MBA Study Destinations: Analysis of Attraction

Prospective MBA students are open to a far greater variety of MBA study destinations today than they were a decade ago.

This is not just because the quality of business education found around the world has progressed greatly, but also because of the rising MBA job prospects to be found away from the traditional markets associated with the qualification in North America and Western Europe.

Indeed, basing your choice of business school on where you would like to work after graduation is the third most popular criteria given (after international recognition and the availability of financial aid) by respondents to the QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey 2014, and is cited by just over half of the 5,000+ MBA students of tomorrow.

Prospective MBA students’ country selection assessed

But, are these prospective MBA students right in their selection of countries? The table below shows the popular, but less obvious, MBA study destinations that ranked from 11th to 20th among respondents this year.

Their places in the mind of prospective MBA students is held up against three further indicators that point not only to the potential of enjoying a prosperous career in the country, but also to the availability of quality business education each has to offer for MBA study.

The precise measures used in the table below are:

• The number of business schools each country has featured in the 2013/14 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report.
• The growth in the number of MBA job opportunities reported by international employers in the 2013/14 QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends Report.
• The country’s rank in the 2014 ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index produced by the World Bank.

* indicates countries where fewer than 100 MBA job opportunities were reported by employer respondents, making growth comparisons more difficult.

MBA job prospects not always matched by business ‘ease’

As can be seen in the table above, countries enjoying the fastest growth in MBA job prospects can’t always match this level of opportunity with ‘ease of doing business.’ The World Bank’s index stems from a country’s showing in 10 areas ranging from protecting investors to getting electricity and registering property.

Conversely, prospective MBA students interested in studying in countries scoring highly in the World Bank’s index, such as New Zealand, might consider the chance to stay on and work in a business-friendly environment just as valuable as the amount of choice in business schools offering MBA degrees that are held in esteem by international recruiters.

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