Graduates weigh business study now against a later MBA in tough job market

{"text":[[{"start":7.8,"text":"Like many US graduates, Karla Soberon Iglesias expected to find a job, gain a few years’ experience and eventually study for an MBA."}],[{"start":17.08,"text":"Instead, after earning her bachelor’s degree in communication from Florida State University three years ago, she entered a cooling job market and kept hearing the same response: “Every employer was telling me I didn’t have enough experience,” she says."}],[{"start":32.32,"text":"So Soberon Iglesias began looking beyond the MBA and discovered a degree she had never heard of: the masters in management."}],[{"start":40.04,"text":"Designed for those with little or no work experience, the MiM is increasingly attracting graduates who once would have gone straight into work before returning for an MBA. This shift raises the question of whether the MiM is beginning to undercut future demand for the MBA by becoming the new first step into business after an undergraduate degree."}],[{"start":60.2,"text":"Applications to MBA programmes continued to edge higher in 2025, rising 2 per cent globally, according to research by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). Applications to MiM programmes, by contrast, climbed 7 per cent as more fresh graduates chose to extend their education before entering an uncertain employment market."}],[{"start":80.4,"text":"Soberon Iglesias shows the trend: she enrolled on the Master in Management at IE Business School in Madrid in 2024 and, a few months after graduating, landed a marketing role at cosmetics group Estée Lauder in the Spanish capital. The 24-year-old says: “I could see myself doing an MBA one day, but when I have more work experience.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":102.76,"text":"MBA alumni are typically paid more, but they are also further along in their careers. The MiM is designed to launch graduates into the labour market, while the MBA helps experienced professionals accelerate or redirect careers."}],[{"start":115.88,"text":"Graduates from MBA programmes in the FT’s 2026 ranking earn an average weighted base salary of $170,056 three years after completing their course, rising to $211,147 including guaranteed bonuses, and saw their salaries rise 30 per cent. MiM alumni on average earn a base salary of $97,820, and $119,430 including bonuses, with increases of 42 per cent."}],[{"start":144.16,"text":"But for many MiM candidates, the more pressing question is not how much they will earn, but whether they can secure the kind of role they want in the first place. Among FT-ranked MiM programmes, an average of 94 per cent of alumni are employed within three months of finishing their degree (although schools hold employment data on only about 80 per cent of graduates)."}],[{"start":165.98,"text":"How the MiM’s growing popularity will affect demand for the MBA remains uncertain. “It’s still a live question whether MiMs are feeder programmes for MBAs or if folks are getting one instead of an MBA,” says Andrew Walker, director of industry communications at GMAC."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":181.9,"text":"Increasingly, however, the MiM appears to fit employers’ growing preference for recruiting talented graduates earlier in their careers. Rather than waiting until candidates have accumulated several years of work experience, many employers now want to identify and develop talent from the outset, says Ines Drieselmann, vice-president of alumni and careers at IE in Spain."}],[{"start":203.56,"text":"“Employers want to embed talent early,” she says. “[MiM graduates are] also a cheaper source of talent.” “Employers want to embed talent early,” she says. “[MiM graduates are] also a cheaper source of talent.”"}],[{"start":210.32,"text":"That does not mean a MiM is always the right next step. Esther Magna, a principal admissions consultant at Stacy Blackman Consulting, generally advises graduates who have a choice between work and further study to gain experience first. “There’s no reason to rush, because the gold standard remains full-time work experience,” she says."}],[{"start":230,"text":"Employers, meanwhile, tend to view the MiM as filling a different role altogether. Keith Bevans, executive vice-president for consultant recruiting at Bain & Company, sees the degree less as a substitute for an MBA than as a conversion course into business for graduates with non-business degrees such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) subjects."}],[{"start":251.66,"text":"“We think of them more as super associate-consultants than junior MBA graduates,” Bevans says."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":256.9,"text":"Hiring practices have yet to catch up. Consultancies such as Bain have long-established hiring pathways for undergraduates and MBAs, but fewer for MiM graduates, though Bevans expects that to change as the qualification becomes more common."}],[{"start":270.36,"text":"Rather than asking students to choose between a MiM and an MBA, some business schools are increasingly treating the two degrees as complementary. At Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina, alumni of its MiM can return after gaining professional experience and complete an accelerated MBA in less than a year, bypassing the business basics. This Fuqua option is also open to graduates of accredited MiMs at other schools."}],[{"start":298.98,"text":"“For me, the future is giving students the flexibility to put their education together in a way that makes sense for their career,” says Robert Swinney, Fuqua’s senior associate dean for programmes."}],[{"start":310.44,"text":"The direction of travel suggests that the MiM is increasingly becoming the first stage of a business career, reinforcing the MBA’s role as a qualification for more experienced professionals."}],[{"start":321.14,"text":"The MBA continues to dominate among candidates aged 25 to 30, according to GMAC. For those with scant work experience, however, interest in non-MBA business masters such as the MiM has strengthened in recent years."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":335.16,"text":"That does not necessarily mean candidates see the two qualifications as alternatives. Research firm CarringtonCrisp’s forthcoming Tomorrow’s Masters survey found that one in five prospective masters students are also considering an MBA, rising slightly among older respondents."}],[{"start":350.92,"text":"For some students, the question is not whether to choose between a MiM or an MBA, but when to pursue each. At Edhec Business School in France, about 35 per cent of MBA candidates already hold another master’s degree before starting the programme, including MiMs, Stem and other business and economics subjects, according to Benoit Arnaud, dean of programmes."}],[{"start":372.12,"text":"He argues that the MiM has become an extension of undergraduate education, as a bachelor’s degree alone is no longer enough academically for many graduates entering the workforce."}],[{"start":382.32,"text":"“The question is: do I need another year or two before I start my career?” Arnaud says."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":392.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788417041_1118.mp3"}