TOMORROW’S WORLD Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) CEO Joy Jones talks lifelong learning, personalisation and the potential for AI to help candidates find the right programmes at the right time, as she shares her perspective on the future of graduate management education
What are the biggest challenges facing business schools right now in your opinion? “Graduate management education (GME) and truly all of higher education have been experiencing daunting challenges and mounting macro pressures, such as the pandemic and its lingering effects, prolonged economic disruptions and major shifts in demographics. “We expect economic conditions and desires for meaningful career options and advancement to draw people back to education. The question for business education is, therefore, how we attract and funnel prospective candidates to the right-fit programmes at the right stage of their development to remain a trusted and valuable resource on their path towards career and life success.
“We are fully aware of the education alternatives and significant competing forces that can keep people who may otherwise attend business school active in the workforce. Understanding this backdrop, we in the business education community must be collaborative and innovative about advocating the unmatched advantage we have in developing students’ leadership, communication, analytical and critical thinking skills, along with professional networks that create value and amplify impact.” The shift to hybrid learning formats has allowed many business schools to widen their programmes’ reach. What are the implications here for the work and mission of GMAC? “At GMAC, we see that there is a richness of
choice and our mission is to ensure talent never goes undiscovered by connecting motivated people with opportunity through higher education. Towards that end, GMAC serves as a key advocate, working in partnership with business schools to support and uplift the value of GME globally. “Our success, therefore, lies in having a longitudinal view and helping connect a candidate at whichever educational and professional stage with a business programme from the myriad of options. There are excellent options for full-time, in-person programmes and for programmes that have flexibility in terms of modality, synchronicity, degree of specialisation and level of career support. “Our work at GMAC will grow as we put the customer at the centre and provide
22 | Ambition | JUNE 2023
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