Half of prospective students want DE&I content as part of their business degree

In the study of 1,596 prospective master’s students, carried out in association with EFMD, participants said they expected certain content as part of their degree, with diversity & equality cited most frequently at 46 per cent. This was followed by responsible management (40 per cent), ethical leadership (33 per cent) and global challenges (31 per cent), which include poverty, climate change and pollution. 

The top five specific subjects that students want to study for their master’s degree are the following: investment & banking (35 per cent), business forecasting & modelling (29 per cent), market research (29 per cent), business & IT (26 per cent), and digital marketing (again, 26 per cent). These are followed by AI & business at 25 per cent and business ethics (24 per cent).

Environmental, social & governance (ESG) topics, including renewable energy (18 per cent), sustainability, energy management and social entrepreneurship (all at 17 per cent) and environmental management at 15 per cent, were chosen as stand-alone subjects. However, they were less popular than many traditional topics such as finance and marketing (both at 22 per cent), economics (20 per cent) and management and entrepreneurship, which found favour with 19 per cent of study participants. 

Author of the study Andrew Crisp explains: “Most students want ESG content to flow throughout a master’s programme, as can be seen from the demand for DE&I and responsible management. It’s a smaller, but significant, number of respondents who want to focus and become specialists in areas such as environmental management.” 

Looking to the future, there are a few subjects that while not widespread just yet, are expected to grow in demand. These include e-sports (12 per cent) and space & satellite industries (eight per cent). “While fewer than one in 12 express an interest in space & satellite industries today, Bloomberg reported recently that the global space economy ‘grew by eight per cent to $546 billion in 2022 and is projected to climb another 41 per cent over the next five years’”, noted Crisp.

He continued: “If you look at the efforts of individuals such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, not to mention the programmes in countries including the US, India, China and Japan, space is going to be big business and management education needs to be ready to meet the demand for new skills and knowledge.”

The impact of technology is reflected in other parts of the study. Almost six out of ten (59 per cent) expect to use AI tools such as Chat GPT to complete projects during their studies. Just over six out of ten (62 per cent) believe that AI tools are making exams redundant and that using such tools in their studies simply recognises its prevalence in business and should not be considered as cheating (61 per cent).

Finally, there are some ongoing concerns around the cost of studying. Just over half of those surveyed (51 per cent) relayed that the cost of living is the main reason not to study. Being unable to pay degree fees was cited by 41 per cent as another reason. 

“We are seeing a reflection of the current cost-of-living crisis in management education – particularly the high cost of accommodation in many international cities, where business schools are often located. Consequently, in terms of funding options, 34 per cent of prospective students are dependent on family for financial help, with 27 per cent reliant on a scholarship or bursary,” concluded Crisp.