The Lens
Rivers of change
Navigating the currents of Graduate Management Education Rankings: A commentary on the QS Global MBA and Specialised Masters Rankings 2024
By Daniel Kahn, Senior Insights Specialist
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The QS Global MBA and Specialized Masters rankings, much like a river, offer a consistent yet ever-evolving reflection of international accredited programmes. From a distance, a river may seem unchanging, but up close, one can observe the undercurrents, eddies and shifts that symbolise the dynamism and innovation of the graduate management education realm.
Patti Brown-Varnier, Executive Director for Academic Affairs & Programme Delivery at HEC Paris MBA, emphasises the significance of these rankings: "Rankings are key to ensuring our relevance. They guide us when we deviate from our path and even suggest new directions. In essence, they serve as our quality control."
Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management, concurs, noting that rankings are a potent and constructive exercise. “They provide direction and help institutions focus on essential parameters,"he says.
Reputation stands as a cornerstone in Graduate Management Education Rankings. For many applicants, reputation remains the most significant factor when choosing a programme. As the adage goes, and as Warren Buffet once remarked, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." This sentiment rings especially true in 2023, as institutions become increasingly conscious of their standing in the digital age. While many rankings lean heavily on self-reported data and salary figures, reputation transcends these metrics. It's about perception, the intangible aura surrounding an institution.
Recent years have witnessed a surge in the launch and subsequent ranking of Specialised Masters programmes. Established MBA schools often leverage their existing reputations, employer connections and research prowess to bolster their standings in these new programme rankings.
Esteemed institutions like Harvard, Stanford and Wharton have diligently built their reputations over decades. Their endeavours go beyond mere academic excellence. They have established robust connections with employers, guaranteed positive outcomes for their graduates and led pioneering research initiatives. All these facets are encapsulated in the QS GME Rankings. Furthermore, the importance of academic research is highlighted by Thomas Roulet, the incoming Professor of Organisational Sociology & Leadership at Judge Business School. He underscores the imperative for institutions to stay committed to their research, ensuring its relevance in today's evolving business world. Collaboration remains paramount in academia. Joint research initiatives can amplify an institution's impact, bolstering its academic reputation (10 percent of the rankings). This spirit of collaboration extends beyond research; it encompasses the cultivation of a diverse student body that reflects the global market's needs.
Schools like the London Business School and Judge (Cambridge) have made remarkable progress, reminiscent of tributaries that fortify a river's flow. Their achievements reflect not only their academic strengths but also the vibrant ecosystems surrounding them. Cambridge, with its thriving tech startups, and London, a global financial epicentre, have significantly influenced these institutions' paths. On the other side of the pond, UCLA's top position in the Masters in Business Analytics rankings underscores its esteemed reputation and its prime location within California's tech and analytics nucleus.
Geographical policies and frameworks also play a pivotal role in these rankings. European institutions, known for their shorter MBA programmes, often outshine their counterparts in the Return on Investment (ROI) metric. Their diverse student demographics further amplify their allure. Martin Boehm, Rector of EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht in Germany, who served as former Dean of IE Business School and currently contributes as a member of the Board of Directors for GMAC says: “Diversity is not just an impressive numerical accomplishment, but a profound resource for forging global connections in a world that is becoming ever more interlinked.”
Meanwhile, the US has made commendable progress in championing gender equality. Wharton's MBA class data over the past decade exemplifies this:
This trend underscores the increasing gender representation, with recent years achieving gender parity—a goal many US business schools ardently pursue.
The latest release of rankings have seen new entrants from the Asia-Pacific region, such as SMU (Lee Kong Chian), University of Sydney Business School, and Peking University HSBC Business School. This indicates the region's growing ambition to retain local talent and compete on the global stage. The Masters in Management ranking also welcomed highly ranked newcomers like Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and EBS Business School (Germany), underscoring Europe's dominance in specialized master's programmes.
While rankings might appear as steadfast as a river's course, they are teeming with underlying currents of change, innovation and potential. Institutions that discern and harness these currents will not only ascend in the rankings, but also sculpt the future of global education.