Had come across a piece that was written by someone whom i know and thought of putting it up on my blog. Makes a very interesting read.
Despite India boasting over a thousand B-schools some of which are rated and ranked among the best in the world, most graduates who aspire for careers in the corporate world yearn to do an MBA abroad, especially in the UK, Australia and the US. Well-aware of this national aspiration, many foreign B-schools have established offices in India and stage promotional programmes in five-star hotels and glitzy fairs to ‘sensitise’ youth about the great globally cherished MBA programmes they offer.
But one has to understand the dynamics of why offshore B-schools aggressively recruit students from India and third world countries. A prime cause is that the pool of students who want to get graduate education in the western nations is low and falling dramatically. Hence the assiduous are wooing Indian and third world students. Yet, it’s becoming increasingly clear that a foreign B-school diploma doesn’t guarantee quality education or quality jobs. How many with foreign B-school certification attain these objectives doesn’t provide a very comfortable answer. Good MBA education, even in the US, the UK or Australia is restricted to a few 30 odd B-schools and the diplomas and certificates of other B-schools don’t open doors abroad or in India. Overlay this with other factors such as expensive education, poor living standards while studying, difficulties in securing appropriate work visas/ cards to settle aboard etc, and one can understand that the charm of working abroad is fading and most students educated in B-schools abroad are coming back to India where job prospects are better. Moreover with the recent global economic downturn having hit western economies harder there is more glaze and glitter than real gold in foreign MBAs. Nevertheless assuming that your heart is set upon a foreign MBA and you have the wherewithal to fund the aspiration, choosing an appropriate B-school isn’t rocket science. Check out the QS, Times Higher Education rankings of the best B-schools to the country of your choice. Some of the points that you may want to check out: Is the B-school you’ve chosen suffering from lack of local demand? Is its certification well recognised? Who are its prominent alumni? What is the school’s placement scenario? What are the fees and the hidden costs? Some answers to these questions will be easily available. Some won’t be. For answers to difficult questions, search out alumni of short-listed schools. In the connected world of Orkut and Facebook, searching for alumni shouldn’t be a great problem. Moreover, there are always B-school forums that will happily help you. But in all likelihood you’ll find that your investigations will prompt you to shortlist the top 30 B-schools in the US, top five in the UK and the Australia and a few others in the Europe and Singapore. But admission into these top-rung schools is difficult and expensive.
Will the scenario be markedly different if foreign B-school establish branch campuses in India as proposed by the Foreign Education Providers (Regulation of Entry Operations) Bill 2010 is enacted into the law? This is a timely relevant question. I believe it will be for the very talented and the rich ─ a miniscule minority in India. Foreign institutions entering India will be of two types: those that are serious about education and others who have been waiting for opportunities to cash in pout-up demand. The former will be few, the latter will be many; but both will be expensive propositions.
Against this backdrop for the vast majority it makes eminent good sense to explore the Indian B-school option. Admittedly Indian MBA diplomas with the exception of certification from top two-three IIMs, are not recognised by western firms. This is true of all public and private B-schools in India. It’s useful to remember that an MBA from top 30 B-schools of India is no better than of also-ran institutes that woo you from abroad. Certification from B-schools in both these groups is unlikely to result in the red carpet being rolled out for you by corporates. On the other hand graduates of top and middling indigenous B-schools can land well-paying jobs, closer to home and friends in culturally comfortable environments. Several exchange students from Europe and US in India will vouch for the quality and rigour of the top 30 B-school’s education in India.
As the Indian economy chalks up high annual rates of GDP growth and suffers serious talent shortages, opportunities for well-remunerated jobs are opening up for graduates who have received business education related to indigenous ground conditions. It’s important to bear in mind that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. While we are in India, we want a foreign life; while we are there, we root for India. Many students, even from the IITs who are in demand the world over, are spurning six-figure salaries and returning to India, as are a growing number of students who have MBAs from the best foreign B-schools. And lastly, most of us owe our education to the taxes paid by millions of Indians. Should we not repay to our own people their investment? That’s a crucial question.
By: Jayaram K. Iyer – Chairperson, Corporate Communications and Director, Marketing, Loyola Institute of Business Administration
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