Table Of Content

2012 Alumni Perspectives Survey Survey rePOrt Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. c the GMAC® Survey SerieS AbOut thiS Study Schools that participate in the graduate survey get detailed results from the study in the form of a survey report of major The Alumni Perspectives Survey is a product of findings; an interactive data report with breakdowns by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), various demographics; and the ability to produce instant a global nonprofit education organization of leading benchmark reports. Program directors and admissions graduate business schools and the owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) exam. The GMAT professionals at business schools that offer graduate programs should plan to participate in the next Global Management exam is an important part of the admissions process Education Graduate Survey, which launches each February. for more than 5,400 graduate management programs Visit gmac.com/surveysignup to ensure that your school around the world. GMAC is dedicated to creating gets the next invitation. access to and disseminating information about graduate management education; these schools and others rely on the Council as the premier provider of reliable data about ACCOMPAnyinG dAtA the graduate management education industry. GMAC offers interactive online data reports to accompany The Alumni Perspectives Survey is a longitudinal study of this 2012 summary of the Alumni Perspectives Survey alumni who previously participated in the GMAC Global findings. The interactive data reports allow you to examine Management Education Graduate Survey, our annual responses for each of the various survey items. A general exit survey of graduating students. The Global Graduate report with overall response information is available at Survey is conducted with the cooperation of participating gmac.com/alumniperspectives. Schools that use the schools and gathers valuable independent feedback GMAT exam as part of their admissions process can explore directly from students about their management education: a more comprehensive version of the interactive data report what needs they have, what services they value most, and through the GMAC Research Library at gmac.com/ how your school can help them make the most of their gmacresearchlibrary (login required to view report). The graduate business experience. comprehensive report allows for detailed data searches by demographic characteristics such as age, gender, employment status, industry, citizenship, school location, program type, world region, and more. The icon at left appears throughout this report to Technical Note: Our interactive reports require a minimum of indicate opportunities where readers may want Adobe® Flash Player 10.0 to run on your computer. You can to consult the interactive report for more in-depth or obtain a free copy of the latest Adobe Flash Player from the customized data. following website: http://www.adobe.com/support/ flashplayer/downloads.html. CcOonntteennttSs 2 intrOduCtiOn 3 Key Findings 4 ClASS Of 2011 4 Job Search and Employment 5 Industries and Job Functions 7 Industry Switch 9 Necessity of Degree 9 Compensation 12 ClASSeS Of 2000 tO 2011 12 Current Employment 13 Job Retention 16 Compensation 18 JOb SAtiSfACtiOn 21 Employee Engagement 23 Work/Life Balance 25 Gender Equality 27 buSineSS SChOOl PerCePtiOnS 27 Value of Degree 28 Return on Investment (ROI) 28 Career Impact of Degree 29 Rewards of Degree 30 Alumni Recommendations 31 MethOdOlOGy 32 referenCeS 32 COntACt infOrMAtiOn 32 Authorship 32 Acknowledgements Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. 1 intrOduCtiOn How successful were this year’s business school graduates at landing jobs? What value does a graduate management degree provide to alumni? What is the ROI for MBA alumni over time? The findings in this Alumni Perspectives Survey report answer these questions and shed light on current economic trends and workplace attitudes affecting alumni from MBA and other business master’s programs as they enter the job market and throughout their careers. Conducted in September 2011, this Alumni Survey findings are presented in four sections, Perspectives Survey by the Graduate Management as follows: Admission Council (GMAC) is a longitudinal • Profile of the recently graduated class of study of respondents to the Global Management 2011, including their job search strategies, Education Graduate Survey, the annual GMAC® employment status, and compensation exit survey of graduate management students statistics; in their final year of business school. This 12th • Current employment data for alumni from annual report includes responses from 4,135 across all graduation years (2000–2011), alumni who graduated from the classes of 2000 including career change strategies, salary through 2011, including 963 members of the and other compensation, and job retention; class of 2011.1 • Statistics on career satisfaction, worker engagement on the job, work/life balance, This research study tracks alumni employment and the state of gender equality in the characteristics over time, exploring job search workplace; and strategies, compensation and promotion data, • Views of alumni across all graduation years industry and job function trends, as well as about their business school experience, employment satisfaction and alumni views on specifically the value of their degree and its their graduate management education. contribution to their career progression, their financial return on investment, and the personal and professional rewards realized from pursuing their degrees. 1 See the Methodology section on page 31 for more details on survey methods and samples used for this report. 2 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 introduction Key Findings, Class of 2011 Key Findings, Classes of 2000-2011 • Employment Status. Eighty-six (86%) percent • Overall Employment Rate. Among all survey of class of 2011 graduates were employed after respondents, 94 percent were employed at the time graduation, which is about the same as the of this survey—87 percent worked for an employer previous year’s data for the class of 2010, when and 7 percent were self-employed, exhibiting a 88 percent reported they had jobs. The percentage lower unemployment rate than overall rates in the of alumni currently employed varies considerably United States and European Union. based on the type of program alumni pursued and • Return on Investment (ROI). Alumni from the class their pre-degree work experience. of 2011, across all program types, reported they • Value of Degree. Three out of four alumni from recouped one-third of their financial investment in the class of 2011 with jobs reported they could their graduate management education immediately not have obtained their job without their graduate in the first year after graduation. Class of 2007 management education. Ninety-three (93%) alumni typically saw a full return on their percent of class of 2011 alumni employed at the investment after four years from graduation. Ten time of the survey had found the job they were years after graduation, alumni, on average, nearly looking for. doubled their return on investment. • Salary Expectations. Four out of five graduates • Full-Time MBA Salaries. Alumni with a degree (82%) from the class of 2011 said their salary met from a full-time MBA program, regardless of or exceeded their expectations. graduation year, reported a median salary of US$95,000, plus an average of US$18,123 in additional compensation. Alumni Perspectives Survey Interactive • Part-Time and Executive MBA Salaries. Part- Data Reports that allow viewers to time MBA alumni reported a median salary examine detailed responses for each survey of US$91,000, plus an average additional item are available for download at gmac.com/ compensation of US$15,000; executive InteractiveResearch. MBA alumni earned a median starting salary of US$125,000, plus an average additional compensation of US$28,445. • Gender Wage Parity. The wage gap between men and women, at least in the United States, is noticeably smaller among alumni from MBA and graduate management programs from all graduation years when compared to US Census Bureau data for female-to-male earnings. • Career Preparation. Nine out of 10 alumni felt that their graduate management education prepared them for their chosen careers. • Value of Degree. Four out of five alumni reported that having a graduate management degree offers greater job stability in a still weak economy. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. 3 clAss of 2011 Job Search and Employment figure 1. Alumni Employment Status at Graduation, by Graduation Year This year’s employment rates align with historical jobs data for 100% business school alumni in securing employment after earning their degree. More on than four out of five (86%) members of the uati 75% 84% 87% 89% 89% 88% 84% 88% 86% d cglraasdsu oaft i2o0n1, 1w rheipcohr tise da btohueyt thhaed s aa mjoeb a asf ttehre at gra 72% d previous year’s data for the class of 2010, ye 50% o when 88 percent reported they had jobs after pl m graduation (Figure 1). e e g Alumni of part-time (91%) and executive a 25% nt (96%) MBA programs had the highest ce er rates of employment after graduation P compared with individuals graduating 0% from full-time two-year (86%) and full- 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 time one-year (75%) MBA programs. This Graduation year is not surprising given that the majority Source: Data for the classes of 2003 through 2010 are taken from past GMAC® Alumni Perspectives Surveys. of part-time (76%) and executive MBA Data for the class of 2011 are from the September 2011 Alumni Perspectives Survey. (80%) alumni held their jobs while attending school and continued working for the same employers after graduating (Figure 2).2 Nearly half of survey respondents completing a full-time two-year (49%) figure 2. Employment Status After Graduation, by Program Type (Class of 2011) or one-year (45%) MBA degree program, or other master-level business program 100% (47%), is employed in the first job they 2% 2% 7% 2% found since leaving business school. 4% 11% 4% Pre-degree work experience was ents 75% 7% 2% an intervening variable that affected d n employability among the class of 2011. po 49% 47% s e Graduates who had less than one year of of r 50% 45% pre-degree work experience had a higher e 80% g a 76% initial unemployment rate (19%) than those nt e 15% who had three (15%) to six or more years erc 25% 23% P (14%) of work experience prior to enrolling 12% 22% in graduate business school. In terms of 12% 12% 0% job placement upon graduation, this shows Full-time Full-time Part-time Executive Other the value employers place on prior work two-year one-year MBA MBA master’s experience among their new hires.3 MBA MBA It also is borne out in the job placement rates of interns who successfully transitioned Self-employed into full-time employees. As Figure 2 First job I found after leaving graduate business school Had an internship or work project and continued displays, nearly a quarter (23%) of alumni Held this job while in graduate business school and continued from full-time two-year MBA programs in 2011 held internships or work projects that they continued after graduation. 2 χ2 = 406.197, df = 16, p ≤ .05. 3 χ2 = 84.320, df = 12, p ≤ .05. 4 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 clAss of 2011 There was no clear-cut job search method The 2011 graduating class exhibited Industries and Job Functions that outperformed any other methods for significant variations in employment status Similar to employment results for obtaining a position. Alumni used school based on region of citizenship. Among those 2010 graduates, the top three career services (20%) as frequently as they who found their first job after graduation, industries hiring alumni from did their personal network of contacts, US and Central Asian citizens had the the class of 2011 were products and followed closely by on-campus interviews highest employment rate (89%) compared services (21%), finance and accounting (17%). These popular job search methods to their regional counterparts from the (20%), and consulting (17%) firms are consistent with those of previous Asia-Pacific region with an employment (Figure 3). There also was little change graduating classes. Alumni who were rate of 83 percent, followed by those from in employment patterns by industry searching for a job spent an average of Latin America (81%), Europe (81%), the compared with class of 2010 alumni, 125 hours on the job search. Engaging in Middle East and Africa (78%), and Canada except for a greater proportion of class networking activities, which included using (71%), which had the lowest rate of initial of 2011 graduates finding jobs in the one’s personal contacts, school alumni employment post-graduation among the manufacturing sector and fewer in the networks, or job agencies, accounted for class of 2011.4 technology industry. the most time-intensive method in the job There were no statistical differences in search. Yet, the most effective and efficient employment status among class of 2011 (average of 74 hours) job search methods alumni based on gender or age. that this year’s class used included company resources, such as job advertisements For a closer examination of job in print media, cold calls to potential search methods used by the class employers, and internships. Still, less than of 2011 and the number of hours they three percent of alumni relied on these spent in the employment search, please methods to obtain employment. see the accompanying GMAC® Data- to-Go report, “Alumni Job Search Strategies, Class of 2011” at gmac.com/ datatogo. figure 3. Industry of Employment After Graduation (Class of 2011) 25% 21% 20% 20% 17% 15% 11% 10% 9% 8% 7% 5% 4% 0% Products/ Finance/ Consulting Technology Nonprofit/ Health care/ Manufacturing Energy/ services accounting government pharmaceuticals utilities 4 χ2 = 38.325, df = 12, p ≤ .05. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. 5 clAss of 2011 Two-thirds (66%) of the class of 2011 care and pharmaceutical industry (39%), operations and logistics (24%), who were employed found jobs in their employed the greatest number of alumni and general management positions intended industry. Seven in 10 (70%) (40%) who indicated this was not their (23%). Employers in the health care and survey respondents who found jobs in the intended industry when they started their pharmaceutical industry were most likely finance and accounting sector reported that degree program. to hire alumni for positions in human it was their desired industry when they Table 1 shows the distribution of job resources (20%), operations and logistics enrolled in their graduate management functions among the class of 2011 by their (14%), and general management (11%). program (Figure 4). There were slight industry of employment. For example, variations in alumni efforts to find in the products and services sector, class employment based on their preferred or of 2011 alumni were most likely to be intended industry. For example, the health hired for marketing and sales positions figure 4. Alumni Employed in Their Intended Industry After Graduation (Class of 2011) Finance/accounting 70% Technology 67% Products/services 66% Man u f acturing 66% Consulting 65% Energy/utilities 65% Government/nonprofit 64% Health care/pharmaceutical 60% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% table 1. Job Function, by Hiring Industry (Class of 2011) Marketing Operations/ General Finance/ Human & Sales Logistics Consulting Management Accounting Resources IT/MIS Consulting 6% 2% 60% 6% 4% 24% 20% Energy/utilities 3% 6% 3% 5% 7% 8% 0% Finance/accounting 9% 4% 8% 6% 60% 0% 20% Health care/pharmaceutical 10% 14% 4% 11% 4% 20% 8% Technology 16% 19% 7% 14% 3% 4% 31% Manufacturing 5% 23% 1% 9% 3% 20% 0% Government/nonprofit 10% 5% 1% 19% 7% 8% 6% Products/services 39% 24% 13% 23% 11% 16% 12% *Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding. 6 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 clAss of 2011 Industry Switch As shown in Figure 5, increased For a closer examination of alumni opportunities in a specific industry was When asked if their first job strategies toward the next career cited by 53 percent of alumni as the top after graduation was the kind level and job characteristics reported by factor influencing their decision to work of job they were looking for, alumni in senior- and executive-level outside their preferred industry. More 85 percent of those working outside their positions, see the accompanying GMAC® than one-third of 2011 alumni (37%) intended industry responded “yes.” Data-to-Go report, “Alumni Career Levels: switched industries because of increased Being pragmatic in their job search was Job Attributes and Satisfaction” at compensation. This was more typical of the factor that most likely enabled class gmac.com/datatogo. part-time (45%) and executive MBA (55%) of 2011 alumni to achieve satisfactory job graduates as compared to full-time two-year search outcomes. They explored industries (38%) and full-time one-year MBA (27%) that had more opportunities and others that graduates.5 offered positions paying highly competitive As mentioned earlier, the health care salaries. Having opportunities to network sector had the lowest percentage of and meet with representatives from various employed alumni who had intended to industry sectors played a role in landing a work in that industry. A closer look at these job outside the alumni’s intended industry. individuals revealed differences from overall Men networked with peers, classmates, and findings on why they switched industries. alumni more frequently than women did The two leading reasons that influenced their and rated networking more highly than decision to explore the health care field were women did for its influence on their job meeting with employers or recruiters (53%) outcomes. and increased job opportunities (43%). figure 5. Top Factors Influencing Industry Switch (Class of 2011) Opportunities in different industry 53% Meeting with employers/recruiters 42% Increased earning potential 37% Introduced to industries during education 31% Networking with peers/classmates 23% Networking with alumni 22% Information from career services office 13% Influence of professors 11% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 5 χ2 = 54.226, df = 36, p ≤ .05. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. 7 clAss of 2011 In general, there were few gender alumni took jobs outside their intended differences in industry switching, as women industry approximately 36 percent of the were just as likely to switch industries as time and part-time MBA alumni found jobs • • • • • men were in most cases. The sectors in outside their intended industry 32 percent which women were less likely to switch in of the time. The vast majority (93%) of class of comparison with men were products and The likelihood to change career direction 2011 alumni indicated the job they services—the most popular industry for after graduation varied across world regions. took after graduation was exactly women—and health care—the third most Central Asians (including India) were the popular industry for women. most likely to find a job that was different what they were looking for. By program type, alumni from full-time from their intended industry (57%); • • • • • MBA and part-time MBA programs were whereas Canadian citizens (81%) were the more likely than other business school most likely to stay in a job that matched graduates to search outside their initial their intended industry (Figure 6) intended industry. Full-time two-year MBA figure 6. Percentage of Alumni Employed in Their Intended Industry, by World Region (Class of 2011) 90% 81% 80% 69% 66% 66% 70% 64% s 57% ent 60% d n o p es 50% of r e ag 40% nt e c Per 30% 20% 10% 0% Canada Asia/Pacific Islands Europe United States Latin America Central Asia 8 © 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved. Alumni PersPectives survey • 2011 – 2012