An MBA Degree that is already considered costly is becoming far more extravagant for the MBA applicants

An MBA degree is considered a ‘fancy’ degree because of its delicacy and costly financial aspect. It is, however, doubtful because of the opportunity costs that arise with pursuing an MBA degree. With the global economy’s volatility starting to stabilize after the years of the Covid pandemic, this presents a dilemma for potential students. Engaging in a full-time MBA degree is costly, with only individuals who have the luxury to take time off from work can afford to take the program.

Being able to pursue an MBA degree financially is not a new issue. But with the pandemic impacting the global society and economy, the burden of funding has flourished for MBA applicants. In the current economy, it is well worth spending the money to get an MBA degree because a job with a requirement of an MBA can easily pay a six-figure salary.

According to Leila Guerra, the vice dean of London’s Imperial College Business School, the ability to fund their MBA courses has become a greater concern among the MBA applicants and students. Further, consideration of the financial aspect of an MBA degree and the opportunity that can be gained when the MBA opportunity is a hot topic of discussion due it today's uncertain times.

Though, despite the high cost, an MBA degree is considered a great pathway with many career benefits. With knowledge of jobs with higher salaries and connections gained from their graduate schools, Guerra explains that the crisis results recruiters demanding more competent individuals with an MBA degree. Even with the future becoming more unpredictable due to the pandemic, she claims it’s also a good time to apply for an MBA program and be ready for the job market when demand for MBA graduates grows.

The expensive cost of an MBA is both a burden and a challenge

An MBA course is a heavy financial investment. It requires thoughtful consideration before you decide to pursue the degree. Therefore, the pandemic raised the issue of whether the value of the course is fair. This is due to the fact that the courses are being taught online due to the closure of campuses. Discontentment among the students has led to schools promising to open and resume the teaching on-campus if the conditions are met. “Everyone including students, staff, and faculty will return back to the campus if they are fully vaccinated”, according to the associate dean of admissions at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business in Washing DC, Shelly Heinrich.

The closure of the campuses around the world sparked a petition by students with the idea of courses being too costly when the teaching occurs online. Thus a request for a refund or discount of the fees was demanded. However, with the campuses opening up and higher vaccination rates among the western countries, the movement of this petition was no longer given any attention. Heinrich added that tuition fees will stay as it is because of the opening of school after the high vaccination rate.

IESE Business School in Spain has collaborated with Caixabank to offer students a loan for both Spanish and international students and GyanDhan for Indian students. With a costly course fee, many schools are offering more support for their students with financial difficulties.

It is a growing concern as many financial institutions are ceasing their support to the students due to the pandemic’s impact on the economy. Paula Amorim, MBA admissions director at IESE, raised a concern on this matter. “This phenomenon is a widely recognized especially on those whom are coming from developing countries with weaker economy. Not able to fund their courses because of banks prohibiting or limiting the loan is becoming more prevailing.”

Various methods to outweigh the financial hardship from MBA

Financial hardship is being acknowledged by the MBA schools. From partial to full tuition fees, MBA scholarships are being presented to a diverse range of classes. The range of scholarships and financial assistance has increased over the years despite the pandemic. ESADE Business School in Barcelona has set a record for the highest number of scholarships given out last year. McDonough School of Business in Georgetown has reduced and waivered numerous application fees to those with financial hardship backgrounds.

But international students have to consider more factors during the pandemic. Imperial College Business School in London relieved the partial cost of the hotel quarantine fees that international students must partake in. Additional support has been granted, such as a fund for those in financial difficulty and pastoral care during the pandemic.

Alongside the financial assistance from the school, opportunities to earn a fair income have been introduced through the form of teaching assistantships or internships to uphold their cost of study. Various MBA schools in North America offer summer internships where the salary can be up to $9,000 dollars a month if you are from the top schools. However, Amorim from IESE, suggests that with the high competition and intensity of the MBA program, taking any sort of job away from your study can affect your grade substantially. “Working and studying in IESE at the same time is a challenge when the course requires high academic demands.”

Funds and support from the company are a common way for MBA students with bright prospects. However, schools are witnessing the decline of this support in times of crisis to reduce operating costs. Guerra from Imperial says “There is a clear evidence of showing companies lacking on the enthusiasm to sponsor students. This is for the business to survive the new reality.”

Even with the reduction of sponsorships, the opportunity to get an MBA degree is still there. Heinrich from Georgetown explains “The crisis merely reduced the opportunity. With the growing market and industry after the pandemic, there are still many employment that can be found.”

Importance of MBA in the future.

The global economy is unpredictable and is currently in a stage of upheaval. But because of the current situation, many experts emphasize the benefits of pursuing the MBA course at the moment. They claim that in the end, the return from the MBA degree will be more beneficial than the high financial fee and the years of study invested.

Many schools, including HEC, increased the number of applications and admissions last year. The director of MBA admissions at HEC Paris, Benoit Banchereau, says “Companies in the time of pandemic and also the future will demand more competent individuals. Therefore, the importance of an MBA degree from the top schools will become more advantageous.”

Founding partner of admissions agency Menlo Coaching in the Netherlands, David White, agrees and states the importance of an MBA degree’s long-term value. “MBA will become crucial to form a strong network, better skills in communication and with easier entry in fields such as management consulting, investment institutions and other lucrative areas.”

Read More: The MBA Labor Market is on the Rise

As economies bounce back globally, job markets are at the heart of a post-Covid recovery

Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global labor markets and causing a large increase in unemployment, the MBA labor markets appears to be in a reasonably good shape in 2021. With the global economic recovery underway, job markets are opening doors to career seekers. Yet, the competition for the business graduate remains intense.

Since the pandemic-induced recession has had a major impact on the availability of graduate jobs, it has damaged employment prospects for those who graduated during the pandemic. Consequently, this year, the competition for graduate jobs is at a record high, with a backlog of former students from last year adding to the pressure on the career path for new graduates. It means that business students graduating this summer are hunting for an edge in the job race, competing not only with their peers, but those having waited for the job market recovery during the COVID-19 recession.

“Competition for graduates are certainly intense”, comments Mai-Gee Hum, the Director of career management services and corporate partnerships at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business in Canada.

While acknowledging the pandemic has made the situation for the graduates worse, Hum remains positive about the job opportunity. The labor market for business students has recovered in the wake of COVID-19 despite slow growth in wages. Data from the Graduate Management Admission Council shows that 92 per cent of corporates seek to hire graduates in 2021.

Career opportunities are amongst the corporate winners from COVID-19

The main job creators for MBA students this year are the big winners of the Covid pandemic. According to career coaches and employment data, they include technology, alongside venture capital and private equity firms.

On the other hand, the COVID-19 recession has left a long-lasting impact on other sectors such as hospitality, retail, and natural resources such as the oil and gas industry, all of which have few vacancies.

Hum claims that, nevertheless, employment prospects for those graduating in 2021 is bright, especially for those who are willing to start their career in finance, consulting and e-commerce. For example, Hum adds, job availability in banking is positive in the midst of economic recovery after the pandemic. Consulting jobs are also booming as businesses have grown during the pandemic, when the demand from corporates for business consulting was high. The job opportunities in healthcare are also bright in the post-Covid era.

However, as Hum notes, industries like entertainment, travel, and tourism have not yet shown positive signs of bouncing back with a slow change in recruitment.

There are smart ways to find a job for MBA students despite fierce competition

What career experts advise is clear: be flexible with industry, learn how the virtual hiring process works, and prepare to impress interviewers with what you have done to resolve the pandemic-induced challenges.

For jobs in major companies, the candidates need to demonstrate their capability of managing uncertainty, highlights Patti Brown, a global MBA director at ESSEC Business School in France.  Brown adds that this requirement is not new, since it has been always requested by employers; but it has been certainly emphasized during the pandemic.

"Demonstrating how you have coped with ambiguity in the time of the pandemic can be a way of showing how innovative you are," says Liza Kirkpatrick, managing director of the career management center at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. In other words, candidates need to take the COVID-induced circumstances as an opportunity to prove their flexibility and networking.

"The point is to show confidence in what you have done to deal with the unexpected situations and what you have learned from those challenges," adds Kirkpatrick.

For those whose internship was cancelled last summer, it cannot be more emphasized. "Internships were cancelled since companies were not ready for remote workers," says Dominique Gobat, senior careers advisor at University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

According to Gobat, graduates who managed to show their flexibility and management skills were successful in the competition, even during the pandemic. Gobat says it shows how much companies value candidates’ soft skills.

Then, what graduates need to learn would be how to get to grips with virtual recruitment, learning how to use the benefit of this recruiting procedure. "Employers and graduates are both positive about the virtual recruitment system as it allows efficiency for job interviews, both time and money-wise," says Kellogg’s Kirkpatrick.

Virtual recruitment is a good way for companies and candidates to keep the hiring process economical. Kirkpatrick explains, “Employers were able to expand their reach across MBA programs and students were able to manage interview conflicts, which in the past made them miss opportunities”.

What are new ways for recruiting MBA graduates?

Kirkpatrick advises to preparing for Zoom interviews and improving online job search skills as well as communication skills will give you an edge on such a competitive market.

Kirkpatrick emphasizes the importance of preparing for any interactions with potential employers and recommends using the university’s job center and alumni association to get hints for informational interviews from graduates who are already in the industry.

ESSEC’s Brown, underlines that companies today, for instance, Snap and Amazon, strategically use alumni networks within the corporates to get recommendations from their current workers when employing new workers.

Regarding virtual recruitment that has been popularly used during the pandemic, Brown agrees with other experts that it will remain in the post-covid era, so much that she put several sessions in a curriculum to help students’ online interviews. Brown adds, “We have alumni now strategically placed in companies such as Snap and Amazon, which are hiring and favor recommendations from current employees.”

Another piece of advice from business schools for the 2021 cohort is, “Have a plan B, C, D, E and F,” and “Don’t be a snob; the company that is unknown today could be the Amazon of tomorrow”. Schools encourage their graduates to stay open and motivated to venture into a business they might not have been interested in before.

“Students who can diversify their job search approach on-the-fly and have a strong desire for personal improvement are finding their way into great jobs”, agrees Luca Allaria, MBA career advisory manager at St. Gallen. Allaria underlines the importance of demonstrating their open mindsets to accept feedback, to question themselves and to make unplanned changes if needed.

The last tip from Kellogg’s Kirkpatrick is that students should not wait for the one perfect job since there is never only one path to a successful career. Kirkpatrick adds, if you did, “you may be missing the doors that are open to you.”

Read More: Will Augmented and Virtual Reality Change Our Classrooms

A beginning of decades of innovations for our learning experience with immersive personalization

Working from home to the rise of Metaverse, Coronavirus became the catalyst to our society for the imminent changes towards virtual reality. This is no different to the world of business schools. After continuous off-campus and online classes, business schools are introducing virtual reality and holograms into their curriculum for MBA students.

An unfamiliar, yet innovative, online classes which in some ways benefit more than the actual classrooms is the concept. With its initial pilot receiving successful feedbacks, it is positive to say that the virtual reality provides an engaging learning experience as schools are considering to implement advanced technologies with an expense in their campuses after the pandemic is over.

In January 2019, a new technology called INSEAD was introduced around the countries such as Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and France to replace online zoom class sessions. According to the Ithai Stern, a professor from INSEAD, he stated that it is beneficial for teachers and professors as they are able to establish an intriguing learning environment in a safe manner.

"INSEAD’s main aim is to amplify student’s experience inside the virtual world. By enhancing their engagement and helping them to absorb the knowledge better," Stern explains “Immersion that comes from the virtual world allows the experience to become more lucid yet more memorable.” Stern added “Additionally, what we do inside the virtual world retains as much what we do in real world when we see, listen or act. A near equivalent brain stimulus from same action.”

The success of INSEAD in over 90 countries with more than 2,000 MBA students taking the VR pilot program, students were able to overcome the distance barrier with a help of their headsets. Various unusual settings are imported for better experience. An example of the uses for INSEAD include showing a scene of observing a blatant mistreatment at an office meeting or visiting a tractor factory in France.

Stern added “Anyone inside this virtual world can be anywhere taken. An undisturbed areas to reinforce their learning experience is just one of the things that can be achieved” Professor’s higher interest to offer better education to the students lead to business schools to focus stronger on the field of virtual reality.

Potential of Virtual Reality

Case studies in business schools are also being created through VR. NEOMA, a production company launched in 2016, manages production of case studies to be used inside VR. They provide case studies in four areas including marketing, supply chain management and human resources used by over 3,700 students.

Alain Goudey, chief officer at NEOMA Business School located in France claims the positive benefit of education through VR. “Students show extra commitment from the situations that are thoughtfully created by their professors. Considered construction of physiological experiment in return provides students to memorize more efficiently. Routines between theory and practice is shorter and does greater than experiment directly conducted in business scenarios.”

“Improved learning experience through improved technology, that’s the perk of the technology” says Goudey. "Immersive technology enhancing student’s ability of learning was found by the research from PwC. Students feel more confident about what they learn and able to apply better because they believe studying through VR feels more linked with others compared to simply studying the case study online."

Stern proclaims about the further development in technology for enhanced VR experience. Introduction of ‘room-scale’ VR where it will allow groups of people to freely interact and able to palpable objects to reinforce user’s senses during the learning. Another is the use of 5G networking to become more mobile.

Barriers VR to Overcome

However, VR is still an unfinished technology. Stern added “What we can do inside VR to interact and observe within the current headsets is not as much as we anticipate. This will need to overcome in the future with superior hardware over the generations and software with features like powerful data analytics, AI learning, and natural language processing.”

Stern is comfortable that on one given day, augmented reality will replace many of the existing form of teaching through classrooms. However, the technology we currently possess is insufficient to portray digital images onto the real world at a satisfactory level for MBA classrooms at the moment.

Limitation of the technology is not the only obstacles of the VR for business schools. Business Schools clarifies the lack of technology devices among students. The high demand of the technology isn’t followed by the distribution of the device among globally.

"VR definitely impresses people” says Josefine Raasch, a senior learning designer at ESMT Berlin. She claims this is not especially favorable to learning from an educational standpoint as students might lose their focus on the VR itself rather than the content they perceive.

VR devices are costly materials and this is not including the necessities of video production cost. Raach points out the difficulty of financial aspect where an affordable VR glass is known to cause side effects like headaches and mild illness unless an extravagant device is purchased. When business school needs to consider over hundreds of students, it is a burden that they cannot ignore.

Lastly, Raach shared about her VR teaching experience at ESMT “The final outcome from the VR might be satisfying, but when we weight that with the complexity and expenses that occurred, it is hard to say if the VR teaching is worth to partake.”

Read More: To Infinity and Beyond, MBA Students in Aerospace

Human rights is serious concerns for many cooperates and organizations around the globe within their operation and supply networks

Human rights is a key topic around the globe like climate change which is currently at the heat of attention for global organizations. With criticisms for ongoing social issues like mistreatment of Uyghur in China and abuse of child labor across indigenous societies, organizations share burden and responsibility to address such matters.

This movement has been transferred into business schools as well. Michael Posner, director of Stern’s Center for Business and Human Rights explains the importance of educating students with integrity. A mindset and appropriate skills to raise a next generation leaders. In order to do so, he argues that human rights are required to be implemented in every part of course taught in business schools.

Nevertheless, he points out that the business schools needs to stand out and act as the vanguard of treating human rights risk as their main agendas.

His organization, the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights in New York City, was founded in 2013 and it’s one of the first center to highlight the importance of human rights in business school. It collaborates with the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights and the Global Business School Network, a non-profit dedicated to improving management education in emerging economies, to actively urge other schools to launch human rights programs.

Given his enthusiasm on human rights, Stern’s Center emerges research agendas with human right concerns in many business areas. With the example of Stern Center, MBA Curriculum is given expectancy and more prominent to feature human rights to be included into all aspects of business educations.

Human rights curriculum is becoming more universal for MBA Programs

Series of laws and regulations is a product of growing interest and expectations on human rights across the society. Some of the notable ones include UK Modern Slavery Act, the French Duty of Vigilance law, and the upcoming EU Directive on required due diligence.

With growing interest for human rights, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark has appeared where the society are able to determine human rights ratings and rankings for a cooperation with the growing public attention.

Business Initiative is a cooperative organization between Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center and the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Hass School of Business in California. It is founded in 2015 and Faris Natour is the current director of this initiative.

Natour emphasizes that corporate duty to protect human rights is an essential pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a worldwide standard adopted by the UN in 2011 and universally supported by business, governments, investors, and human rights organizations.

Hass provides a full length MBA course which is Managing Human Rights in Business. Natour claims that this was never seen in the previous curriculum before. He presents that major companies and organizations seek human rights agenda as an immediate priorities within the higher management. Therefore, MBA students are in higher demands for a course that emerges human rights and business.

Natour added “With higher enrollment numbers for these courses, business schools will present and compose more course with human rights inside their curriculum.” He underlined companies will address their potential human rights impacts into account for their business success and it is important for students to be well equipped.

Importance of highlighting human right issues within companies and business schools

Although the importance of integration of human rights into business school is becoming prevalent, it still faces challenges where business school lacks faculties in regard.

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, professor at the Institute of Management at Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM) in Switzerland concerns about the limitation of both theory and practical approach when it comes to human rights in business school.

With flooding of courses offered by the schools, it is merely impossible to include human rights into curriculum and require a substantial curriculum reforms. She added “Not taking into account of dominant paradigm of neoliberalism in business schools in its state.

Not just in the education sector but for business sectors, Baumann-Pauly warns about the danger of not appropriately addressing human right issues. It could be a risk of financial loss to getting involved in a legal terms. With its growing awareness around the world, there is a potential risk of losing company reputation as well. Nonetheless, this factors are changing companies to alter their operation practices more meaningfully.

In addition to not appropriately addressing human right issues, she raised a concern about corporate managements are still not appreciating the needing of reforms across their supply chains the operational task of their business. Ceremonial movement of human rights such as modern slavery acknowledgement will simply not cut it.

She explains that graduates are required to go through curriculum with real world challenges and if the business school cannot provide that, it will provide insignificant employees for the potential employers. Her aim is to reinforce and work on business school reforms to fight for the societal challenges.

However, with students beginning to seek courses for future agendas in relations to urgent social concerns such as climate change and global inequalities, Baumann-Pauly is forecasting cautious but optimistic view for the future.

Acknowledging the need for change in business education, GSEM has developed a specialty for students with motives to change and contribute for better sustainable business and human rights. This specialty can only be acquired if the master class on Business and Human Rights are taken as prerequisite.

Implementing human rights into an existing business school curriculum is not an easy task. Therefore, Global Business School Network took a note of this as published a toolkit to assist and provide guidelines that explains how to create the case for human rights in business school education and adapt human rights appropriately into the curriculum.

Furthermore, research that provides good societal changes are taken into more considerations by the organizations like business school accreditation bodies and foundations with research grants.

Read More: US Business Schools Combat Anti-Asian Racism

People don’t wish to study in a country with Covid swarming up and why is that important

Covid-19 has changed and shifted the decisions made by the MBA students. Rather than considering from the fame of the institution to the depth of the courses they provide, location wise has also became a prominent factor. This can be observed from the survey that was conducted by the education research firm Carrington Crisp and a certified organization, EFMD. The outcome portrays that over 23% of MBA students are willing to abandon their enrollment if the respective country is under the influence of Covid-19.

This is heavily looked upon it due to the fact that the demand for the MBA degrees has risen up in the period of Covid as the uncertainty in economy prevails employees to chase stronger qualifications. This phenomenon results higher enrollment of MBA students but with this pandemic taking into account.

Many experts see this as an unavoidable result from this pandemic. Eric Cornuel, Management Development President for the European Foundation, emphasizes on the importance for school to acknowledge that epidemic control in a certain country is what makes student decides to come for MBA course.

Cornuel argues that difference in Covid control especially during the early waves determined their current economic stand. Lack of government’s actions and policy to contain the virus such as Brazil and India is facing the consequences whereas leading nations like Australia and New Zealand with a strong containment of the virus is able to recover from the damage.

Furthermore, he acknowledges why MBA candidates are deferring their offer. The quality of their study shows strong correlations with the Covid containment including the successful implementation of vaccine roll-outs, accurate track and trace systems, logistical management within the campus and whether the online course can meet up to the quality from the campus. He added “Experts across the disciplines agree that students are showing considerate but thoughtful observations to decide their school to enroll.”  

Is travel restrictions making a huge impact for MBA students?

Schools witnessed greater number of students deciding to study in their home country. With growing population of offshore study, this raises concerns over poor quality of online teaching.

“No one likes to study through Zoom or online when learning in campus in comparison provide much more value to the experience” discussed by the Antonia Kalkavoura, director of corporate affairs at Alba Graduate Business School in Athens, Greece. She states that with such high tuition fees and lack of networking for the online teachings, the course become mediocre with an example of petition signed by vast number of students.

Top MBA schools like Stanford and Wharton couldn’t avoid the petition as well where students have requested refunds or discounts from what they believe that the quality provided through online course did not meet the standard of the school fees they endured.

Kalkavoura also suggested that the westerns countries like US and Europe are ahead vaccination campaigns where Asia, in other hand, which had effectively contained the virus via public health efforts, is now falling behind. She says countries that are better off with this pandemic or their vaccination rollout is experiencing more applicants wanting to study. This was backed up by Andrew Crisp, co-founder of Carrington Crisp, where leading countries with vaccination rollout will retain favorable position when it comes to students deciding where to study from end of 2021.

Another consideration is the physical obstacle which is travel restrictions. MBA Director at Maastricht University in Netherland, Boris Blumberg, worried “Students will simply not commence their study if they can’t come to Netherlands due to travel restrictions” He however, does predict the will be temporary until the restrictions are valid and vaccination campaign are rolled out.

Travel limitations have been one of the major hurdles restricting the growth of MBA applications, particularly from overseas students but also if students who are obliged to begin their education online may acquire post-study work permits. Last year, the United States was forced to backtrack after a backlash erupted from declaring that overseas students would be barred from living in the country if they only took lessons online.

Beyond post-MBA graduates during Covid

According to the MBA director at China Europe International Business School, Shameen Prashantham, there a percentage of students that is yet to make decisions and decided to postpone their enrollment and neglecting their study option this year.

He argues that although the safety factor is a motive for students to decide where to study but ultimately not the biggest decision driver. He admits, however, that the epidemic is tied to an applicant's belief on the economy of a specific country. Moreover, he explains that MBA graduates will gain more opportunity if the country they reside to study recovers faster from pandemic which is linked to the pandemic country.

International students need to consider after their graduation, settling down in a foreign society with often a huge debt. When this is taken into account, if leading companies are not hiring, that is going to make international students unfavorable to apply to that country. Therefore, students are willing to understand and aware the necessity for containment measures and minimize the pandemic’s influence on the application trends.

With multiple mutations and variations that are destructive and unstoppable such as Delta type, Blumberg at Massatricht discussed the uncertainty of more mutations to evolve is substantial and will continuously put countries in risk with high infection rates like Latin America currently.

A survey of 105,083 prospective students conducted by the higher education think-tank Quacquarelli Symonds shows that 47 percent of people agreed that the UK has become an attractive destination for oversea students. This is due to the fact that UK showed impressive result with their vaccinations campaign and its successful outcome.

Open communication between institutions and applicants is becoming more crucial with the unpredictability of the current situation. CEIBS’ Prashantham explains "Although we may not have all of the answers, continuous and open communication is critical."

According to Crisp, the long-term result might be more students preferring to study online, perhaps eliminating the need for travel. "Countries that provide high-quality online education will benefit the most."

It is early to say whether the current direction will maintain its tendency with the uncertainty still beneath around Covid for business schools.

Read More: The Continuos Demand for MBA Programs

MBA programs support students to improve emotional intelligence to respond to corporates’ demand for values-driven leadership

Christian Dummett, executive director of the London Business School (LBS) Career Center, says that enterprises have lately emphasized the significance of the human side of leaders in motivating employees and raising awareness of wellbeing as well as inclusive diversity.

The need for empathetic leaders has increased especially during the Covid pandemic. Dummett explains that since employees’ circumstances, motivation, and well-being have been considerably changed due to more frequent remote working, leaders have felt the need to adjust their leadership accordingly. He says, “There is a growing view that empathetic and forward-thinking leaders are more effective in getting the best out of their employees.”

Dummett notes, “Empathetic leaders who treat their employees with respect and dignity not only attract top talent but also succeed in retaining them in the long-term.” As mental health management of employees takes a large part of the budget and mismanagement can affect performance, it is evident that human-centered leadership has a strong appeal to businesses.

In this vein, industry practitioners are concerned about current MBA courses that disregard the importance of social skills for future leaders. Then, how can MBA programs nurture the human side of their students that is now claimed to be an essential requirement for developing leaders?

According to Dummett, business schools provide their students with varying programs to meet the growing demand in the industry for emotionally intelligent leaders. For instance, at LBS, MBA students are encouraged to work with a 360-degree feedback system and to create a personality profile as the program starts. These programs are designed to allow students to understand their leadership style as well as strong and weak points, all of which are to set their individual goals to improve their leadership skills throughout their time at MBA.

Dummett comments, “Experiential learning activities, individual coaching, and club leadership opportunities help our students to develop the ‘soft’ leadership skills, such as social and emotional intelligence, that are needed for global business success.”

What business schools can do to bring positive change

For many schools that have continuously underlined the human side of leadership, the question of how institutions can drive change is not new, Ricard Serlavós, a lecturer at the Department of People Management and Organization at ESADE Business School in Spain, says. Serlavós adds that the adjustment of the assessment criteria utilized by the accreditation agencies, AACSB and EQUIS, is a great example of the ongoing change within the sector.

Serlavós points out that there has been wide criticism on the role of MBA programs in developing managerial mentality, which was partly responsible for bringing the 2008 financial crisis on. “I believe and trust that the industry has learned its lesson. Its future survival will depend on it,” he says.

To encourage students to make positive changes both in the industry and society at large, ESADE has developed its curriculum. With its MBA program, it hopes to forge students’ managerial mindsets, especially emphasizing collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and effective communication skills.

Serlavós says that these changes in the sector are, in fact, partially initiated by the employers. He says that enterprises have been making efforts to increase their employees’ quality of life as well as diversity and inclusion.

However, Serlavós adds that temporary leave for mental health reasons has noticeably increased in recent years. He notes, “Multiple studies reveal that the main cause of voluntary departure from an organization is the abrasive or toxic profile of the immediate boss.” He further highlighted that the role of managers in the creation of work environments is undeniably fundamental to stimulate participation, initiative, a sense of purpose, and effective contribution.

How are business schools developing students’ soft leadership skills?

The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business also strives to enhance students’ emotional intelligence and empathy as parts of social and emotional skills development.

Giving Voice to Values, a curriculum directed by a professor of practice Mary Gentile at Darden, is aimed to promote values-driven leadership across the institutions in the U.S. The most effective teaching techniques to nurture social and emotional skills, such as through rehearsal and feedback, are outlined in the course.

Gentile underscores, “Giving Voice To Values provides opportunities for students to practice action-planning for values-driven leadership.” She mentions that through the course, students build a “moral muscle memory,” which would enable them to act in situations where they previously failed to recognize the conflicts of values.

The curriculum includes a case study where students are given scenarios in which the protagonist has already decided on what the “right” action is. Students are to find ways to effectively persuade the protagonist in each scenario. Gentile adds, “They have to understand the perceived stakes and risks and motivations of their audience and frame their approach accordingly.”

In responding to some institutions’ concerns about balancing between the rising demand for emotional intelligence and the long-demanded skills like finance, Gentile ensures that the value-driven curriculum is well blended into traditional courses such as finance, accounting, and operations.

She further elaborates that lectures on value-driven leadership must be integrated throughout the program. She emphasizes, “It will not be effective to simply add an attention to emotional intelligence and values to an already crowded curriculum and to ask faculty who are experts in finance or marketing to teach psychology.”

Read More: What Covid-19 Means for the Business School Applicants

With groups of minorities, women, and the underrepresented joining full-time MBA courses, Business schools see the growth of international students

At the beginning of the Covid shutdown, business schools saw a growth of applications due to the Covid-induced financial turndown that motivated people to upgrade their résumé and career path for when the economy rebounds. A report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC, the entrance test administrator) suggests that the high demand in 2020 was not an ephemeral phenomenon, based on the ongoing growth in 2021 with increased demand of 0.4 percent.

Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC, says that MBAs initiated more flexible admission policies for prospective students looking for new career opportunities while experiencing the economic shock, which in turn led to growth in applications last year.

Regarding the question of whether this trend was merely a momentary phenomenon due to the Covid-related economic recession or a beginning of continuous demand, Chowfla suggests looking at the 2021 application cycle. He says, “The surging demand for graduate business education is not a passing fad but has staying power beyond 2020.”

For some institutions such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, the increase in applications since the pandemic has been clearer in part-time applications than in full-time applications. According to Jochen Wirtz, vice-dean of NUS MBA programs, the school has welcomed a doubling in applications over the last two years since 2020.

Wirtz remains positive about such high demand as he expects to see a continuous uptick in applications in 2022, for many candidates seek to upgrade their credentials to land a better position in the post-pandemic era.

Wirtz adds that their prospective students have varying motivations: “from those looking to switch from industries badly hit by the pandemic, to those looking to gain the knowledge, skills, and network to break into exciting emerging industries such as fintech, impact investing, or sustainable energy.”

Despite the pandemic-related circumstances, a number of MBAs achieved unprecedented employment outcomes such as considerable increases in salary and job opportunities across finance, consulting, and technology fields.

Will the demand for MBA programs stay high?

In spite of witnessing the continuous increase in applications last year, some business school faculties find it difficult to expect the same for the upcoming academic year. David Simpson, MBA admissions director at London Business School, notes that their school experienced a surge in applications over the last two consecutive years since the pandemic. However, he adds, “We don’t necessarily assume these increases will continue through 2022 and beyond, but numbers are currently well above pre-pandemic levels again.”

Meanwhile, the increase in international MBA applicants last year may imply that student mobility is rebounding, which has been hindered during the peaks of the pandemic as a result of unwelcoming immigration policies around the globe.

For instance, the newly introduced post-study work visa played an important role in receiving more applications for London Business School. Simpson says, “I believe many people are keen to get out and see the world again after a really tough period of time.”

GMAC points out that the weighted absolute year-over-year difference in the number of international applicants shows an increase of 4.1 percent, while that of domestic applicants shows a decline of 3.8 percent.

Nevertheless, some administrators predict that Covid travel restrictions are likely to continue posing challenges for the business education industry worldwide, as the restrictions discourage prospective students from traveling to take courses abroad.

Soojin Kwon, managing director of full-time MBA admissions and program at Michigan Ross in the U.S., notes that accurate predictions about MBA demand for the upcoming year cannot be made at this phase of the admission process. She says, “We are excited about the applications we have received, but we also recognize that many schools set records last year, including at Ross where we saw over a 50 percent application increase over the previous year.”

New data from GMAC suggests that the increased demand for MBA programs was made largely by women and underrepresented minorities—while the growth in female applicants is reported by three-fifths of full-time two-year MBAs, the growth in male applicants is reported by two-fifths of such programs.

Katy Montgomery, associate dean of degree programs at INSEAD in France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi, emphasizes the importance of diversity of perspectives and backgrounds for the quality of MBA programs. She says, “As student mobility gradually returns, the diversity it brings to a classroom will only benefit and enrich campus life.”

Read more: The MBA Labor Market is on the Rise