MBA Aspirants Willing to Travel Abroad for Work, Prefer In-Person Learning

With the incoming of COVID-19 vaccines and some improvement in the pandemic situation, MBA aspirants all over India and the world are willing to step out of their homes. Most MBA aspirants are not interested in studying online and are more than willing to explore opportunities abroad and travel internationally for working.

Prospective Students Survey 2021

The new GMAC research report- Prospective Students Survey 2021 brought out the analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the choices of MBA aspirants. The data for the survey was collected between July and December 2020 from a total of 2515 individuals worldwide among which 330 were Indian candidates.

The results depicted a decline in concerns related to COVID-19 among MBA aspirants.

The percentage of candidates who said that they were extremely or very concerned due to the pandemic has declined from 41% in July, 2020 to 33% in December 2020.
33% of the candidates are not at all or slightly concerned about the pandemic.
A high level of concern is seen among international candidates as compared to domestic candidates.

Preferred Study Destinations Worldwide

The preferred study destination of candidates around the world were as follows:

Area	No of students preferring
United States	1018
Europe	870
United Kingdom	313
Canada	294
France	191
Asia Pacific	189
Spain	64

Top 3 Career Goals for MBA Aspirants

The top 3 career goals among the domestic and international MBA aspirants is as follows:

MBA-domestic	In %	MBA-International	In %
Get a raise/salary increase	55	Work outside the country of citizenship	43
Manage people	46	Obtain a Senior level position	38
Obtain a senior level position	44	Live outside the country of citizenship	38

Online learning preferences details

The percentage of candidates willing to complete more than 30% of their graduate business degree online are as follows:

Gender/MBA-type	MBA-domestic(in %)	MBA-International(in %)
Female	60	30
Male	52	24

Female candidates are more willing to adapt to online learning in the pandemic situation as compared to men candidates.

International Candidates prefer In-Person Learning

International candidates are not willing to change their plans to pursue an MBA abroad and substitute in-person learning with online learning. They are also not willing to look for a business school closer to home. In contrast, domestic candidates are willing to consider other options such as a B-school closer to home and adopt online learning. The percentage of candidates willing to consider online learning and a B-school closer to home are as follows:

Detail/MBA-type	MBA-domestic(in %)	MBA-International(in %)
More willing to consider online learning	30	13
More willing to consider a B-school closer to home	28	15

Top 4 Preferred Industries by MBA aspirants

The top 4 preferred industries for work of MBA aspirants are as follows:

Industry/MBA-type	MBA-domestic(in %)	MBA-International(in %)	Overall(in %)
Consulting Services	42	52	48
Financial Services	31	36	39
Technology	40	45	37
Investment Banking & Asset Management	24	32	30

Top 4 Job Functions preferred by MBA aspirants

The top 4 job functions preferred by MBA aspirants are as follows:

Job Function/MBA-type	MBA-domestic(in %)	MBA-International(in %)	Overall(in %)
Consulting	47	54	51
Strategy	49	59	49
General Management	47	50	42
Finance/Accounting	27	29	35

Indian MBA Aspirants Preferences

The top 5 preferred destinations among Indian MBA aspirants were as follows:

Country	Preference(in %)
United States	32
India	19
United Kingdom	16
Canada	13
France	7

More than 80% of Indian candidates are not willing to change their MBA plans. 96% Indian candidates are not willing to consider online learning. 19% are more willing to consider a business school closer to home

The top 7 preferred programmes among Indian candidates were as follows:

Programme Type	Preference(in %)
Full-time 1 year MBA	29
Full-time 2 year MBA	29
Master of Management	9
Executive MBA	5
Master of Finance	5
One-year PGP Program	4
Master of Data Analytics	4

44% of the Indian candidates are willing to work for a company where they can travel internationally thus, making it the most preferred career goal post MBA. 40% candidates wish to obtain a senior level position as their career goal. Consulting services(57%) is the most preferred industry to work among most Indian MBA candidates.

Sangeet Chowfla, president & CEO of GMAC said that “As vaccines become increasingly available, prospective students around the world are seeing light at the end of the tunnel regarding the global pandemic”.

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