Behind the business analytics boom

The number of master’s in business analytics programmes ranked by QS has grown exponentially over the past decade. Today, QS assesses 156 of these degrees across 29 countries, up from less than 40 just six years ago. 

The reason for this massive growth may seem obvious. Employer demand for business analysts is flourishing. The Institute of International Business Analysts report over 2.7 million jobs in the field, with over 15 percent vacancies at any time, and this is likely conservative. 

With the QS Global Employer Survey gathering business-sector data for more than 30 years and our latest rankings considering responses from 99,000 employers around the world, we know better than anyone that business/data analytics is one of the most in-demand skills for business graduates today.

For example, we know that, of employers hiring business graduates, 31 percent are looking specifically for business analysts. Meanwhile, as the number of students studying business analytics grows, so too does graduate employment rate, with 88 percent of business analytics graduates employed within six months of graduation, up from 85 percent last year.

Meanwhile, UCLA (Anderson) which is home to the world’s best master’s in business analytics, according to the most recent edition of the QS Business Master’s Rankings, reported a whopping 100 percent graduate employment rate.

That’s why I strongly advise prospective MBA candidates to consider business analytics electives or a master’s in business analytics for a shorter, more focused study option. 

As big data becomes more and more important in business, and the world more broadly, employers increasingly value candidates with a combination of hard technical skills – like R, Tableau, data visualisation – as well as soft skills like verbal and written communication, teamwork and critical thinking, all of which can be honed during a business analytics degree.

Not only are these skills invaluable for specialist roles but are also becoming ever more valuable for wider leadership positions as today’s business heads are increasingly required to understand data and make data-informed decisions.

I was fortunate enough to study an MBA at Wharton School which had a strong emphasis on data. In turn, this has enabled me to practice data-informed decision-making on a daily basis ever since and build a global company based largely on…you guessed it: data.

The chart below indexes the importance of hard skills for employers hiring business graduates. Digital competency tops the list, indicating that most employers consider it essential or highly important. Data analysis closely follows with a score of 98.8.

However, the skills gap reported by employers is far greater for data analysis than for digital competency (though not as large as the gap for project management), highlighting a perceived need for proficiency in this field.

The evolving landscape of the business sector underscores the pre-eminence of data analytics in an economic and technologically dynamic world. The exponential growth in business analytics master’s, as highlighted by QS rankings, testifies to the ever-growing demand for this skill set and the educational opportunities that are available. 

For those considering an MBA or business degree, the data speaks for itself: mastering business analytics offers a competitive edge in the current global job market and will continue to unlock career pathways well into an increasingly data-driven future.