Expectations of Social Mobility in Different Types of MBA Students

Abstract

The empirical basis of the study is a 2010 survey among MBA students of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Managers and entrepreneurs studying in the business school impose different requirements to content of educational programs and to organization of teaching process, depending on what changes they expect after graduating with MBA degrees. Based on these expectations, MBA students may be classified into three categories: stable, horizontally mobile, and vertically mobile. The stable type (40%) believes that business education will give them more self-confidence and help them secure their social status and current position in the company. Horizontally mobile students (34%) expect to change their job or field of activity after graduating from the business school. Vertically-mobile students (26%) envisage a career progress, a pay rise, an improvement of social status, or getting a job in a top corporation or in an international company. The conclusion is, usiness education can perform different functions for different categories of students, so maximum efficiency of MBA programs may be achieved through student segmentation and educational program differentiation (more detailed elaboration of educational content to adjust it to students’ emands; diversification of the set of subjects, etc.). Modern Russian business schools are rather unwilling to initiate research to study demands of both prospective students (including their status specifics, expectations, needs, and motivation for MBA studies) and employers (e. g. their equirements to successful candidates for specific positions), which blunts effectiveness of the business education system significantly.