As far as the earlier times go – especially when taking into consideration the 80’s and the 90’s, opting for an MBA was seen as an easy way for many to progress their careers. Many have followed the program and it has led to great success, however, as we move more and more towards a post Covd-19 world, one question which even before the virus came into being existed : is an MBA even worth it now?
Not only does getting yourself enrolled into an MBA program at this current time seem as a questionable investment to begin with as you’d have to roll down a large sum of money for a single program, but this coupled with the case of lost wages for an extra two years just doesn’t seem to be worth the hassle anymore.
But of course the secret has been out for quite the while now : the value of business school has been known to be diminishing for quite some time. Just ask successful entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk what they think about an MBA program or indeed business schools as a whole. The model which is followed depends upon taking students out of the workforce to enable them to study decades-old cases was designed for a different era altogether, and just doesn’t seem to be practical anymore. Of course when we talk about this past era, we especially take into consideration the point when technology didn’t have the capabilities to shift entire industries at such breakneck speeds.
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Covd-19 as whole has not only put the whole world into recession, but it has also gone on to show just how archaic this type of education really is. It hasn’t taken more than a mere number of months for us to see business plans being torn up due to irrelevance while the rules that we’ve played by are also quickly being scrapped. Of course considering the current situation, it’s no surprise that executives have to take decisions in real time as reliance on outdated case tactics isn’t at all the way to go.
We’ve known MBA programs to promise candidates successful futures : which of course includes a higher caliber of job opportunities as well as belonging to a prestigious network. However, when taking into consideration the future – none of these outcomes can be guaranteed.
Many companies that have been known to take keen interests in candidates with MBAs are now actively looking towards the prospect of freezing the hiring process and have also gone on to cancel summer internships. And so all in all, in the future, once things do get back to normal, MBA graduates will in fact be competing for jobs with candidates that have been working over the course of the past two years rather than those who have been pulling off all-nighters and going to parties.
Of course many have also argued that in today’s world, the education that an MBA program has on offer just isn’t sufficient enough to mark the needs and the pace with which we’re approaching different concepts. Again comes in the irrelevance of outdated studies as the industry disruption caused by the virus means that for a successful career, one would have to continually learn about new trends as well as broaden their networks, and keep up with their ever-changing skills that cement the spot for success.
One can also argue the case that in the post-Covd-19 world, management skills will be ever the more important. Indeed after the virus comes to a halt, only those jobs are likely to be secure that cannot be easily automated or easily outsourced. For example, you can imagine management roles that feature not only a high level of interpersonal skills, but also intelligence as well as experience.
And the trends of automation and outsourcing are only likely to further increase in an exponential manner going in to the future – as the whole process has in fact been accelerated due to the presence of Covd-19. It has been said to the extent that automation is set to scale up and also eliminate 20 to 25% of the current jobs when this decade comes to a close.
While we’re here arguing over the subjective irrelevance of an MBA program right now and especially going into the future, prospective students too are seemingly considering the same thoughts. Indeed business schools are forecasting a decline in enrollment for the rest of this year as well as over the course of the next few years. This of course makes sense as there hasn’t at all been any major innovation to suggest and encourage prospective students to join in.
All in all though, these statistics as well as the growing awareness does in fact mean that change is coming. Students not only expect more, but they also deserve more. And so it is high time that universities that target students with high fees and place them in debt realize that the monopoly over education is coming to an end and if they are to continue to make profits – they need to get into the act and innovate.
