THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TYPE AND AMOUNT OF EDUCATION AND MANAGERIAL ATTAINMENT.

Abstract

The research reported here attempted to answer two questions. The first was to determine the relationship between the amount of education managers receive and their actual relative attainment in business organizations. There now seems little doubt that there is an important relationship: top managers are better educated than middle managers. Not only are they better educated than their subordinates now, but this is a trend that has existed throughout most of this century. it seems less likely in view of the finding that a positive relationship exists between the type of education managers receive at the undergraduate level and their actual attainment in business organizations, providing an answer to the second question. It may still be argued that the relationships are misleading since the form or education emphasized could be arbitrary rather than due to sound educational logic. However, such an argument would make the findings of this study more difficult to interpret. Most persons seem to advise arts and science backgrounds as superior to business school backgrounds. Yet there is a positive relationship between attendance at undergraduate business schools and executive attainment. The point remains, however, that undergraduate business schools have been capable of providing American business manager's with the intellectual tools they need and that their capacity to perform this role has increased over the past decades. The undergraduate business school appears to be accomplishing its educational mission. It seems to be relevant now and, by extrapolation, will become an even more important factor in the education of the manager of the future.