KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) -- Equity, inclusion and sustainability programmes are essential for a huge majority of prospective students in graduate business education, and most would not even consider applying to schools that do not have them, according to a survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
The annual survey of global prospective students of business school shows more than two-thirds of potential students agreed that equity and inclusion, as well as sustainability, are important or very important to their academic experience, according to GMAC in a statement.
In addition, three-quarters of candidates say efforts around well-being — defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of no poverty, zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, and decent work and economic growth —are important to them when pursuing higher education, to the point that many would eliminate schools from their consideration if these themes were not incorporated in the curriculum.
“The 2024 survey of prospective students reveals that candidates expect graduate business education to help equip them to advance social impact as a component of their professional and personal goals.
“Their strong desire to build evergreen skills like leadership in an uncertain world, data-driven problem-solving, and effective technology and human capital management persists, even though their preferences for delivery formats and study destinations may shift,” said GMAC Chief Executive Officer, Joy Jones.
Also driving the interest in advanced business education of would-be students is the transformative technology of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Their demand for it grew 38 per cent year-over-year, with two-fifths now saying it is essential to their curricula.
Interest was the highest among those from the Middle East and Latin America as well as among millennials and men. Global interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-certified business programmes also grew 38 per cent in five years, and to new heights in Asia, driven by demand in India and Greater China.
GMAC also found that candidates’ preference for hybrid programmes is growing. Over the past five years, interest in hybrid learning has grown globally at the expense of in-person learning, with most hybrid candidates wanting to spend half or more of their class time in-person and the rest online.
While the United States (US) remains the top study destination for most business school candidates globally, multi-year survey data shows that more candidates than ever before plan to apply to study within their country of citizenship instead of internationally, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
This year’s summary report considers data collected in the 2023 calendar year from 4,105 respondents in 132 countries worldwide. Among them, 42 per cent were female, 61 per cent were Gen Z, and 29 per cent of the US sample were from underrepresented populations.
-- BERNAMA
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