Every year, the region's business schools strive to showcase their best attributes to attract the most qualified students to their MBA programs. But how much have their objectives, curricula and student profiles changed after the Covid-19 pandemic?
“In constant transformation.” This is how Juan Esteban Escalante, head of the MBA at the EAFIT University of Colombia, describes the profile of the current MBA student in the region. “The MBA has become a program with much greater versatility. It is not only aimed at executives of large corporations, but at people who work both in the world of entrepreneurship and in the public sector,” he argues.
Just like Escalante, all the business schools consulted by AméricaEconomía agree that the students' objectives are no longer focused exclusively on climbing the corporate ladder. Today, there is also evidence of student interest in entrepreneurship, with a clear objective of leading their own startups . “Executives look to MBA programs for a transformative professional experience to acquire both management skills and more technical knowledge in finance, marketing, operations, human resources and business analytics . Furthermore, we notice a growing demand to understand innovation processes, what the entrepreneurial ecosystem is like, both for new projects — entrepreneurship — and to launch new projects within the company — intrapreneurship —,” says Daniel Serrot, Director of the Executive MBA at the University of San Andrés of Argentina.
Many business schools have prepared to respond to these new requirements in the region. One of them is the Torcuato di Tella University, also in Argentina, which has two centers: Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and UTDT Factory. “Both have subjects within the MBA and advice is provided to those interested in starting a business or who already have their business. In addition, students are encouraged to develop a business plan for their ideas that will serve as their final project,” says Carlos Loisi, co-Director of the MBA at the Torcuato Di Tella University.
In that sense, there is a greater mix of backgrounds and goals among the students, although there is more homogeneity in age. “Both our MBA and EMBA have a heterogeneity of profiles that make the experience even richer, including public accountants, business administrators and economists, engineers from various branches, health professionals, lawyers, and graduates in social sciences, communication and marketing,” adds Loisi.
At EAFIT, the youngest group in the MBA program is in their late twenties , with a minimum experience of three years so that the master's degree does not become a continuation of the undergraduate degree. “Our average today is more than 33 years old, but we have students between 28 and 30. In that case, the dominant condition has to do with entrepreneurship and the intention to develop a set of skills that allows them to be much more prepared to shape them. . It is no secret to anyone that many students no longer dream of being the CEO or CFO of a large corporation, but rather their bets revolve more around their businesses. From that logic, just a disciplinary spectrum is not enough. It is necessary to develop skills within the framework of administration, regardless of whether you are an electronic engineer, designer, publicist or communicator,” says Escalante.
POST COVID-19 PROFILE
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on various industries, including education, has been evident. But can we also talk about an effect on the profile of MBA students?
On the one hand, a study of corporate recruiters released in July of this year by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the global association that represents the main business schools, detected that something that the pandemic did not change is that Employers continue to rely on hiring business school graduates. In that study, employers also indicated that communication, data analysis and strategy are currently among the most important skills they seek among business school graduates. And most say its importance will continue to increase.
According to the specialists consulted for this article, the pandemic did not completely change the profile of the students or the MBA offer. But it did act as a catalyst or accelerator to highlight the role of remote technologies and the flexibility to combine with in-person presence. “After the pandemic, we have noticed an increase in demand for our MBAs, of the order of 20%. In-person classes continue to be very attractive, as they provide networking and opportunities for professional cooperation,” complements Tales Andreassi, Deputy Dean of the Business School of the Getulio Vargas University (FGV-EAESP) in Brazil.
The accelerated digital transformation has made MBA programs adapt to what the market demands both at the curricular level, with new subjects, and at the infrastructure level. “We have equipped classrooms, both at the Victoria Campus and at the new Callao Headquarters, with cameras, microphones and screens so that the students' experience is the same, whether they are studying in person or remotely. Beyond offering specific subjects in data analytics , business intelligence and technology, digitalization is a transversal and central issue for all companies that we address in practically all subjects,” says Serrot.
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Even so, the advantages that face-to-face allows are undeniable. “We are convinced that classroom learning is more effective in this modality. Likewise, the interaction between students, the exchange of experiences and the debate of ideas is richer in person,” Loisi emphasizes. For this reason, each institution plays a little with hybrid formats in response to the geographical distances and schedules of its students, without leaving aside the enriching nature of being in person.
Another highly demanded aspect is the incorporation of meshes that highlight the so-called soft skills, such as leadership, communication and teamwork, which go hand in hand with technical knowledge, when it comes to leading. “We have also noticed a growing interest in applying ESG fundamentals and technologies such as [applied] artificial intelligence to business,” adds Andreassi.
Along the same lines, the MBA programs at the University of San Andrés include mandatory subjects on innovation, digital business, new businesses, entrepreneurship and a final project, where students must make a business plan for a possible startup, which is generally a technological business or with a strong technological component. “In this way, students must apply everything learned during the MBA to analyze and build a startup. In addition, we offer more than 15 elective subjects on technology topics, so that students can choose and complement their training. Students can take these elective subjects both in their first and second year, as well as once they graduate, within our lifelong learning proposal,” explains Daniel Serrot.
Similarly, students who come from areas other than business also choose to pursue MBA programs to develop their interpersonal skills and strategic thinking. “For example, engineers, lawyers or health professionals, who usually dedicate the first years of their professional experience to technical activities. But, as they advance in responsibilities and topics in charge, they need to know about other business disciplines, including financial, operations, marketing and commercial strategy aspects,” explains Loisi.
In this way, the emergence of digitalization has modified some MBA programs to incorporate digitalization, data analytics and data science tools, agile methodologies and innovation, or even propose disciplines focused on digital transformation, its challenges and opportunities.
IRRUPTION OF HEALTH IN MBAS
A particular aspect promoted in recent years, in the post-pandemic era, is the rapprochement of the MBA with the health industry.
And the urgency of professionalizing the health sector in Latin America became more latent, especially after surviving a pandemic with a completely collapsed system in the vast majority of countries. “We have more and more health professionals. From doctors, dentists and psychologists who come from that training branch closely linked to health sciences. This is because some profiles have an education very oriented to a particular field and the field of administration is completely left aside. It is possible that within the medical world there are professionals who, from their training in the health sciences, want develop skills that allow them to manage the entities where they provide that service,” says Juan Esteban Escalante.
The increase in demand for MBAs from health professionals has led some schools to develop programs with a specific orientation to this industry. “We have detected a greater demand for professionalization in health management and, based on this analysis, in 2021 we have launched the Health MBA, where doctors and students from other profiles who work in the health industry coexist with a rigorous training in management and business. This program seeks to develop in its students a comprehensive vision of the health ecosystem,” explains Serrot.
From the Getulio Vargas Foundation, they affirm that their MBA has the credentials to prepare professionals from all industries, including health. “We have a program certified by the global MBA association (AMBA) and the first internationally certified MBA in Brazil, called Specialist Course in Hospital and Health System Administration (CEAHS), where the focus is on preparing executives, whether or not they are from the health sector. , to occupy leadership positions in companies linked to the sector. The challenges of the health sector have intensified in recent decades and there has been an acceleration in terms of innovation, changes and competitiveness in the face of the pandemic,” concludes the Deputy Dean of FGV-EAESP, Andreassi.
