Students still value an MBA, but not ethics

April 8, 2010 - PRLog -- Titled Tomorrow’s MBA, has found that prospective students are still keen on the MBA qualification despite its reputation taking a knock during the economic crisis. However, asked what content was valuable to them as part of an MBA study, respondents put ethics in the bottom four out of 30 possible elements.

Carrington Crisp, education-marketing specialists, who conducted the study with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Association of Business Schools (ABS), found that only 7% of prospective students have become ‘more negative’ or a ‘lot more negative’ about the MBA qualification in the last year. Data for the study was gathered in November/December 2009. A total of 723 responses were received from prospective MBA students in 91 countries. Among the 91 nationalities responding to the survey the largest group came from India, followed by Australia and the UK. The majority of the samples are post-experience candidates. The largest group — 37% — has two to seven years of work experience.

Given the debate around ethical behaviour in business during the last year, less than 5% of prospective students felt it would be valuable to learn about ethics as part of an MBA programme. The most valuable content sought by students was identified as strategic management, managing people and organisations, leadership and international business.

Andrew Crisp, one of the authors of the study, says, “The point about the findings is not that people don’t want ethics, but that they expect it to be embedded in everything they learn rather than as a stand-alone course. In the question that was asked respondents were offered 30 pieces of typical content for an MBA course and asked to pick what they considered to be the five most valuable. Prospective students expect such subjects when they are well taught should all contain an element of ethics.”

For the majority of students, the MBA is about improving their career prospects and more than 70% said that a dedicated career service for MBA students was ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to them when deciding where to study. However, in the study the desire for career improvement is expressed in terms of acquiring new skills rather than enhancing earning potential. “Prospective students seem to recognise that in the current economic conditions getting a good job on graduation is more important than getting the highest paid job and that a good mix of skills is key to getting a job,” adds Crisp.

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According to Eric Cornuel, CEO & director general, EFMD: “The idea that business schools inevitably produce managers who are doomed to create the type of mess we are now in is ‘nonsense.’ Much of what has happened in the recent past has to do with dishonesty and immorality and no business school can be blamed for that. As this report clearly shows the MBA qualification has, and will continue to have, great value for students and employers.”

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