GMAC Advisor

When lockdown orders canceled 2020 recruiting fairs and online events rushed in to fill the gap, few could have predicted that it would take two years for in-person events to fully bounce back.

55% of full-time MBA programs reported an increase in female applicants in 2021. However, there’s still much more to be done to increase gender parity at business school. It’s up to recruitment teams to engage with women at the early stages of the candidate pipeline and take time to understand women’s motivations for joining business school.

It’s been another disruptive year for graduate management education (GME). Between travel restrictions, hybrid learning, and limitations on face-to-face events, how you connect with and engage candidates is constantly changing. So, what’s next?

Business school alumni overwhelmingly report that their graduate business education was a highly worthwhile and valuable experience – 94% of business school alumni rate their graduate business education as good, excellent or outstanding, and report a favorable Net Promoter Score® (NPS) of 30, indicating that a high percentage of alums are likely to recommend graduate management education (GME) to friends and family.

In reflecting on the many conversations I’ve had on the important topic of diversity and business school, I’ve come to realize that although diversity is a priority for our industry as a whole, how that diversity is defined or prioritized differs in different regions of the world. I’ve also been asked time and time again- “are we in graduate management education (GME) making progress? How do we know?” Without a benchmark, this is difficult.

To begin exploring these questions, GMAC embarked on a research journey with the aim of creating a lens to better understand representation within the diverse pipeline for graduate management education worldwide.

The results of our research effort is a first-ever global study of diversity in graduate management education, The Global Diversity of Talent – Attainment and Representation. This report is designed to aid the industry in understanding diversity and representation in the GME pipeline today and to inform analysis, strategic planning, and decision-making for the classrooms of tomorrow.

It is a rich report providing a global overview, seven regional outlooks, and separate reports for the 175 countries that have 600 or more people in the student-aged population of 20 to 34 who have attained a master’s degree in the subject of business, administration, or law. It also examines the representation of women globally and underrepresented groups in the United States.

In full swing with demand for graduate management education (GME) up among international candidates and application volume sustaining last year’s boom. To reach, match with, and recruit candidates you’ll need to align your recruiting goals with a successful strategy when it comes to candidate-facing tour events. In the 2020/2021 MBA Tour season, there were 8,700 attendees and 25,000 registrants across 29 events. That included 37,000 school booth visits and 7,000 more intimate, smaller meetup matches.

The pool of talented people interested in pursuing a graduate business degree has never been more global and diverse. In order to fairly evaluate applicants from such a range of educational and professional backgrounds, it’s very helpful for business school admission committees to have GMAT™ exam scores as a means of comparing applicants’ skills and potential classroom success on the same scale. For decades, the world’s top business schools have trusted the GMAT exam because it’s specifically validated to predict performance in the first year of an MBA program.

It’s another busy recruiting season with demand for graduate management education on the rise. And, with face-to-face meetings still a challenge, online communications are as important as ever.

GMAC is leveraging data science to empower schools to find a strong pool of candidates with diverse backgrounds. Our mission is to advance the art and science of admissions by providing the products and services that help schools and candidates discover and evaluate each other.

According to a recent GMAC survey, four in five students enrolled in a business school report that their graduate management education prepares them for leadership positions. Looking at the data from the lens of gender, program, and regional diversity, we gain additional insights into enrolled students’ confidence in leadership preparation. The findings indicate that the value proposition of a graduate management education as a ground for preparing leadership talent remains strong among students even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.