Business school education a solid investment: Survey

95% rated their graduate mgmt education as 'good to outstanding'; 93% said they would recommend their graduate business programme to others

BS Reporter Mumbai
Last Updated : Feb 17 2015 | 1:09 AM IST
Business school (B-School) alumni say management courses help them earn more compensation, exercise enhanced purchasing power and rise to executive ranks, according to the findings of a Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey of about 12,000 B-School alumni.

The results of the 2015 Alumni Perspectives Survey Report offer a global snapshot of employment and career progression for graduate business school alumni representing batches 1959 through 2014. Of those surveyed, most said their engagement with their respective business school alumni associations contributed to their success.

"Graduate management degree-holders consistently tell GMAC their education is a solid investment and a spur to personal, professional and financial achievement, even in up-and-down economies," said Sangeet Chowfla, president and chief executive of GMAC.

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Conducted in October-November 2014, the survey covered the alumni of about 230 graduate business programmes at 71 universities, in 16 locations across the globe. Of those surveyed, 95 per cent rated their graduate management education as 'good to outstanding'; 93 per cent said they would recommend their graduate business programme to others.

Further, 90 per cent credited graduate management education with increasing their earning power. In developed, as well as developing, economies, graduate management alumni exercise enhanced purchasing power. A global analysis of their salaries by work location in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) and purchasing-power-parity per capita shows the purchasing power of business school alumni is 1.6-6.8 times that of an average resident of the country concerned.

The career trajectories of business school alumni show consistency in reaching the higher levels of their organisations, irrespective of the year of graduation. Within a year of securing their degrees, the majority of such alumni held mid-level positions.

Five years after graduation, most business school alumni are in senior-level positions or higher. After 10 years, one in four alumni is in executive-level positions and five per cent in the 'c-suite' (chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, etc). Of all alumni, graduates who have made it to the c-suite are the most likely to say they use the knowledge and skills picked up at B-Schools on the job.

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First Published: Feb 17 2015 | 12:28 AM IST

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