MBAchic Guest Blogger - Discussing the evolution of the MBA at SXSWxEDU

MBAchic Guest Blogger - Discussing the evolution of the MBA at SXSWxEDU

ORIGINALLY FEATURED ON MBACHIC · PUBLISHED 8 APRIL 2019

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Discussing the evolution of higher ed at SXSWxEDU and the ROI of an MBA.

The SXSW-EDU portion of the larger SXSW-universe is focused on the entire ecosystem of the education system – from early childhood development researchers, to EdTech companies, to policy-makers, to K-12 teachers, to higher ed administrators, innovators, and everyone in between.

I had the pleasure of attending on behalf of Accelerate Leadership Center, Tepper School of Business. My mission (beyond soaking up new information and networks) was to explore new ways to bring STORYTELLING and XR (AR, VR, and MR) into the journey of Leadership at B-schools.

ROI of higher ed

One of the more interesting topics I’d love to share with the MBAchic audience is related to the ROI on Higher Ed, specifically the MBA. One theme heard over and over again was about the value proposition of the higher ed degree, specifically a graduate degree. Students as consumers of higher ed programs require a return on two types of investments: first, tuition dollars and second, time out of career. Making this higher ed decision more complicated as of late are the availability of non-degree online learning options (prevalent and inexpensive), and organizations bolstering their in-house learning and development (L&D) functions.

So, how do we, as a community of learners and instructors, continue to deliver on that customer desire of occupation-based AND competency-based education?

As such, higher ed degrees (again, specifically graduate degrees) have shifted from competency-based models to occupation-based models. For example, an MBA degree is shifting from “learn [these core competencies] so you can eventually apply it to a number of possible arenas, industries, and careers” to “to be a product manager at a global tech company, you need these hard skills and these soft skills – learn them here”.

Industry and higher education need to be in lock-step

Saving the value judgement on this shift, it’s clear that the need for industry and higher education to be more connected is critical. Extending the example above, it’s critical that higher education understands what a Product Manager needs to be successful now. And it’s even more critical to keep the dialogue going with industry... a Product Manager now is likely to demand different skills than a Product Manager 5 years from now.

For professors and administrators of higher education that are steeped in traditional academia, this is a significant shift. Theory is critically important – you’ll never hear me say otherwise! – but BUT BUT learning how to apply those theories to specific industries and positions are what MBA students ultimately want. So, how do we, as a community of learners and instructors, continue to deliver on that customer desire of occupation-based AND competency-based education? One idea that gained a lot of attention at the conference was about establishing and sustaining the feedback loops with the student into their early alumni years.

Feedback on the evolution of higher ed

 Some feedback ideas from panelists and speakers were:

▪ What did we teach you that was NOT useful?

▪ What did we NOT teach you that you needed?

▪ Were you able to contribute to your organization within the first few weeks in your position?

▪ Do you trust your ability to ask tough questions of your own leader/manager?

With this feedback from alumni (specifically, recent grads), higher education institutions and curriculum developers will begin to have the information needed to continue to deliver value to MBA students who are looking for both a competency-based learning experience and an occupation-based learning experience.

 Thank you to SXSW_EDU and MBAchic! - Lauren

 

 

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