European Business School Alumni Find Validation in Climate: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul Updated Dec 02, 2014

Save

Introduction
Are EMBA, MiM and MBA graduates receiving enough support?

The 10 Top Business Schools in Europe 2014/15: Slideshow

More than three-quarters of European business school alumni said that their education had helped them through the ongoing tribulations of the region’s economies, in a poll conducted by the Financial Times.

However, 40% of respondents admitted that unstable financial climes had negatively impacted on their careers and roughly a third were open to moving abroad in search of fresh opportunities in the year to come. Half of those considering a change of scenery were looking to the US, although moves within Europe – chiefly to the UK or Switzerland – were the next most popular choices.

The poll canvassed the opinions of just over 1500 MBA graduates, as well as EMBA and MiM alumni, who had completed their studies at a European business school in either 2010 or 2011. It comes ahead of the FT hosting a live panel discussion on the subject of studying in Europe – focusing on Spain, France and the UK.

Are EMBA, MiM and MBA graduates receiving enough support?

Interestingly, at a time when you might expect a European business school to take a more active role in the fortunes of their alumni, be they EMBA, MiM or MBA graduates, only 40% of those surveyed indicated that their alma mater had “offered them support in the form of ongoing training, access to networking events and advice from the careers service”.

This seems a low percentage when schools place such value in the idea of a student’s program of study marking the start of a lifelong relationship with the school. If the benefits of such a relationship at a European business school ends up being restricted simply to those who seek them out, then there is clearly room for improvement in the way these schools engage with their MBA graduates and alumni communities as a whole. After all, even accounting for the highly international intakes seen at many European schools, in this case 70% of those polled were still based in the region.

Of the 40% of EMBA, MiM and MBA graduates who reported the financial climate’s negative career impact, two-thirds cited fewer job vacancies, 41% pointed to reduced pathways to promotion and a small minority of 13% had experienced redundancy.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).