Almost two thirds of MBA graduates have found themselves in their dream role within just six months of completing an MBA programme from an AMBA-accredited Business School, new research reveals.
The study, polling 752 current MBA students and 2,110 MBA graduates as part of AMBA & BGA’s International MBA Survey, finds that just under nine out of 10 graduates (88%) agree that they had gained substantially more skills to help them do business better as a result of completing the MBA; and 81% agree that the skills they learned during their MBA have helped them be more mentally resilient.
Almost three quarters (74%) believe they have been able to develop all the business-related skills they wanted as a result of completing the qualification.
Key findings
- The largest proportions of MBA graduates find the role they want within six months of completing an MBA. Significantly, almost two thirds of all participants said they were either in the job they wanted before starting their MBA, while studying, or within six months of completing the qualification.
- The most popular reasons for completing an MBA are, ‘to acquire more skills and knowledge about the business world’ (cited by 70% of graduate survey respondents); ‘to expand my area of expertise’ (67%); and ‘to get a broader understanding of how business should be managed’ (50%).
- 71% of graduates were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with the impact their MBA has had on their careers to date.
- 68% of MBA graduates see themselves as being more confident on completion of their MBA; and 62% perceived themselves to be better at solving problems. A further 58% thought they were better prepared to operate in highly competitive environments; and 56% believe themselves to be better at dealing with people in a professional capacity.
- Recent graduates are more concerned with ethical business, compared to the MBAs of the 1990s and pre-1990s. Among those that graduated less than a year before completing the survey, 21% said they had completed an MBA to learn about developing a sustainable business, and 13% said they had completed the MBA to learn how to develop an ethically sound business. The equivalent figures among those who graduated 21 or more years ago are 7% and 6%, respectively.
Personal development and professional progress
More than two thirds of MBA graduates (68%), said they were more confident in themselves on completion of their MBA; 62% perceived themselves to be better at solving problems and finding solutions; 58% thought they were better prepared to operate in highly competitive environments; and 56% believe themselves to be better at dealing with people in a professional capacity.
In terms of the harder metrics, 35% said they have been able to accelerate their careers faster than they otherwise would have been, having completed an MBA; 27% believed the MBA has enabled them to earn ‘substantially more money’ post-graduation; and 24% believe that their MBA has enabled them to become an asset to the business community.
When considering only those participants that had graduated from an MBA programme less than a year before completing the survey, the results are slightly different.
Among these recent graduates, 55% said they are now better at resolving problems by finding new solutions (compared with 62% of the whole sample); 26% of new graduates said they have been able to accelerate their career faster than they otherwise would have (compared with 35% of the total sample); and 19% deem themselves to be an asset to the business community (compared with 24% of the total sample).
Finding the right role: career success post-MBA
Among the full sample of graduate participants (including those who studied executive MBAs and other part-time formats of the degree and are likely to have combined work and study) 29% said they already had the role they wanted before starting the MBA, while a further 17% said they landed their desired role while studying for the degree. Post-graduation, 15% said they were in the job they wanted within six months of graduation.
Notably, however, 21% said they are still not in the role they want following the completion of their MBA. This finding might attest to the level of ambition held by MBA graduates and suggest that Business Schools should look further into how they can manage graduates’ expectations vs. the realities of the job market into which their degree has propelled them. Nevertheless, the finding’s complexion changes considerably when taking into account the length of time since a graduate completed their MBA.
Indeed, to measure the career development of the sample over time, respondents’ answers to the question ‘How long did it take you to find the job you wanted post-MBA?, were segmented based on the length of time since they had completed their MBA.
Among participants who graduated less than a year ago, 38% said they are still looking for the job they dream of. However, just 7% of those who had graduated 11 -15 years ago said they still did not have the role they targeted, and this dropped to just 4% for those who graduated more than 21 years ago.
Meanwhile, among the most recent graduates, 26% said they already had the job they wanted before starting the qualification, and 18% found their desired role during their MBA.
The findings suggest that the largest proportions of MBA graduates find the role they want within six months of completing an MBA. Across all segments of the sample, almost two thirds of all participants said they were either in the job they wanted before starting their MBA, while studying, or within six months of completing the qualification.
The global recruitment landscape has changed greatly since the time at which the earliest gradates in our survey completed their MBAs and this is reflected in the findings here. While 49% of those that graduated more than 21 years ago had secured their desired position during their studies or within six months of graduation, the equivalent proportion among those that graduated a year or less before completing the survey is 33%. This suggests that finding suitable roles has become more difficult for MBAs over this period of time, and one reason for this could be an increasing amount of competition for MBA-level roles. This interpretation would tie in with the findings from part one of this report, in which 28% of employers said there are currently too many candidates for too few MBA-level roles.
Have reasons for pursuing an MBA evolved over time?
Graduate participants were asked to share their reasons for completing an MBA. The top answers were ‘To acquire more skills and knowledge about the business world’ (cited by 70% of graduate survey respondents); ‘To expand my area of expertise’ (67%); and ‘To get a broader understanding of how business should be managed’ (50%).
Current students are more likely to have cited reasons such as ‘To learn about developing a sustainable business’ (cited by 31% of students vs. 20% of graduates); ‘To help build my confidence’ (41% of students vs. 34% of graduates); and ‘To help understand how to run a business for the greater good of society’ (27% of students vs. 17% of graduates).
This suggests that current students are more concerned about socially responsible and sustainable issues in the world of work and are keen to develop associated skills during their MBA. However, the student sample was more inclined to choose a larger number of reasons for completing an MBA in the survey, and answers are more evenly spread, when compared with their graduate peers. This should be taken into consideration when comparing students and graduates.
The sample was then segmented further to explore whether the reasoning for completing an MBA changes with the length of time since graduate groups completed their MBAs – i.e. to see if the reasons for pursuing an MBA have evolved.
Participants that graduated from their MBA less than a year before completing the survey were more motivated to complete an MBA to expand their areas of expertise (64% vs. 55% who graduated 21 or more years ago).
This newly graduated cohort were also more inclined to cite financial motivation than their counterparts who completed their MBA in the 1990s or earlier – 40% of participants that graduated less than a year before completing the survey undertook their MBAs to earn more money in the long term. The equivalent figure among those who graduated 21 or more years ago is 25%.
More recent graduates are also more concerned with ethical business, compared to the MBAs of the 1990s and pre-1990s. Among those that graduated less than a year before completing the survey, 21% said they had completed an MBA to learn about developing a sustainable business, and 13% said they had completed the MBA to learn how to develop an ethically sound business. The equivalent figures among those who graduated 21 or more years ago are 7% and 6%, respectively.
Recent graduates were also more likely to have had entrepreneurial motivations behind their decision to undertake an MBA; 23% of those that graduated less than a year before completing the survey said they completed an MBA to equip them to start their own business. This figure decreases gradually with the length of time since graduation, to a proportion of only 9% among those that graduated 21 or more years ago.
Lastly, 42% of those who graduated in the last year were keen to enhance their professional networks through an MBA, but this drops to just 11% among those that graduated 21 or more years ago. In addition, 34% of recent graduates say they took an MBA to increase their chances of having an international career, compared to 16% among those that graduated 21 or more years ago.
Satisfaction with the degree versus expectations
Moving on, the research sought to gauge graduates’ personal perceptions of their MBA qualification in terms of their own satisfaction. From the Business School perspective, the results are encouraging – 71% of graduates were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with the impact that their MBAs had had on their careers to date.
Graduates were then asked to share more information on the areas in which they believed the MBA has added the most value, in terms of their career prospects: 88% agreed that they had ‘gained substantially more skills to help them do business better’ as a result of completing the MBA; 81% agreed that ‘the skills they learned during their MBA have helped them be more mentally resilient’; and 74% believed ‘they have been able to develop all the business-related skills they wanted’ as a result of completing the qualification.
When looking solely at MBA graduates that had completed their qualification less than a year before taking the survey, the results revealed a higher level of satisfaction. In all areas measured, recent graduates were either one or two percentage points higher in agreement than other graduates.
David Woods-Hale, Director of Marketing and Communications at AMBA & BGA, and author of the report, said: ‘MBA student and graduate respondents to this research have demonstrated themselves to be ambitious. Their reasons for completing the MBA may be varied but they are, for the most part, focused on self-improvement and enhancing soft skills, over harder metrics such as pay increases or promotions.
‘The reasons for completing an MBA among graduates have also largely remained constant over time. The most variation in evidence comes among those that have graduated within the past year. This newly graduated cohort reported more motivation to complete an MBA to expand their areas of expertise and were more financially motivated than counterparts who completed the qualification in the 1990s or earlier. These recent graduates were also more concerned with ethical business, compared to MBAs of the 1990s and pre-1990s.
‘In terms of employment-related outcomes, just under nine in 10 participants agreed that they had gained substantially more skills to help them ‘do business better’ and just under three quarters believed ‘they have been able to develop all the business-related skills they wanted’ as a result of completing an MBA. Overall, graduates agreed that their motivations for completing the MBA had been satisfied.
‘These findings also suggest that employment prospects remain promising for MBA graduates, with 33% of those that have graduated within the past year saying they landed their desired role during the degree, or within six months of completing it. A further 26% of recent graduates already had the job they wanted before starting the MBA. It’s also worth noting that this is not to say that the remaining 41% were still out of work six months on from graduation, only that they had not yet secured their ideal – or dream – job, post-MBA.
‘Volatility caused by geopolitical issues are set to continue and could even exacerbate challenges in the recruitment market, making future trends on MBA recruitment figures hard to predict. Yet, in spite of such uncertainty, AMBA & BGA’s survey of MBA students and graduates, combined with its survey of MBA employers detailed in the previous part of this study, indicates that both these groups are confident that MBAs have the skills and qualities that employers need to succeed, and are best placed to face these ongoing and unpredictable challenges.’
ENDS
Notes to editors
Read the full report here.
For more information, interviews or imagery, contact:
Ellen Buchan, Insight and Communications Assistant, AMBA & BGA: e.buchan@associationofmbas.com
Methodology and participant demographics
Between 27 March 2020 and 27 May 2020 AMBA & BGA conducted its largest-ever online survey of its 49,000 MBA student and graduate members, based in more than 150 countries.
A total of 752 current MBA students and 2,110 MBA graduates completed the online questionnaire and shared their opinions on their current employment situation and their views and aspirations for the future.
Among responding current MBA students, 65% are male,34% are female and 1% preferred not to say. In terms of age, 3% are aged between 18 and 24; 43% are in the age group 25-34; 37% are in the age group 35-44; 14% are aged 45-54; 2% are in the age group 55-64; and less than 1% are aged 65+.
The current MBAs surveyed covered a fairly even geographic spread. The most represented region was Europe (excluding the UK) – 27% of student participants were based in this region at the time of completing the survey. This was followed by 16% in the UK; 13% in Africa; 12% in India; 12% in Asia and the Middle East (excluding India and China); 7% in Latin America; 7% in North America and the Caribbean; 4% in Oceania; and 1% in China and Hong Kong, China.
Among the MBA graduate sample, 71% are male and 29% are female. In terms of age, less than 1% are aged between 18 and 24; 24% are in the age group 25-34; 42% are in the age group 35-44; 22% are aged 45-54; 9% are in the age group 55-64; and 2% are aged 65+.
The MBA graduate sample also covered an even geographic spread. The region that was represented most frequently was again Europe (excluding the UK) – 29% of MBA graduate participants were based in this region at the time of completing the survey. This was followed by 20% based in the UK; 11% in Africa; 11% in Asia and the Middle East (excluding India and China); 9% in Latin America; 8% in North America and the Caribbean; 7% in India; 3% in Oceania; 2% in China and Hong Kong, China.
The study of 2,110 MBA graduates found that at the time of completing the survey, eight out of 10 (80%) were in full-time employment (more than 30 hours per week); 8% were working less than 30 hours per week; and 11% were not working at the time.
Survey participants were asked about the industries in which they worked. The most frequently represented sectors within the sample were consultancy (11%); banking and finance (10%); IT (6%); education (6%); energy (5%); government (5%); engineering 4%; and manufacturing (4%). In total, most industries were represented, demonstrating the diversity of career paths among MBA graduates.
Delving deeper, the survey then sought to find out the functional roles held by participants. Again, there is diversity among the sample, with a wide range of functions reported: 18% were in consultancy positions; 16% work in operations; 16% in sales and/or business development; 10% in finance; 7% work in IT; and 6% hold the role of CEO or general management.
Just under four out of 10 participants (38%) were at the level of middle management (incorporating divisional head and principle level roles); 22% were in junior management roles; 12% were senior managers (incorporating directors, partners, country heads or vice presidents; 9% were business owners; 2% were presidents/CEOs/managing directors; and 2% were board members. Participants who selected ‘other’ included those who had retired, politicians, academics, and those who were self-employed.
