The impact of experience‐based MBA educational programs on international career mobility

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine empirically whether teaching methodologies that emphasize international experiential learning have a significant role in fostering or encouraging greater international mobility. To that end, it assesses whether MBA programs that emphasize experience‐based learning in the form of international travel, exchanges and internships have more internationally mobile graduates than programs that do not. It also discusses the broader role of experiential learning in teaching students skills relevant to international business.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings and the A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalization Index to assess whether international experiential learning is conducive to the future international mobility of graduates. It employs a multivariate data analysis methodology to examine whether the international experience and exposure received during an MBA is a predictor of subsequent international mobility.FindingsThis study finds that MBA programs that use experiential teaching methods that emphasize international travel, exchanges and internships tend to have more internationally mobile graduates than those that do not, even after the influence of foreign students and location have been controlled for.Originality/valueRelatively few studies have examined the question of whether the international experiential teaching methods that many MBA programs use, such as exchanges, internships and travel, have an impact on the subsequent international mobility of graduates. This is an important research area as many MBA programs have embraced experiential learning techniques as the centerpiece of their efforts to train more culturally sensitive, adaptable and internationally‐minded graduates to work both domestically and overseas.