What to Expect from the QS Business Masters Rankings 2019

The QS Business Masters Rankings 2019 will be released on September 25, ranking over 430 business master’s programs worldwide, including master’s in management, master’s in finance, master’s in business analytics, and, new to the rankings this year, the master’s in marketing.

Our comprehensive Business Masters Rankings rank more business master’s degrees than ever before, including 135 schools for the master’s in management, 158 for the master’s in finance, 75 for the master’s in business analytics, and 70 for the new master’s in marketing ranking.

The rankings cover data points relating to all aspects of master’s programs, from alumni outcomes to diversity.

On September 25, the full results will be available, but we’ve found some interesting insights for you to consider before they’re announced, based on data we have collected on the world’s top business master’s programs.

European business schools reign supreme

European schools dominate the master’s in management rankings, with 96 programs included in the table compared to the US’s 21. This is very different from the Global MBA rankings, where US schools are much more prevalent.

In fact, the only business masters that has more US than European schools represented in the rankings is the master’s in business analytics, and even this is only by five schools.

In Europe, the number of marketing courses available have more than doubled compared to the US, and the master’s in finance has more degrees in Europe too (79 vs 55).

There’s a high proportion of international students in the business master’s rankings, ranging from 48 percent globally for the master’s in management to 72 percent globally for the master’s in business analytics, while a whopping 83 percent of students on master’s in marketing courses in Europe are international.

More gender parity in business master’s programs

A noticeable trend in the business school world is that business masters tend to have a higher level of gender parity than the MBA programs in the rankings, which have an average of 39 percent female students.

The master’s in finance degrees have the lowest proportion at 41 percent, although this is still higher than the average MBA course. Master’s in business analytics programs are slightly higher at 46 percent, with master’s in management programs achieving gender parity on their programs, with 50 percent female students on average.

Marketing, on the other hand, is a master’s degree dominated by female students, with 69 percent of students on the marketing programs included in the rankings identifying as female.

Younger students, less experience

Business master’s students tend to be younger than the average MBA student. This is unsurprising considering work experience is not a prerequisite of most business master’s programs, but is required for MBA study, where the average amount of work experience ranges from 5 to 9.6 years depending on region. However, in contrast, the average work experience ranges from 0 and 2.7 years in the business master’s rankings.

The average age of MBA students in the rankings is 28 to 35 years, whereas in the business master’s rankings it’s between 23 and 24.5 years, with master’s in management students being the youngest, aged between 23 and 23.7 years, depending on region.

Often, business master’s students begin their degrees shortly after completing their undergraduate study, so are younger and less experienced, as they hope to develop their knowledge in their planned career path rather than developing managerial skills for higher level positions.

Want to know more?

Check back on September 25 when we’ll reveal the results in full!