Robots and responsibility in the core of the MBA
25 January 2022
Global challenges or the challenges of technology, Andrew Crisp looks at what’s driving prospective MBA students in the latest Tomorrow’s MBA study.
Technology has increasingly been at the heart of MBA programmes with students seeking courses in data analytics, technology management and information management. The latest Tomorrow’s MBA report, published with EFMD, suggests technology is even more important with respondents to the study putting Artificial Intelligence as the second most valuable course in an MBA degree.
It’s perhaps not surprising that students want technology in their MBA when Amazon reported in 2021 that the number of MBA jobs that they offered had increased by 20% year-on-year. Students keen to get a strong return on their investment in an MBA will want to ensure they have an understanding of technology and mix of skills to succeed in tech-businesses, whether they are large companies like Amazon or small start-ups.
For prospective students, technology also offers new ways to study for their MBA. Many traditional business schools have created innovative online MBA degrees with the Gies School of Business, developing a degree that costs under $25,000 and now attracts around 4,000 students annually.
However, there are other providers that are new to the market, such as Coursera collaborating with business schools like Gies as well as organisations such as The Power MBA and Quantic. In 2020, Quantic had around 70,000 applications for their MBA offer priced at just under $10,000.
Alongside the growing importance of technology in the MBA, prospective students are looking for other content that connects with wider issues across society. Around 7 out of 10 prospective MBAs in the Tomorrow’s MBA study want content in their degree that covers global challenges (72%), responsible management (71%), diversity, equality and inclusion (70%) and ethical leadership (69%).
The 2021/2022 Tomorrow’s MBA study had 1129 respondents from 25 countries.
Download a free summary of this year’s report or buy the full report.