The growing recognition of Masters in Management

For the fifth time, the University of St Gallen in Switzerland has topped the Financial Times overall ranking of the best masters in management (MiM) programmes worldwide, closely followed by the French HEC in Paris - France’s Essec is placed third. The ranking is the result of two surveys – one of the participating business schools and the other of alumni who graduated three years ago (the class of 2012). The ranking is in part based on how successful alumni have been in their careers, as reflected in salary data, according to the Financial Times.

IIM Calcutta in India ranks first in the FT’s career ranking, just ahead of its sister schools in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Calcutta’s graduates work mainly in three sectors dominated by multinationals: IT/software/telecoms, finance/banking and consultancy. Two-thirds of Calcutta graduates work in companies with more than 5,000 employees compared with just under half of all graduates on average.

WHU Beisheim is ranked first for placement success. The students rate their school highly for the effectiveness of its careers service in helping them find jobs.

Also MIM programmes are developing into life-savers for many North American business schools and a tool to build international reputation in Asia, reports the FT.

In the US, where applications to MBA programmes are in decline, masters degrees have provided a source of revenue for many business schools, in particular masters in management (MiM). The increasing acceptance of the MiM in the US is also increasing the country’s popularity as a destination for MiM. The London Business School for example is pleased that US companies recruit many of their graduates, especially for jobs in finance and consulting.

But there are also concerns about the impact on other programmes, according to the Financial Times. Some critiques say the multitude of degrees on the market may mean MiM graduates find themselves competing for jobs with those from undergraduate business programmes. Therefore masters need to have a real distinguishing feature.

Also several schools have set up in China to promote MiM programmes. Not all Chinese business school deans are convinced of the value of the MiM, though. The reasons are often driven by financials. Most masters degrees in China have an academic focus in preparation for PhD programmes. Therefore, China’s ministry of education prohibits schools from taking high fees. And as each business school has a limited quota of how many masters it can admit for both MiM and MBA programmes, most schools prefer to admit the better paying MBA students.Find the full report here:FT 2015 masters in management ranking analysisMasters in Management

Barbara Bierach