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2008Global MBA® Graduate SurveySurvey report

t h e G M A C ® S u r v e y S e r i e S

The Global MBA® Graduate Survey

is a product of the Graduate Management

Admission Council® (GMAC®), a global

nonprofit education organization of leading

graduate business schools and the owner of

the Graduate Management Admission Test®

(GMAT®). The GMAT exam is an important

part of the admissions process for more than

4,000 graduate management programs around

the world. GMAC is dedicated to creating

access to and disseminating information about

graduate management education; these schools

and others rely on the Council as the premier

provider of reliable data about the graduate

management education industry.

C o n t e n t S

1GloBAl MBA® GrAduAte Survey • 2008 © 2008 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved.

2 i n t r o d u C t i o n

2 Key Findings

4 t h e vA l u e p r o p o S i t i o n

5 Student Expectations

7 Development of Knowledge and Skills

9 Overall Value

10 t h e G r A d u At e B u S i n e S S p r o G r A M

10 Quality of the Program

13 School Culture

15 School Recommendation

16 J o B S e A r C h e S A n d S A l A ry e x p e C tAt i o n S

16 Job Search

18 Career Changes and Industry of Employment

21 Expected Changes in Salary

24 C o n C l u d i n G n o t e

24 Contact Information

24 Authorship

24 Acknowledgements

25 t h e G M A C ® S u r v e y S e r i e S

C o n t e n t S

i n t r o d u C t i o n

2 GloBAl MBA® GrAduAte Survey • 2008© 2008 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved.

T he Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) has conducted the Global

MBA® Graduate Survey annually for nine years. Graduate business school students in

their final year at participating business schools receive the survey a few months

before graduation. The survey allows students to express their opinions about their education,

the value of their degrees, and what they intend to do with their degrees after graduation,

among other topics. GMAC also ascertains some post-graduation employment information

through the survey, though not a complete picture; many of the survey respondents are not yet

involved in job searches at the time of the survey.

Key Findings

• Schoolsaremeetingtheexpectationsof stu-dents and students are learning the skills they hadhopedtodevelopintheprogram.Thus,theoverallvalueof agraduatebusinessdegreeremainshighandthevaluepropositionforbusinessschoolsispositive.

• Themaindriversof overallvaluearetheschool’sabilitytomeetstudentexpectationsandthequalityof thecurriculum.Inaddition,qualityof thefaculty,programmanagement,andstudentskilldevelopmentarekeydriversof overallvalue.Theseintrinsicandsystematicvaluesdriveoverallvaluewhileextrinsicvalues,such as increases in salary and job level, do not playasignificantrole.

• Thereisastrongcorrelationbetweenagradu-ate’spropensitytorecommendtheirschoolandtheirratingof overallvalue.In2008,63%of businessschoolgraduateswoulddefinitely recommendtheirschooland28%would probablyrecommendtheirschool.

• Eveninthemidstof theworldcreditcrisis,agreaterpercentageof jobseekershadreceivedoracceptedanofferof employmentatthetimeof the2008surveycomparedwithjobseekerstheprevioussixyears.

• Salaryexpectationsamonggraduatescontinuetorisecomparedwithpreviousyears.Full-timeMBAgraduatesexpecta67%increase.

i n t r o d u C t i o n


Responsesfrom5,312studentsat149schoolsworldwideformthebasisof thisreport.Therewere1,618(32%)

respondentsfromcountriesotherthantheUnitedStates,and17%of therespondentsattendedschools outside the United States. The vast major-ityof respondents(95%)wereenrolledinMBAprograms.Of thismajority,59%wereenrolledinfull-timeprograms,35%wereenrolledinpart-timeprograms,and6%wereenrolledinexecu-tiveprograms.The5%of non-MBAprogramrespondentsenrolledinothertypesof master’sof businessprograms,includingfinance,accounting,MScinbusiness,post-graduate,andPhD/DBAprograms.

GMAChopesthatschooladministratorswillusetheinformationgatheredheretogaugewhatstudent needs are being met, what services stu-dents most value, and which services might yet presentchallengesandrequiremarket-wideim-provements.Thehopeisthatthewide-spanninginformationpresentedherewillserveadministra-torsbyhelpingthemimprovetheirservices,tailorprogramstostudentneeds,andfosterlearningen-vironments that allow students to make the most of theirMBAexperiences.Graduatescanreviewthesesurveyresultstoseehowtheiropinions,preferences,andpersonalexperienceswithMBAprogramsandthejobmarketcomparewiththoseof theirpeers.

Todevelopthesurveysample,allGMACmemberschoolsandanumberof otherschoolsrepresentingacross-sectionof thegraduatemanagement industry worldwide received e-mail invitationstoparticipateinthestudy.SchoolscouldparticipatebyprovidingGMACwiththenamesande-mailaddressesof theirgraduatingclassof 2008orbyforwardingtheinvitationtotheirstudentsdirectly.Overall,theresponserateforprogramswas46%,andtheresponserateforstudentswas21%.Frequencydistributionswereexaminedforbothtopicalandclassificationques-tions,andresponsecategoriesforsomequestionswerecollapsedtomakefinalanalysismorerobust.Testsof statisticalsignificanceareusedthrough-outthereport,anda95%confidenceintervalisusedasthecutoffpointforsignificance.

Theresultsof thissurveydonotnecessarilyreflectastatisticallyrepresentativesampleof graduatingstudents.Becauseof thislimitation,theresultsof thisresearchstudyshouldnotbeusedtogeneralizeaboutthestudentpopulationbutcanbeusedasareflectionof thesampleframeunderconsideration.Nevertheless,severalcleartrendsemergefromthedata.

t h e vA l u e p r o p o S i t i o n


Thevaluepropositionisinstrumentaltotheperpetuityof graduatebusinesseducation because an individual’s action predicatestheseekingof addedvalue2, whetherintrinsic,systematic,orextrinsic3. Intrinsicvalueingraduatebusinesseduca-tionisthesuccessderivedfromcompletingacourseof study,namelytheindividual’spersonalandintellectualgrowthandsat-isfaction.Extrinsic—utilitarian—valueisthesuccessderivedfromextra-educationalendeavorsrelatedtocompletingacourseof study,suchasemploymentopportu-nities.Systematicvaluepertainstothestructuralelementsof theprogram,suchasaschool’sculture.Acaveatof thevaluepropositionisthatvalueestimationsaresubjecttopersonalperception4 and, thus, vary among individuals5. The Global MBA Graduate Survey seeks to understand the valueof agraduatebusinesseducationfromthestudent’sperspectiveandprovideschoolsof businesswithinformationusefulinthedevelopmentof theirvalueproposition.

T hevalueproposition—aderivationof social-exchangetheory—isanimportantcon-

structforeducationaladministratorsandotherorganizationalleaders.Inshort,thevaluepropositionstatesthatanindividualwillpursueacourseof actionif thatactionhasthepotentialtodeliveraworthyreward1.Education,unlikeotherservices,suchascounseling,dependsonthevaluepropositionforitsperpetuitysincethepursuitof aparticulardegreetendstobeaonce-in-a-lifetimeoccurrence.Counseling,whichcanberepeatedthroughoutalife-time,moreoftendependsonthesuccesspropositionformuchof itsperpetuity—aperson’ssuccessfuloutcomeincounsel-ing tends to cause the individual to seek counselingagaininthefuture.Educationalinstitutions,however,alsoproducesuccess-fuloutcomes.Byexpoundingthesuccessesof othersandthepotentialpossibilitiesavailabletofuturestudents,schoolscreatetheirownvalueproposition.

• • • • •

The overall value of a

graduate business degree remains

high and the value proposition

for business school is positive.

• • • • •

1 Marshall,G.(1998).Success Proposition. A Dictionary of Sociology. OxfordUniversityPress.RetrievedonApril7,2008,from www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-SuccessProposition.html.

2 Molm,L.D.(2003).TheoreticalComparisonsof Formsof Exchange.Sociological Theory,21(1),1–17.3 Presno,C.(1998).AssessingtheValueof GeneralEducationPrograms:TheAdditionof Meaning-MakingtotheE-Value-AtionProcess. Education,118(4),573–578.

4 Ledden,L.,Kalafatis,S.P.,&Samouel,P.(2007).Therelationshipbetweenpersonalvaluesandperceivedvalueof education.Journal of Business Research,60,965–974.5 Ford,M.P.(2002).Beyond the Modern University: Toward a Constructive Postmodern University. Westport,CT:PraegerPublishers.



Student Expectations

Prospectivestudentsareattractedtograduatebusinesseducationforthepotentialitoffersinmeeting

theirvariedexpectations.“Expectationsareanimportantdeterminantof attrac-tion”6 andanimportantdeterminantof successisthefulfillmentof expectations,whichisindicativeof avaluableoutcome.The 2008 survey asked graduating busi-nessstudentstoindicatetheirsatisfactionwith whether the graduate business degree fulfilledvariousexpectations(Figure1).

Newsorganizations,thepopularpress,andotherinformationsourcesfocusalmostentirelyontheextrinsicvalueof the degree, such as salary, when evaluating theworthof aneducation.However,recentgraduatesof full-time,part-time,andexecutiveMBAprogramsweremostsatisfiedwiththesenseof personalsatisfactionandachievementattainedfromcompletingagraduatebusinessdegree—itsintrinsicvalue.Graduatesfromothergraduatebusinessdegreeprogramswere

Get a better job

Income and financial stability

Advancement potential

Challenging/interesting work in the future

Make more money

Development of skills/abilities

Remain marketable/competitive

Personal satisfaction and achievement

Credentials

Respect/recognition

Confidence

Change occupational area

Start/improve own business

Connections

Contribute to solving world’s problems

Mentors

International employment

Switch industries

Full-Time MBA Part-Time MBA Executive MBA

Not at all Satisfied

Not very Satisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

Extremely Satisfied

Figure 1. Student Satisfaction that Expectations Were Met, by Program Type

mostsatisfiedthattheireducationprovidedthem with the ability to remain marketable andcompetitive,theexpectationlistedsecondintermsof fulfillmentsatisfactionbygraduatesof part-timeandexecutiveMBAprograms.Graduatesof full-timeMBAprogramsratedtheirsatisfactionwiththeopportunityformorechallengingandinterestingworkinthefuturesecond.Thesearerepresentationsof extrinsicvalue.Roundingoutthetopthree,graduatesof

6 Ellegaard,C.,&Ritter,T.(2006).The Concept of Attraction—its Purchasing Potential(WorkingPaperID#23).Presentedatthe4thAnnualSupplyChainManagementResearchSymposium,SanDiego,CA.April6-8,2006,p.8. RetrievedonApril3,2008,fromwww.ht2.org/conference/.



full-timeandexecutiveMBAprogramsweresatisfiedwiththeirdevelopmentof skillsandabilities,andgraduatesof part-timeMBAandothergraduatebusinessprogramsweremostsatisfiedwiththe credential needed to increase career options.Thesedatashowthatgraduatesof business schools rarely rely solely on the popularnotionsof successastheyrelatetoextrinsicvalue,butdistributethevalueof theireducationbetweentheirpersonaldevelopmentasindividualsandhowthatdevelopmentcanbeusedtoaccomplishtheir careers goals.

Overall,graduatesof businessschoolwereverysatisfied7 that their degree met theirexpectations,butstatistically,gradu-atesof part-timeMBAprogramswereslightlylesssatisfiedthangraduatesof full-timeandexecutiveMBAprograms.Asimilarpatternexistsinthedatabygender:Menfromfull-timeandexecutiveMBAprogramswereslightlymoresatisfiedthattheireducationmettheirexpectations

7 x̄=3.96ona5-pointscale,where5=extremelysatisfied,4=verysatisfied,3=somewhatsatisfied,2=notverysatisfied,and1=notatallsatisfied.

• • • • •

Data show that

graduate business programs

undeniably met expectations.

• • • • •

3%


Overall Men Women


Not very Satisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

Extremely Satisfied

Figure 2. Average Satisfaction that All Expectations Were Met, by Program Type and Gender

comparedwithwomenfromtheseprogramtypes.Therewerenomeaningfuldifferencesbygenderforgraduatesof part-timeMBAandotherbusinessdegreeprograms.Overall,menandwomenwereverysatisfiedthattheireducationmettheirexpectations,regardlessof theprogramfromwhichtheygraduated(Figure2).

The data show that graduate business programsundeniablymetexpectations.Thus,whenschoolsengageintheireffortstorecruitnewstudentsbyemphasizingthevalueproposition,theycanstimulatedemandbyattestingtothefactthatschoolsaddvalueforstudentsinvariousways,bothintrinsicandextrinsic.Todeterminethefullvaluepropositionof education,however,wealsodelveintothefundamentalsof education—theprocessof transmittingknowledge and skills.



Development of Knowledge and Skills

Thedevelopmentof knowledge,skills,andabilities(KSAs)canrepresentbothanintrinsicand

extrinsicvalue.Intrinsically,thedevelop-mentof KSAsisinextricablylinkedto personaldevelopment.Extrinsically,alistof KSAsisoftenassociatedwithjobdescriptionsandfunctionsasafilterthatemployersuseintheapplicationprocesstoevaluatepotentialemployees.Thedevel-opmentof KSAs,consequently,providesadditional variables in deriving the value proposition.

Overall,99.5%of thegraduatesindicatedtheyhadexpectationsthattheirbusiness degree would increase their long-termpotentialthroughthedevelopmentof skillsandabilities,and83%of thegraduateswereextremelyorverysatisfiedthattheirdegreefulfilledtheseexpecta-tions. The 2008 survey asked graduating business school students to evaluate their developmentof individualKSAsingradu-ate business school.

Knowledgeof generalbusinessfunc-tions, managing strategy and innovation, managingthedecision-makingprocess,and strategic and system skills were KSAs thatthree-quartersormoreof respon-dentsindicatedhadimprovedbyagreatdealoragoodamountintheirprogram.Additionally,morethan70%of graduatesimprovedtheirgenerativethinkingabili-ties(e.g.,innovation,analyticalthinking,independence),interpersonalskills,andfoundationskills(e.g.,readingcomprehen-sion,writing,mathematics,science).TheKSAswiththeleastimprovementwereknowledgeof mediacommunicationsanddeliveryandknowledgeof technology,design,andproduction—about50%of therespondentsindicatedagreatdealoragoodamountof improvementinthesetwoareas.

• • • • •

83% of graduates were extremely/

very satisfied that their business

degree increased their long-term

potential through the development of

knowledge, skills, and abilities.

• • • • •



ItisapparentfromFigure3thatgraduatebusinessschoolsarefulfillingtheneedsof prospectivestudents—noskillsappearin the lower right quadrant, the quadrant designatedforareasinwhichprospectivestudentsseekgreatimprovementandgraduatesreportlowimprovement.KSAsinwhichagreaterpercentageof prospectivestudentsexpressedadesireforimprovementalsoshowagreaterpercentageof studentsreportingimprovements.Theproclivityforgraduatebusinessschoolstofulfillexpectationsintheareaof desiredKSAdevelopmentaddsevidencetothevalueproposition.

There were essentially no correlations betweennumberof yearsof full-timeworkexperiencepriortoenteringthegraduatebusinessprogramandimprovementineachof theKSAs.Thisfindingholdstruewhencontrollingforthetypeof graduatebusinessprogram,beitfull-timeMBA,part-timeMBA,executiveMBA,orothergraduatebusinessprogram.Asapartof thevalueproposition,thisfindingsuggeststhatgraduatebusinessschoolissuitableformostindividuals—whethertheyhavenopriorworkexperienceormorethan10yearsof workexperience,eachgroupwillfindtheycanmakeimprovementsintheirKSAs.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

0% 25%

Low Desire andLow Improvement

High Desire andLow Improvement

High Desire andHigh Improvement

Low Desire andHigh Improvement

Expressed Desire to Improve*

Per

centa

ge

Impro

ved a

Gre

at

Dea

l/G

ood A

mount

50% 75% 100%

*Data for an expressed desire to improve KSAs from the 2007 mba.com Registrants Survey. GMAC®.

Managing decision-making processes

Managing strategy and innovation

Strategic and systems skills

Knowledge of general business functions

Interpersonal skills

Generativethinking

Managing human capital

Managing administrative activitiesOperations skills

Knowledge of human behavior and society

Managing tools and technology

Managing the task environment

Foundation skills

Knowledge of technology, design, and production

Knowledge of mediacommunications and delivery

Figure 3. Comparison Between the Desire for KSA Improvement among Prospective Students

and the Level of Improvement Among Graduating Students

Analysisof anindividual’sdevelopmentinavarietyof KSAsusingGlobalMBAsurveydatayieldsusefulinformation,butneglectstoaccountfortheneedsof thestudentpriortoenteringgraduatebusinessschool.Toalleviatethisproblem,datafromthe2007mba.comRegistrantsSurvey8 of prospectivegraduatebusinessstudentswascomparedwithcurrentGlobalMBAdataregardingtheimprovementsmadeinagraduatebusinessprogram.Figure3showsthiscomparisonanddividesthechartintofourquadrantsbydesireforimprovementandactualimprovement.

8 GMAC.(2008).mba.com Registrants Survey.McLean,VA:GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil®.Availableatwww.gmac.com/gmac/ResearchandTrends/SurveyReports/RegistrantsSurvey.htm.



Overall Value

Thevaluepropositionisrootedinsocial-exchangetheory—anexchangeof rewardsandcosts[6].

The 2008 survey asked graduating busi-ness school students to rate the overall valueof theirgraduatebusinessdegreebycomparingthetotalmonetarycostof theirprogramtothequalityof theireducation.Overall,graduatesof businessschoolpro-gramsratedthevalueof theireducationasexcellent,butgraduatesof full-timeMBAprogramsratedthevalueslightly,yetsignificantly,higherthandidgraduatesof part-timeMBAprograms9.

Figure4showstheaverageratingof overallvaluefromrespondentsof thepastsixyears.Therehavebeenminimaldiffer-encesamonggraduatesinperceivedoverallvalueof thegraduatebusinessdegreeover

time.Full-timeMBAandexecutiveMBAprogramsmaintainhigherratingsthanpart-timeMBAprograms.Ingeneral,graduatesof allprogramtypeshaveconsis-tently rated their MBA degrees highly.

Thefollowingweresomecriticaldif-ferencesinstudentassessmentsof overallvalue:• MenineachMBAprogramtyperated

overall value slightly higher than women did.

• Graduatesage28to34ratedoverallvaluehigherthandidgraduates27andyoungeramongfull-timeMBAprograms.Graduatesage35andolderrated overall value higher than did youngerrespondentsamongpart-timeMBAprograms.Therewerenodif-ferencesbyageamongrespondentsof executiveandothergraduatebusinessprograms.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Graduation Year*

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are from the associated years’ Global MBA® Graduate Surveys.

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Outstanding


Figure 4. Overall Value of the Degree, by Graduation Class

• Graduateswhoattendedfull-timeMBAprogramsoutsidetheircountryof citizenshipratedoverallvaluelowercomparedwithgraduateswhoattendedtheseprogramsintheirhomecountry.

• Therewerenostatisticaldifferencesbyundergraduate major in overall value ratingsamonggraduatesof eachMBAprogram.Graduateswithpriorstudiesin science, business and commerce, the humanities, and social sciences rated theirdegreeanexcellentvalue.

• Graduateswithmajorsinscienceratedthevalueof othergraduatebusinessprogramshigherthandidgraduateswith majors in social science.Akey-driveranalysisof overallvalue

wasconductedusingmultipleregressionanalysis.Theabilityof abusinessprogramtomeettheexpectationsof students,todeliverimprovementsinstudentKSAs,andto increase the career level and earnings10 of graduatesishypothesizedtodrivestudentassessmentof overallvalue.Themodelof keydriversshowedthatchangesincareerlevelandearningsdonotplayasignificantroleinthestudent’sassess-mentof overallvalue.Theabilityof thegraduate business school to meet student expectationsandimprovestudentskillsets,however,didhaveamarkeddegreeof successindrivingstudentassessmentof overall value11.

Insummary,schoolsareconsistentlymeetingtheexpectationsof students,andstudentsarelearningtheskillstheyhopedtodevelopintheprogram.Overallvalueof agraduatebusinessdegreeremainshigh,whichmakesthevaluepropositionforschoolsof businesspositive.

9 Full-TimeMBA(x̄=3.90)andPart-TimeMBA(x̄=3.71)ona5-pointscale,where5=outstanding,4=excellent,3=good,2=fair,and1=poor. 10 CareerlevelandearningsareexploredintheJob Searches and Salary Expectationssectionof thisreport.11 MultipleR=.61;F=971.601,df =2,3286,p≤.05;Standardizedß(Expectations=.382)&(Development=.288).



t h e G r A d u At e B u S i n e S S p r o G r A M

A principaloutcomeof theGlobalMBA Graduate Survey is to give voice to the student. At the sec-

ondarylevelof education,“mostof theresearchonhowto…fosterstudentvoicewithinschoolandclassroomcontextshasinvolved teachers or researchers, rather than administrators…whoareinapositiontosupportpromisingefforts.12” The current researchprovidesgraduatebusinesspro-gramadministratorstheopportunitytohearthevoiceof theirstudents.

Giventhatoneinfourprospectivestudents consulted school alumni when makingtheirdecisiontoapplytoagraduatebusinessprogram[8],schoolprofessionalsmaybenefitfromlisteningtotheirstudents.Knowing the areas that are meeting student expectationsandunderstandingwherepainpointsexistwithintheprogramprovidesschoolprofessionalswithsomebuildingblockstowardcontinuedimprovements.Therefore,thecharacteristicsof theprogramandstudentassessmentsof theprogramarevitalelementsforschoolsto consider when constructing the value proposition.

Quality of the Program

Educationalinstitutionscompriseavastanddiversesetof structuresandfunctionsthat,whenintegrated

effectively,formacohesiveandefficientsystem that students navigate as they seek toachievetheirgoals.Fromadmissionstostudentandcareerservicesandprogrammanagementtocurriculum,schoolsofferservicestoassiststudentsintheirdevelop-ment. The 2008 survey asked graduating business school students to rate the quality of variousaspectsof theprogram.Figure5showsthetrendinthepercentageof gradu-atingstudentsforeachMBAprogramtypewhoindicatedthequalityof eachaspect—admissions,programmanagement,studentservices,careerservices,faculty,curriculum,andfellowstudents—wasoutstandingorexcellent.

• • • • •

If these patterns continue,

the difference between perceived

qualities of executive, part-time, and

full-time MBA programs will

continue to diminish.

• • • • •

12 Cook-Sather,A.(2007).What Would Happen If We Treated Students as Those with Opinions That Matter? NationalAssociationof SecondarySchoolPrincipals. NASSP Bulletin,91(4),p.344.




2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

90%

75%

60%

45%

30%

15%

0%

90%

75%

60%

45%

30%

15%

0%


2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Admissions ProgramManagement

Student Services Career Services Faculty Curriculum Fellow Students

Figure 5. Quality of Program Components, by MBA Program Type and Graduating Class (Percentage Outstanding/Excellent)

Thereweredifferencesintheassessedqualityof variousprogramaspectsbyMBAprogramtype.Ingeneral,gradu-atesof executiveprogramstendedtogivehigherqualityratingstoprogramcomponentsthangraduatesof full-timeandpart-timeMBAprogramsdid,exceptintheareaof careerservices.Full-timeMBA graduates also tended to give higher qualityratingstoeachprogramaspectthandidgraduatesof part-timeMBAprograms.Therehavebeenlargeincreaseswithinpart-timeMBAprograms,however,instudentassessmentsof qualityforadmissions(a33%overallincreaseinout-standingorexcellentratingsbetween2003and2008anda6%annualizedrateof increase),studentservices(a38%increaseand7%annualizedrateof increase),and

careerservices(a76%increaseand13%annualizedrateof increase).Similarly,therehavebeenincreasesintheperceivedqualityof variousaspectsof full-timeMBAprograms,buttheseincreaseshavebeenmoremodest.Althoughexecutiveprogramshaveexperiencedconsistentlyhigherratingsforperceivedqualityamongthedifferentprogramtypesinmostareas,those ratings have remained relatively flat orhavedeclinedovertheyears.If thesepatternscontinue,thedifferencesbetweentheperceivedqualitiesof executive,part-time,andfull-timeprogramswillcontinueto diminish.




InpreviousGlobalMBAGraduateSurveyreports,thequalityof variousaspectsof thegraduatebusinessprogramwasusedtodeterminethedriversof overallvalueof thedegree.Earlierinthereport,meetingstudentexpectationsandimprovingtheirskillsetwereshowntoaffectoverallvalueratings.Thefollowinganalysis includes these two drivers and addsstudentratingsof quality.Meetingastudent’sexpectationscontinuestobethekeydriverof overallvalue,butthequalityof thecurriculumisnearlyequalin its contribution to the student’s assess-mentof overallvalue—accountingfortwo-fifthsof theexplanatorypowerof themodelcombined(Figure6).Four-fifthsof theexplanatorypowerof themodelwasaccountedforwiththeadditionof thequalityof faculty,theprogrammanage-ment,andastudent’sskilldevelopment.

12

Thequalityof thecurriculumhasasignificantimpactonastudent’spercep-tionof value.Drivingstudentratingsforqualityof thecurriculumweretherelevance,comprehensiveness,andinte-grationof thecurriculum,inrankorderaccordingtotheirrelativeexplanatorypower13. Additionally, the 2008 survey asked graduating business school students toratetheirsatisfactionwithvariouscorecoursesinrelationtotheKSAsdeveloped.Onaverage,graduatesof businessschoolswereverysatisfiedwitheachof theircorecourses(Figure7),andbusinesspolicy/strategy,finance,andmanagement/organi-zational behavior rated the highest.

Business Policy/Strategy

Finance

Accounting

Management/Organizational Behavior

Economics

Statistics

Ethics/Business Law

Operations

Information Systems

International Business

Marketing



Not very Satisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Very Satisfied

Extremely Satisfied

Figure 7. Satisfaction with Core Courses, by Program Type

FellowStudents

3%

Student Services3%

Admissions6%

CareerServices

5%

Meeting Expectations21%

Curriculum20%

Faculty17%

ProgramManagement

15%

Skill Development

10%

Multiple R = .71; F = 499.97; df = 7,3926; p ≤ .05

Figure 6. Drivers of Overall Value of a Graduate

Business Degree (Pratt Index)

13 MultipleR=.72;F=1619.49;df =3,4640,p≤.05.




Thefollowingweresomesignificantdifferencesinstudentsatisfactionwithcorecourses:• Graduatesof full-timeMBAprograms

weremoresatisfiedthangraduatesof part-timeMBAprogramswiththeirdevelopmentinfinanceandstatistics.

• Graduatesof part-timeMBAprogramswerelesssatisfiedthanallothergraduateswiththeirdevelopmentinaccounting.

• Graduatesof executiveMBAprogramsweremoresatisfiedthanallothergradu-ateswiththeirdevelopmentineconom-ics and management/organizational behavior.

• Graduatesof executiveMBAprogramsweremoresatisfiedthangraduatesof part-timeMBAandotherprogramswiththeirdevelopmentinbusinesspolicy/strategy,finance,andstatistics.

• Graduatestendedtoreportgreatersat-isfactionwithassociatedcoursesrelatedtotheirintendedjobpositionaftergraduation.

–Forinstance,graduatesintendingemploymentinafinance/account-ingpositionweremoresatisfiedthanothergraduateswiththeirdevelop-ment in accounting, economics, finance,andstatisticscourses.

–Graduatesintendingemploymentinamarketing/salespositionweremoresatisfiedthanothergraduateswiththeirdevelopmentinmarketingcourses.

–Graduatesintendingemploymentinconsultingoroperations/logisticsweremoresatisfiedthanothergradu-ateswiththeiroperationscourses.

13

14 Whipple,T.W.,&Moberg,C.(2000).HowExpectationsof RelationshipswithFacultyVarybyStudents’LearningStyles.Journal of Business Education,Proceedings2000,Volume1.15 Tierney,W.G.(1998).OrganizationalCultureinHigherEducation:DefiningtheEssentials.The Journal of Higher Education,59(1)2–21.

School Culture

Exchangetheory,of whichthevaluepropositionisaconstruct,hasatitsfoundationtherelationship

between two actors[2].Ineducation,thetwo actors include the university and the student,and“therelationshipbetweena university and its students is becoming increasinglyimportant.14”Aprincipalre-flectionof thisrelationshipistheschool’sculture,andculture“cannotbeunderstoodunless one looks…at the [student’s] in-terpretationof the[institution].15” Thus the 2008 survey asked graduating business school students to describe their school’s culture(Figure8).


Team emphasis

Personal

Close-knit community

Rigorous

Interdisciplinary

Research-oriented

Formal

Competitive

Vocational curriculum

Homogeneous student body

Authoritarian professors

Large class sizes

Emphasize facts/knowledge

Passive learning

Individual emphasis

Impersonal

Loose connections

Lenient

Concentration focused

Teaching-oriented

Informal

Collaborative

Academic curriculum

Heterogeneous student body

Egalitarian professors

Small class sizes

Emphasize critical discussion

Active learning

Figure 8. Cultural Description of Schools

• • • • •

Meeting student

expectations is a key driver

of overall value, as is the

quality of the curriculum.

• • • • •




Onthewhole,graduatesof businessschoolbelievetheirprogramshadaclose-knitcommunitythatwaspersonalwithsmallclasssizesandateamempha-sis. There was an evident leaning among graduatestowardtheopinionthattheirprogramshadaheterogeneousstudentbody,egalitarianprofessors,anemphasison critical discussion, and active learning. Inessence,graduatebusinessprogramsencouragedcommunication,experimenta-tion, and risk-taking, which are shown among organizational culture research to “achieveafavorableworkingatmosphereforthedevelopmentof theircapacitytolearn16.” Additionally, graduates described theirschool’scultureasbeinginformal,collaborative, rigorous, teaching-oriented, academic,andinterdisciplinary.Theseweretheprimaryleaningsof thegraduates’perceptionof theirschool’scultureamongeachof theprogramtypes.

Therewerestatisticallysignificantdif-ferencesintheculturaldescriptionof theschoolsbyprogramtype.• Graduatesof full-timeandexecutive

MBAprogramswereslightlymorelikelycomparedwithgraduatesof part-timeMBAprogramstodescribetheirschoolsascompetitive,personal,academic, research-oriented, rigorous, andemphasizingcriticaldiscussionandactive learning.

• Graduatesof full-timeandexecutiveMBAprogramsweremorelikelythangraduatesof part-timeMBAprogramsto describe their school as having small class sizes and a close-knit community.

• Graduatesof full-timeMBAprogramswere slightly more likely than graduates of part-timeandexecutiveprogramstodescribe their school as concentration-focusedwithateamemphasis.

16 Lopez,S.P.,Peon,J.M.M.,&Ordas,C.J.V.(2004).Managingknowledge:thelinkbetweencultureandorganizationallearning.Journal of Knowledge Management,8(6),93–104.

Knowledgeof studentperceptionsof school culture adds minimally, yet sig-nificantly,tothemodelof keydriversof overallvalue.Themaindriversof overallvalueamongculturalaspectsof theschoolwereclose-knitcommunity,personalatmosphere,smallclasssizes,anindividualemphasis,egalitarianprofessors,emphasison critical discussion, active learning, and a rigorousprogram.Thissuggeststhatthesecultural attributes were considered valuable among the graduate business students.

Graduates were also asked to indicate whichelementsof theprogrambestcreated an environment at their school inwhichtheycouldexpresstheirideas,feelincluded,obtainfullbenefits,andrealizetheirpotential.Table1presentstheresults.Theschoolstaffandfacultywerethemost-citedsourcesof positiveinfluencewithintheschoolforeachof theprogramtypes.Thesecondmost-cited

table 1. Creation of a Positive Environment

Response Category Full-Time MBA Part-Time MBA Executive MBA

Professors, staff, faculty, and administration are encouraging, supportive, approachable, and easily accessible.

19% 32% 38%

Class discussion/student participation was encouraged/supported. 12% 22% 28%

The environment was conducive to friendly interaction. 13% 13% 10%

Working in teams, progressing through a cohort, or learning from collaborative experiences creates a positive environment.

14% 11% 16%

The small class size made the experience more personal. 16% 8% 8%

Diversity of the students and faculty added to the learning experience. 12% 5% 4%

A sense of community was achieved through various opportunities and events outside of the classroom. 9% 5% 5%

The case study method or the curriculum added to the learning experience. 5% 5% 1%




Poor Fair Good Excellent Outstanding

Overall Value

Rec

om

men

d

*All Programs Combined: Pearson r = .593, p ≤ .05; n = 4652.

Definitely No

Probably No

Uncertain

Probably Yes

Definitely Yes

Full-Time MBA Part-Time MBA Executive MBA Other degrees

Figure 9. The Propensity to Recommend School, by Overall Value*

• • • • •

School staff and faculty were

the most-cited sources of

influence in creating a positive

environment within each school.

• • • • •

responseamongfull-timeMBAstudentswassmallclasssizes;classdiscussionwassecondamongallotherprogramtypes.Additionally, teamwork and collaborative experienceswerecitedasimportantcon-tributorstowardapositiveenvironment.Interestingly,theseresponsesprovidedbygraduatesalignwiththepreviousanalysis,whichsuggeststheirtrueimportanceintheeducationalcontext.

School Recommendation

‘‘Socialexchangeemphasizesthe rewards and costs individuals gain through interaction and the

effectsof thesecost/rewardoutcomesontherelationship.[6]”Sofar,studentrewardsfromtherelationshiphavebeendiscussed.Arewardfortheschool’seffortsateducat-ingthestudentwouldbepositivewordof mouth.

The 2008 survey asked graduating busi-ness school students to indicate whether they would recommend their school to someonewhohasdecidedtopursueagraduatebusinessdegree.Overall,63%of graduatesof businessstudentswoulddefi-nitelyrecommendtheirschooland28%wouldprobablyrecommendtheirschool.There is a strong correlation between a graduate’spropensitytorecommendtheirschoolandtheirratingof overallvalue.Figure9showsthisrelationshipexistedforeachprogramtypeandindicatesthataminimumof agoodvalueisnecessaryfora graduate to recommend their school to others seeking a graduate business degree. Consideringthatwordof mouthwasaprimarysourceof informationsoughtbyprospectivestudentswhendetermin-ingwhethertopursueagraduatebusinessdegree[8],schoolsundoubtedlyprofitfromprovidinghighlevelsof valuetotheirstu-dentsthroughpositivewordof mouth.



J o B S e A r C h e S A n d S A l A ry e x p e C tAt i o n S

Extrinsicvalueof aneducationisgenerally linked to the utilitarian outcomesof becomingeducated[3].

Inadditiontothedevelopmentof theirKSAs,prospectivestudentsweremotivatedtopursueagraduatebusinessdegreeasameanstoimprovetheiremploymentop-portunities[8].Thissectionof thereportexplorestheemployabilityof graduatebusinessstudentsandrelatedemploymentoutcomes.

Job Search

Overall,atotalof 61%of graduate business students were searchingforajobatthetimeof

the2008survey.Astatisticallygreaterper-centageof graduatesfromAsian(75%),Canadian(72%),andEuropean(67%)schoolscomparedwithgraduatesof U.S.schools(60%)wereseekingemployment.However,amongthoseseekingjobstherewerenosignificantdifferencesbyschoollocationinthepercentageof graduatesre-ceivingjoboffers.

Figure10presentsjobsearchstatusamong graduates who were seeking employment.Eveninthemidstof theworldcreditcrisisatthetimeof the2008survey,agreaterpercentageof jobseekershadreceivedoracceptedoffersof employ-mentcomparedwiththeprevioussixyears.Althoughtherewerenodifferencesinthepercentageof jobseekerswhohadreceivedoracceptedanofferof employmentbyschoollocation,therewasanimpressivedifferenceintheaveragenumberof joboffersreceived.GraduatesfromEuropeanschools(3.2)receivedsignificantlymorejobofferscomparedwithgraduatesfromAsian(2.2),U.S.(2.3),andCanadian(2.0)schools.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

30%

70%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Waiting for OffersReceived/Accepted Job Offer

36%

64%

56%

44%

64%

36%

58%

42%

50%

50%

48%

52%

47%

53%

2008

43%

57%

Figure 10. Job Offer Status, by Graduating Class




Thereweredifferencesinjobofferstatusbyindustry.Amongrespondentssearch-ingforajob,thoseseekingemploymentinthenonprofit/government(50%)andproducts/services(51%)industrieswerelesslikelytohavereceivedoracceptedajoboffercomparedwiththoseseekingemploymentintheenergy/utilities(69%),manufacturing(65%),andtechnology(64%)industries.Additionally,61%of graduatesseekingjobsinconsulting,60%inhealthcare,and58%infinance/accounting industries had received or acceptedanofferof employmentatthetimeof thesurvey.Thispatternislikelyduetocompanyrecruitmentstructure.

• • • • •

In 2008, a greater percentage of

job seekers had received or accepted

offers of employment compared with

the previous six years.

• • • • •

Forexample,accordingtotheGMAC® CorporateRecruitersSurvey17,companiesinthenonprofit/governmentindustryaresignificantlymorelikelytohireMBAgraduates on an as-needed basis, and those inconsultingandfinancearesignificantlymorelikelytohireonaplanned,periodicbasis.

Nearlytwo-fifths(39%)of thegradu-ateswerenotsearchingforajobatthetimeof thecurrentsurvey.Amongtheserespondents,58%werestayingwiththeircurrentemployer,33%werepostponingtheirjobsearch,and8%wereplanningtostart their own business.

17 GMAC.(2008).CorporateRecruitersSurvey.McLean,VA:GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil®.




Career Changes and Industry of Employment

Figure 11 shows the career-changing statusof graduatesbyschoollo-cation.Theoverallpercentageof

graduateswhoplannedtoswitchindustriesaftergraduationwas48%.GraduatesfromCanadianschoolswerethemostlikelyof thegraduatestoindicateplanstochangebothindustryandjobfunction.Gradu-atesof EuropeanschoolsweremorelikelythangraduatesfromschoolsintheUnitedStatesandCanadatoindicateplanstoswitchjobfunction,butnotindustry,aftergraduation.Additionally,graduatesfromU.S. schools were slightly more likely than allothergraduatestoindicateplanstoswitchindustries,butnotjobfunction.

• • • • •

48% of graduates planned to switch

industries after graduation.

• • • • •

36%

34%

49%

10%

11%

33%

20%

23%

25%

18%

18%

34%

10%

14%

33%

32%

Change in job functionChange in industry and job functionChange in industry

No change

Change in job functionChange in industry and job function

Change in industryNo change

Europe

Canada

United States

Asia

Europe

Canada

United States

Asia

Figure 11. Career-Switching Behavior, by School Location

Figure12showstheattractivenessindex18forvariousindustriesamonggraduateswhoindicatedplanstochangeindustriesaftergraduation.Thefinance/accounting and consulting industries continuetoattractincreasingnumbersof graduatingbusinessstudents.Afteradropintheattractivenessof theenergy/utilityindustryin2007,graduatesin2008wereflockingtothesector,slightlysurpassingthe high seen in 2006. Until this year, the healthcare sector had seen continuous erosion in their attractiveness since the ini-tiationof theattractivenessindexin2003.In2008,moregraduateswereenteringthe healthcare industry than were leaving it.Althoughrelativelyflatcomparedwith2007,theproducts/servicesindustry

18 Theattractivenessindexiscalculatedbydividingthepercentageof respondentschangingintoanindustrygroupbythepercentageof thosechangingoutand multiplyingtheresultsby100.Anindexscorethatisgreaterthan100indicatesmorerespondentsarechangingintotheindustrythanarechangingoutof theindustry.Ascorethatislessthan100indicatesthatmorerespondentsarechangingoutof agivenindustrythanareswitchingintothatindustry.




0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Finance/ Accounting

Energy/UtilitiesConsulting Healthcare Manufacturing Technology Nonprofit/ Government

Products/Services

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Att

ract

iven

ess

Index

Sco

re

Figure 12. Industry Attractiveness Index, by Graduating Class

continuestoexperiencesomeattritionamong graduate business students. The remainingindustriesof manufacturing,technology,andnonprofit/governmenthave been the least attractive industries amonggraduatesof businessschoolssincetheinceptionof thisindex.

Figure13displaysthepercentageof graduatesemployedinthevariousindus-triesbeforeandaftergraduatebusinessschool.Finance/accountingistheindustrywherethegreatestpercentageof graduates

intendedemploymentaftergraduation.Accordingtothe2008GMACCorporateRecruiters Survey[17],2%morecompaniesinthefinanceandaccountingindustryplantohireMBAgraduatesin2008comparedwith2007.AlthoughFigure12mayshowalacklusterattractivenessscorefortheprod-ucts/servicesindustry,23%ofgraduatesintendtoworkwithinthisindustry—thesecondlargestpercentageamonggraduates.

Onasimilarnote,althoughtheenergy/utility industry has a relatively high

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Finance/ Accounting


Products/Services

20%

27%

8%

16%

3% 4%

7% 7%

25%23%

9%

6%

16%

11% 12%

5%

Pre-Degree Post-Degree

Figure 13. Pre- and Post-Degree Industry of Employment

attractivenessscore,veryfewgraduateshaveplanstoworkwithinthisindustry.ThiscorrespondstofindingsfromtheGMACCorporateRecruitersSurvey—70%of companiesintheenergy/utilitiesindus-tryreportplanstohireMBAgraduatesin2008,buttheproportionof theirnewMBAhiresismuchlowerthanthepro-portionhiredbyconsultingandfinancefirms[17].




Figure14showsthepercentagechange—frompre-degreetopost-degree—intheindustryof employmentof graduatesbyschool location. The greatest movement intothefinance/accountingindustrycomesfromgraduatesof CanadianandAsianschools,althoughthereispositivemovementintothisindustryfromgraduatesof schoolsinEuropeandtheUnitedStates.Therehasalsobeenmorethana100%increaseinthepercentageof graduatesfromAsianandCanadian schools moving into the consult-ingindustryfromotherindustries.There

is growth in the energy/utilities industry amonggraduatesfromU.S.,Canadian,andEuropeanschools,butadeclineamonggraduates at Asian schools. Similar to the attractivenessindex,eachof theotherindustries have net losses among graduates atthevariousschoollocations,except products/services—forwhichtherewasgrowth among graduates at Canadian schools.

-75%

-25%

25%

75%

125%

175%

Finance/ Accounting


Products/Services

Asia United States Canada Europe

Figure 14. Percentage Change in Industry of Employment, by School Location




Expected Changes in Salary

Thefollowingsectionexaminesthechangefrompre-topost-degree annual base salary. Rather

thanreportingtheactualsalaryfigure,thepercentchangeprovidesavaluethatismoreusefulintermsof comparabil-itybecausesalaryisafunctionof variousfactors,includingyearsof workexperi-ence,pre-degreesalary,andregionalcostof livingdifferences.Figure15showstheexpectedpercentagechangesinannualsalariesbyprogramtypeandgraduationyear.Full-timeMBAgraduatesexpecta67%increaseovertheirpre-degreesalary,part-timeMBAgraduatesexpecta48%increase,andexecutiveMBAgraduatesexpecta35%increaseoverthetheirpre-degreesalary.Graduatesfromotherdegreeprograms,althoughnotshowninthechartbecauseof missinghistoricalinformation,expectedtoreceivea40%increaseovertheirpre-degreesalary.

0%

30%

60%

90%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 200820022001


79%

43%

26%

51%

38%

32% 30%34%

39% 42% 43%48%38%

47% 48%54%

67%

22%19% 20%

33%30%

33% 35%

Figure 15. Expected Percentage Change in Annual Base Salary,

by Program Type and Graduating Class

• • • • •

The percentage of graduates

from Asian and Canadian schools

moving into the consulting industry has

increased by more than 100%.

• • • • •


22 GloBAl MBA® GrAduAte Survey • 2008© 2008 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved.22

Pre-degreeworkexperiencehasanimpactonpost-degreesalaryexpectations.Graduates with less than three years work experienceexpectedan87%increaseovertheirpre-degreesalary.Thosewiththreebutlessthansixyearsworkexperienceexpecteda74%increase,andgraduateswithsixormoreyearsworkexperienceexpecteda42%increase.Althoughgraduateswithlessexperiencehadgreaterexpectationsforpercentageincreasesinsalary,graduateswiththreebutlessthansixyearsworkexperienceexpectedapost-degreesalarythatwas24%greaterthanthosewithlessthanthreeyearsof workexperience.Additionally,graduateswithsixormoreyearsof workexperienceexpectedapost-degreesalarythatwas20%greaterthanthatof graduateswiththreebutlessthansixyearsworkexperienceand50%greaterthanthatof graduateswithlessthanthreeyearsworkexperience.

InFigure16,graduateswithlessthanthreeyearsof workexperiencewhoplannedtochangeindustryorplannedtochangeindustryandjobfunctionexpectedgreaterincreasesintheirsalarycomparedwiththosegraduateswhodidnotplanacareerchangeorwhoonlyplannedachangeinjobfunction.However,thispatterndoesnotholdtrueforgraduateswiththreeormoreyearsworkexperience.Thesegraduatestendedtoexperienceasimilarrateof increaseinsalarywhetherornottheyplannedtochangetheircareers.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

No change Change in job function

Change in industry Change in industry and job function

Less than 3 years 3 years, but less than 6 years 6 years or more

81%72%

39%

109%

70%

49%

85%74%

42%

108%

79%

48%

Figure 16. Expected Percentage Change in Annual Base Salary,

by Years of Work Experience and Career Change Status

• • • • •

Graduates with three or more years

of work experience tended to

experience a similar rate of increase

in salary whether they planned to

change their careers or not.

• • • • •



Overall,graduatesenteringthecon-sultingindustryhadthehighestrateof increase,followedbythefinance/account-ingindustry.Figure17showsthepercentchange in salary by career change status andindustryof employment.Consultingremains the industry with the highest rate of salaryincreaseamongcareerswitchers,andfinance/accountinghadthehighestrateamongcareerenhancers—graduateswho were remaining in the same industry theyworkedinpriortoenteringgradu-atebusinessschool.Forcareerenhancers,thenext-highestreturnsintermsof salaryincreases were in the consulting industry, followedbyproducts/services,technology,and healthcare. Among career switchers, thenext-highestreturnsaftertheconsult-ingindustrywereinthemanufacturing,healthcare,finance/accounting,andenergy/utilities industries.

Overall,graduatesfromAsia(106%)andLatinAmerica(93%)expectedmuchhigherincreasesinsalarycomparedwithgraduatesfromtheUnitedStates(46%),Canada(54%),andEurope(42%).Furthermore,graduateswhointendedtoremainintheircountryof citizenshipforemploymentexpecteda47%increase,comparedwitha97%increaseamonggraduateswhoplannedtoworkoutsidetheircountryof citizenshipandseekpermanentresidencyandan85%increaseamonggraduateswhoplannedtoworkoutsidetheircountryforatimebeforereturning home. Changes in salary were dependentuponvariousfactors,includ-ingpre-degreeworkexperience,industry,career-changingstatus,citizenship,andlocationof employment.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Finance/ Accounting


Products/Services

64% 64% 63%

75%

36%

60%

43%

67%

58% 57%

38%

69%

45%

60%

34% 34%

No change in industry Change in industry

Figure 17. Expected Percentage Change in Annual Base Salary, by Career Change and Industry of Employment



C o n C l u d i n G n o t e

Findingsinthisreportarebasedonadditionalanalysisof datafoundintheComprehensiveDataReports

forfull-time,part-time,andexecutiveMBAprograms.TheComprehensiveDataReportsprovidein-depthdatatablesandgeneralanalysisof thesurvey.Inadditiontoreceivingcopiesof thisreportandtheComprehensiveDataReports,partici-patingschoolsreceiveanindividualizedbenchmarkingreportthatcomparestheaggregatedresponsesfromtheirstudentswiththeaggregatedresponsesfromstu-dentsattheirtopcompetitors,aswellasthoseof allotherparticipatingstudents.

Contact Information

For questions or comments regarding thestudyfindings,methodology, ordata,pleasecontacttheGMAC

ResearchandDevelopmentdepartment at [email protected].

Authorship

GreggSchoenfeld,Associate Director,Research,GraduateManagement Admission Council.

Acknowledgements

LawrenceRudner,VicePresident,ResearchandDevelopment,GMAC,manuscriptreview;

RachelEdgington,Director,MarketResearch and Analysis, GMAC, survey questionnairedevelopmentandeditingof themanuscriptforintellectualcontentandfinalapprovalof themanuscript;Sabeen Sheikh, Research Associate, GMAC,reportproduction;VeronicaSinz,ResearchWriter/Editor,GMAC,writingandeditorialservices;ErichC.Dierdorff,PhD&RobertS.Rubin,PhD,DePaulUniversity,TheCharlesH.KellstadtSchoolof Business,developmentof thelistof skillsandabilities.

GMACthanksthe149schoolcontactswhotookthetimetosignupandparticipateinthissurvey.Wealsothankthe5,312graduatebusinessstudentswhocompletedthequestionnaire.Withoutyou,thisreportwouldnothavebeenpossible.

• • • • •

Participating schools receive free,

individualized benchmarking

reports that compare their students

against students at their top

competitors, as well as all other

participating students.

• • • • •



t h e G M A C ® S u r v e y S e r i e S

The Global MBA® Graduate Surveyisoneinaseriesof fiveannualor biannualsurveysproducedbytheGraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil®. Thesurveysaredesignedtoexplorerelevantissues,offeringdataatvarious

depths,dependingonthedesireof theuserandtheparticipationof theschool.Surveyreportsprovideanoverviewof thedatainadditiontogivingcontextforandimplicationsof theresearch.Theyarefrequentlyusedtohelpdrivestrategicdecision-making processesingraduatebusinessschools.AllsurveyreportsareavailableontheWeb (www.gmac.com/surveys).Printcopies(whilesupplieslast)arefreeuponrequestfromthe GMAC®ResearchandDevelopmentdepartment,[email protected].

Other surveys include—

mba.com Registrants Survey

Whoisinthepipelineforadegree?Whatmakesthemdecidetoapplynow orwait?Launchedin2003,thisannualsurveytellswhoprospectivestudentsare(includingdetailedprofiles),howandwhytheymovethroughthepipeline,andwhatmotivates them and gets their attention.

Application Trends Survey

Howdoesaschool’sapplication volumecomparewiththatof otherschools?Since1999,thisannualsurvey hasgatheredcomparativeapplicationdataforthecurrentandpreviousyearfrombusinessschoolprogramsworldwide.

Corporate Recruiters Survey

WhohiresMBAsandwhy?Whatarethehiringplansinvariousindustries?Howdocompaniesdecidewheretorecruit?Launchedin2001–2002,thisannualsur-veyhelpsschoolsbetterunderstandthejobmarket,clarifyemployerexpectations,andbenchmarktheircareerservicespractices.Employersusethesurveyresultstobench-marktheMBArecruitmentactivitiesof theircompanies.

MBA Alumni Perspectives Survey

WhathappenstoMBAsaftertheygraduate and begin to evaluate the value of theirdegrees?Launchedin2001,thesebiannualsurveysfollowMBAgraduateslong-termtounderstandtheircareerpro-gression,theirexpectations,theirattitudesaboutwork,theirassessmentof theiredu-cation, and general market trends.

20081600 Tysons BoulevardSuite 1400McLean, Virginia 22102USA

[email protected]/surveys

© 2008 Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®). All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, elec-tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of GMAC®. For permission contact the GMAC® legal department at [email protected].

Creating Access to Graduate Business Education®, Global MBA®, GMAC®, GMAT®, Graduate Management Admission Council®, and Graduate Management Admission Test® are registered trade-marks of the Graduate Management Admission Council® in the United States and other countries.

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