The rise of the younger students
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Della Bradshaw
WHEN it comes to management education, the under-25s have never been in such demand. Businesses are increasingly looking for new recruits who have some management training before they start their first corporate job and business schools from Boston to Beijing are happy to oblige.
Vying for the attention of these would-be managers - and their money - are business schools offering a whole raft of pre-experience management programmes, from masters in management degrees to specialised masters programmes to last, but not least, the US MBA.
Whilst the European business school sector speaks with almost a single voice in proclaiming that the MBA is a post-experience degree - applicants need several years of work experience before applying - in the US, the top schools are driving down the age of the students they enrol.
The likes of Harvard, Wharton, MIT and Chicago are all in on the act, while Stanford has gone as far as setting a target of enrolling 10 per cent of its class directly from undergraduate programmes.
All this comes at a time when the masters in management and specialised masters degrees favoured by European business schools are gaining in popularity and international recognition. So much so that a handful of North American business schools are also beginning to move into the market for MSc degrees aimed directly as those students leaving undergraduate programmes.
Queen's School of Business in Canada, for example, launched a pre-experience masters degree in management earlier this month.
The one-year programme - the masters in global management - is designed only for those who have an undergraduate degree in business. It is intended to give new managers an international perspective, something that recruiters are looking for more and more, says David Saunders, dean at Queen's.
Arguably Canada's most innovative business school - Queen's pioneered the use of videoconferencing in the classroom to overcome Canada's vast geography, and was the first top Canadian school to offer a one-year MBA programme - this could well be another area where Queen's has stepped ahead.
"There's really a thirst for this programme from both students and recruiters," says Prof Saunders. So much so that Procter & Gamble have sponsored the development of the programme.
A handful of US schools have also seen the value of such degrees, the first being the Weatherhead School at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It has a nine-month programme that teaches entry-level management and business skills. Unlike the Queen's degree, it is open to graduates from all disciplines, though proven quantitative skills are required. The degree can be a stepping-stone on to the two-year MBA programme - students can return to the second year of Weatherhead's MBA if they complete the masters programme and then work for at least a year.
The Simon school at the University of Rochester has launched a very similar one-year MSc programme that can also lead to the MBA. Like many US schools, Rochester is gearing its MBA programme to younger students.
Indeed, dean Mark Zupan believes that the Simon school could be the first top US school to have 50 per cent of its matriculating MBA students coming straight from undergraduate programmes. "Our biggest battle is the conventional wisdom that MBA students need prior work experience," he says.
At Thunderbird in Arizona, president Ángel Cabrera is launching two pre-experience degrees this autumn, an MSc in global management and an MA in global affairs and management - the two programmes overlap for two-thirds of the curriculum. Like the Queen's degree, these are intended to address international issues. "We want people to go into global businesses," he says.
Until 2000, the Thunderbird MBA programme comprised 50 per cent of recent graduates - only then it required prior work experience from MBA applicants. So, says Prof Cabrera, "It's basically reclaiming that market." Several other US business schools - Babson in Boston, for example - are also known to be investigating this market.
François Collin, executive director at the Community of European Management Schools (Cems), the Paris-based organisation that runs its masters in management (MIM) programme at 17 business schools, believes the demand for masters degrees is following the same pattern as that followed by the MBA 15 years ago and the executive MBA five to 10 years ago.
"The market is becoming international ... there is clear student mobility and there is the development of international brands," he says.
Europe has become the recognised centre for these masters programmes in the same way as the US is seen as the centre for MBAs. All of which means that European business schools are seeing strong increases in applications from students from outside Europe, notably India and China.
Schools in Europe say applications are rising all the time.
This is particularly true in France, at schools such as Essec in Paris and EM Lyon - at the latter more than 7,000 potential students applied for the 550 places on its masters in management programme in the latest round of applications.
One of the biggest problems for potential students is the range of programmes on offer and the differing names applied to them.
On the one hand there are specialised masters degrees, in finance or marketing; on the other hand, there are general management degrees that run the gamut of courses: marketing, economics, finance, strategy and so on.
Of the generalised programmes, some require applicants to have an undergraduate degree in business or economics, others do not. Mr Collin describes the range of degrees as "a continuum, all part of the same family," but differentiating between courses is a tortuous process.
Part of the Cems philosophy is to help define the standard of the masters degree as a pre-experience degree, says Bernard Ramanantsoa, chairman of Cems and dean of HEC Paris. But even he admits there is not one clear definition.
"We think this standard has become more and more recognised," he says. "Of course, if we look at the MSc there is no one unique standard, but frankly speaking, that is the same as for the MBA."
Another issue for potential students is the duration of masters programmes.
Some are one year in length, some two and some in between. The Bologna accord, which requires all European universities to offer distinct bachelor and masters programmes by 2010 has been interpreted in different ways in different countries.
In the UK, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands masters degrees are one year in length. In France, Italy and Scandinavia they are two years. In Germany they are a minimum of 18 months. "The complexity is that each country is trying to keep part of its old system," says Mr Collin.
While European business schools are becoming increasingly international in their appeal, in other countries masters degrees draw very much on the local student population - as with European schools five years ago.
In China, some of the most prestigious business schools - Tsinghua in Beijing and Fudan in Shanghai, for example - already have masters in science degrees, but they are taught in Chinese. Even the joint venture programme developed by Fudan with Bocconi in Italy, in which one year is taught in each country, is translated into Chinese if the professors do not speak the language.
Indian business schools also draw largely on the local student population. However, there is confusion about nomenclature in India where the post-graduate programme (PGP) is a two-year programme taught after the undergraduate degree - identical in structure to many masters in management degrees in Europe. Nonetheless, internationally, these degrees are dubbed MBAs.
So what is the future for the masters in management degree?
Prof Ramanantsoa is pragmatic: "The MBA will remain the top standard for the next five to 10 years. But it is clear that there will be a market for people with a good bachelor degree who want to get a second degree in another country."
Whether they will study for a masters in management degree, a specialised masters degree or an MBA is a question that only the market can decide.
Under syndication
arrangement with the FT
WHEN it comes to management education, the under-25s have never been in such demand. Businesses are increasingly looking for new recruits who have some management training before they start their first corporate job and business schools from Boston to Beijing are happy to oblige.
Vying for the attention of these would-be managers - and their money - are business schools offering a whole raft of pre-experience management programmes, from masters in management degrees to specialised masters programmes to last, but not least, the US MBA.
Whilst the European business school sector speaks with almost a single voice in proclaiming that the MBA is a post-experience degree - applicants need several years of work experience before applying - in the US, the top schools are driving down the age of the students they enrol.
The likes of Harvard, Wharton, MIT and Chicago are all in on the act, while Stanford has gone as far as setting a target of enrolling 10 per cent of its class directly from undergraduate programmes.
All this comes at a time when the masters in management and specialised masters degrees favoured by European business schools are gaining in popularity and international recognition. So much so that a handful of North American business schools are also beginning to move into the market for MSc degrees aimed directly as those students leaving undergraduate programmes.
Queen's School of Business in Canada, for example, launched a pre-experience masters degree in management earlier this month.
The one-year programme - the masters in global management - is designed only for those who have an undergraduate degree in business. It is intended to give new managers an international perspective, something that recruiters are looking for more and more, says David Saunders, dean at Queen's.
Arguably Canada's most innovative business school - Queen's pioneered the use of videoconferencing in the classroom to overcome Canada's vast geography, and was the first top Canadian school to offer a one-year MBA programme - this could well be another area where Queen's has stepped ahead.
"There's really a thirst for this programme from both students and recruiters," says Prof Saunders. So much so that Procter & Gamble have sponsored the development of the programme.
A handful of US schools have also seen the value of such degrees, the first being the Weatherhead School at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It has a nine-month programme that teaches entry-level management and business skills. Unlike the Queen's degree, it is open to graduates from all disciplines, though proven quantitative skills are required. The degree can be a stepping-stone on to the two-year MBA programme - students can return to the second year of Weatherhead's MBA if they complete the masters programme and then work for at least a year.
The Simon school at the University of Rochester has launched a very similar one-year MSc programme that can also lead to the MBA. Like many US schools, Rochester is gearing its MBA programme to younger students.
Indeed, dean Mark Zupan believes that the Simon school could be the first top US school to have 50 per cent of its matriculating MBA students coming straight from undergraduate programmes. "Our biggest battle is the conventional wisdom that MBA students need prior work experience," he says.
At Thunderbird in Arizona, president Ángel Cabrera is launching two pre-experience degrees this autumn, an MSc in global management and an MA in global affairs and management - the two programmes overlap for two-thirds of the curriculum. Like the Queen's degree, these are intended to address international issues. "We want people to go into global businesses," he says.
Until 2000, the Thunderbird MBA programme comprised 50 per cent of recent graduates - only then it required prior work experience from MBA applicants. So, says Prof Cabrera, "It's basically reclaiming that market." Several other US business schools - Babson in Boston, for example - are also known to be investigating this market.
François Collin, executive director at the Community of European Management Schools (Cems), the Paris-based organisation that runs its masters in management (MIM) programme at 17 business schools, believes the demand for masters degrees is following the same pattern as that followed by the MBA 15 years ago and the executive MBA five to 10 years ago.
"The market is becoming international ... there is clear student mobility and there is the development of international brands," he says.
Europe has become the recognised centre for these masters programmes in the same way as the US is seen as the centre for MBAs. All of which means that European business schools are seeing strong increases in applications from students from outside Europe, notably India and China.
Schools in Europe say applications are rising all the time.
This is particularly true in France, at schools such as Essec in Paris and EM Lyon - at the latter more than 7,000 potential students applied for the 550 places on its masters in management programme in the latest round of applications.
One of the biggest problems for potential students is the range of programmes on offer and the differing names applied to them.
On the one hand there are specialised masters degrees, in finance or marketing; on the other hand, there are general management degrees that run the gamut of courses: marketing, economics, finance, strategy and so on.
Of the generalised programmes, some require applicants to have an undergraduate degree in business or economics, others do not. Mr Collin describes the range of degrees as "a continuum, all part of the same family," but differentiating between courses is a tortuous process.
Part of the Cems philosophy is to help define the standard of the masters degree as a pre-experience degree, says Bernard Ramanantsoa, chairman of Cems and dean of HEC Paris. But even he admits there is not one clear definition.
"We think this standard has become more and more recognised," he says. "Of course, if we look at the MSc there is no one unique standard, but frankly speaking, that is the same as for the MBA."
Another issue for potential students is the duration of masters programmes.
Some are one year in length, some two and some in between. The Bologna accord, which requires all European universities to offer distinct bachelor and masters programmes by 2010 has been interpreted in different ways in different countries.
In the UK, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands masters degrees are one year in length. In France, Italy and Scandinavia they are two years. In Germany they are a minimum of 18 months. "The complexity is that each country is trying to keep part of its old system," says Mr Collin.
While European business schools are becoming increasingly international in their appeal, in other countries masters degrees draw very much on the local student population - as with European schools five years ago.
In China, some of the most prestigious business schools - Tsinghua in Beijing and Fudan in Shanghai, for example - already have masters in science degrees, but they are taught in Chinese. Even the joint venture programme developed by Fudan with Bocconi in Italy, in which one year is taught in each country, is translated into Chinese if the professors do not speak the language.
Indian business schools also draw largely on the local student population. However, there is confusion about nomenclature in India where the post-graduate programme (PGP) is a two-year programme taught after the undergraduate degree - identical in structure to many masters in management degrees in Europe. Nonetheless, internationally, these degrees are dubbed MBAs.
So what is the future for the masters in management degree?
Prof Ramanantsoa is pragmatic: "The MBA will remain the top standard for the next five to 10 years. But it is clear that there will be a market for people with a good bachelor degree who want to get a second degree in another country."
Whether they will study for a masters in management degree, a specialised masters degree or an MBA is a question that only the market can decide.
Under syndication
arrangement with the FT