirmed that a business degree helped candidates get promotions and achieve
career mobility across job functions and industries. About two-thirds of
business school graduates reported that they advanced at least one job level
after they obtained their graduate business degrees. The advancement is
especially prevalent among graduates who started at more junior levels before
they completed the programs. Specifically, more than 85% of graduates moved up
from entry levels, more than half moved up from middle levels, one-third of
graduates moved up from senior levels, and a quarter moved up from executive
levels.
A notable
motivation among the drivers for pursing a business degree is that about half
aspired to change career paths in either job function or industry. In fact, the
survey found that overall, 60 percent of the business school graduates changed
job functions after obtaining their degrees while about half moved across
industries. Interestingly, consulting as a job function and industry
demonstrated the most versatility; over three-quarters of those who worked in
consulting after obtaining their business degrees moved from a different job
function, and seventy percent of those who worked in consulting after GME moved
from another industry. On the other hand, the technology industry experiences the
lowest amount of transition, with only one-third moving on to a different
industry after completing their graduate business education.
U.S.
underrepresented minorities sought GME to impact communities, own businesses
Among the top
10 leading motivations driving the pursuit of graduate business education,
increasing impact on communities ranked last at just 24 percent. In contrast,
the percentage of underrepresented minorities (URM) candidates in the United
States who reported pursuing GME to increase impact on communities was 42
percent, nearly double that of non-URM candidates (23%). The proportion of URM
candidates who pursued GME to develop entrepreneurship skills and own their own
business was 48 percent, also significantly higher than that of non-URM
candidates (32%). This coincides with another finding of the report that a
lower percentage of URM candidates reported career advancements, compared with
non-URM candidates.
“In the
backdrop of today’s global health and economic crisis, many career-minded
individuals are shifting their perspectives, looking for social impact in their
own communities and becoming their own boss to achieve financial freedom,” said
Sabrina White, Vice President of School and Industry Engagement at GMAC.
“Acknowledging these differences by race-ethnicity offers an opportunity for
schools to engage in community partnerships that increase access to the
benefits of GME for the marginalized populations.”
About
the Report
The Value of
GME study included over 3,600 candidates worldwide who completed their graduate
business education between 2010 and 2021. GMAC surveyed these candidates before
and after they completed graduate business school about their motivation to
pursue GME and evaluation of their experience by their personal, professional,
and financial goals. Among them, 40% were women. The median age was 27 at the
pre-GME survey with an interquartile range of 24-30. These candidates came from
113 countries on all 6 populated continents. They attended 728 graduate
business schools or universities across 66 countries. More details of the full
report, and other research series produced by GMAC, are available on gmac.com. A companion piece for GME candidates with sample
profiles of the graduates is published on mba.com.
About
GMAC™
The Graduate
Management Admission Council (GMAC) is a mission-driven association of leading
graduate business schools worldwide. Founded in 1953, GMAC creates solutions
and experiences that enable business schools and candidates to better discover,
evaluate, and connect with each other.
GMAC provides
world-class research, industry conferences, recruiting tools, and assessments
for the graduate management education industry, as well as tools, resources,
events, and services that help guide candidates through their higher education
journey. Owned and administered by GMAC, the Graduate Management Admission
Test™ (GMAT™) exam is the most widely used graduate business school assessment.
More than 12
million prospective students a year trust GMAC’s websites, including mba.com, to learn about MBA and business master’s programs,
connect with schools around the world, prepare and register for exams and get
advice on successfully applying to MBA and business master’s programs. BusinessBecause and The MBA Tour are subsidiaries of GMAC, a global
organization with offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United
States.
To learn more
about our work, please visit www.gmac.com
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