Europe all the way

Updated on: Tuesday, April 05, 2011

According to the European Geographic Trend Report, recently released by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), B-schools in Europe received more than 85,000 GMAT score reports from prospective students around the world in the testing year 2010.

According to the report, interest in European programmes has grown each year since the testing year 2006 and by nearly 90% over the five-year period.

Examining this new trend, Jean-Paul Larçon , senior associate dean for International Development at HEC Paris, says European business schools are drawing two categories of candidates — intra-European candidates who move within Europe to study; candidates from big emerging markets, especially China, India, Turkey and Russia. These candidates, he adds, are attracted by the European culture , education and the job potential offered by European firms, both in Europe and in their country of origin.
Larçon adds that there has been a significant growth in the demand for the GMAT worldwide in the preexperience

'Masters in Management' segment. This segment , which was historically very strong in France, Spain and Italy for example, is now growing quickly in all European countries, including the UK, thus attracting both European and non-European candidates.

NO LANGUAGE BARRIER

Language was once a hurdle, when it came to studying in Europe. Today, top B-schools in Europe are offering their management programmes in English, thus catering to a growing international market.
Devi Vallabhaneni, president & CEO, the Association of Professionals in Business Management (APBM), Chicago, attributes this new trend to the emergence of strong Europeanbased MBA programmes, combined with increased globalisation and multinationals focusing on developing talent.
Traditionally, in Europe, the most cherished careers were in engineering and the polytechnic institutes, or alternatively the humanities and the arts. However, heroes of our times are the entrepreneurs and top managers, says Santiago Iñiguez , dean, IE Business School, IE University, Spain.
The fastest growing segment of business education in Europe is represented by Masters in management programmes, targeted at graduates without previous professional experience.

MORE DIVERSITY

Experts in the field agree that European programmes provide more diversity in terms of the student body. Besides, the European MBA curriculum is more applied, focused on the soft-skills and varied in terms of content.
Echoing similar views, Jochen Runde, director of the MBA, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK, says, "The European programmes tend to be more internationally diverse. Also, the MBA is often seen as an entry card to the European labour market."

CHANGING CHOICES

The programme duration seems to be another important factor. Most management aspirants across the globe seem to prefer the one-year European model to the two-year model prevalent in the US.
Despite the growing trend of a shifting preference from the US to the Europe, Australia and Asia, RM Joshi, chairperson, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), reiterates that even today 55% of world's top business schools happen to be in the US.
But, in keeping with the changing choices, most B-schools like the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) are offering their students opportunities to focus their MBA experience towards Europe. Vice-president and dean, John Quelch, CEIBS, concludes that the US is no longer the undisputed first-choice and Europe is emerging as a key market.

TREND SETTER

B-schools in Europe are becoming an increasingly popular destination for all GMAT examinees, not just regional talent. Programmes located in Europe received 85,262 score reports from prospective students around the world in the testing year 2010, up by 40,183 scores or nearly 90% from the testing year 2006 Of the 85,262 score reports received by European B-schools from all GMAT examinees in the testing year 2010, 64% were from non-European examinees. Indian and Chinese citizens combined, for example, one out of every three scores into the European region The shift away from US programmes is balanced, for the most part, by the increased propensity of Europeans to send scores to programmes across Western Europe.

Growth in the number of GMAT score reports sent to programmes in UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany was especially strong Source: European Geographic Trend Report-2006-2010 (Graduate Management Admission Council)

Times of India

Europe all the way

More Education news