on their own progress for the perusal of quality assurance teams and accreditation bodies, being part of various committees and so on. When it comes to their participation in admissions interviews, the sheer scale of applicant numbers involved can seem daunting. After all, interest in pursuing a management degree in India has seen a constant upsurge over the past decade. In 2023, some 330,000 aspirants registered for India’s annual Common Aptitude Test (CAT) for MBA admissions – the highest number since CAT’s inception and a 30 per cent jump on the previous year. Two major factors underscore this rise. First, layoffs by major tech firms and budget cuts by start-ups have pushed individuals to upskill themselves. In addition, graduates are increasingly curious about the merits of pursuing a sectoral specialisation (such as in healthcare, finance or artificial intelligence) from a management perspective and this encourages them to continue their educational journey. The result is a pool of extremely heterogeneous candidates aiming for seats at top management institutes across the country. With their reputations at stake, business schools must select their candidates carefully and this makes admissions interviews one of an educational institution’s most crucial activities. Put simply, the level of rigour required by the admissions process can be overwhelming even though it is only a short-term activity. To better understand how stress affects faculty members during admissions processes, we conducted a study to document the experience of those assigned an interviewer’s role at assessment centres. The focus was largely on in‑person interviews conducted across multiple cities of India. Our results identify several sources of stress that impede the performance of faculty members. They also highlight the consequences of this stress and the type of coping mechanisms faculty members adopt to mitigate it. Panellists’ personal pressure points Our study identified that both physical and psychological stress factors can hinder the efficiency of faculty members during admission interviews. Intrapersonal thoughts, interpersonal dynamics with panel members and the interview space environment all have the potential to add to an individual’s experience of stress. To begin with, perceived competency was a major cause of anxiety for faculty members new to an admissions process. Educational backgrounds also played a role here. Faculty members were found to be more confident when conducting interviews with candidates who possessed a similar academic background to their own. However, if an academic was tasked with assessing candidates who had studied disciplines outside their academic expertise, they were more likely to experience stress. In these instances, thoughts of being exposed as ignorant or ill-informed often
crossed academics’ minds and the perception was that this undermined their ability to conduct interviews with optimal effectiveness. In a Harvard Business Review article, Kess Eruteya writes that “imposter syndrome typically shows up when we decide to take on new roles or responsibilities and it can result in feelings of self-doubt, anxiety and guilt.” Our findings support this line of thinking. Yet, aside from a need to overcome these intrapersonal thoughts, panellists also face the challenge of being able to strike a rapport with their co-interviewers. In India, MBA admissions interview panels typically involve two or three faculty members and an alumnus of the institute. While past studies have shown that behavioural and communication norms among the members of a team such as this determine its performance, our study shows that they can also be a source of stress. Power dynamics between panel members, emanating from differences in age and levels of experience can lead to contrasting opinions that remain unresolved and increase feelings of strain. Based on personality types, some faculty members might even resort to regarding their presence on the panel as a mere formality. Trying to uphold a school’s image A further source of tension identified in our study relates to fears around managing an institution’s image. Candidates preparing for MBA admissions will commonly have a presence on several online platforms, including discussion boards and forums that keep them up to date with relevant announcements and notifications. During admissions interviews, these platforms also become outlets for candidates to share their experiences in real time. With this in mind, our study’s respondents reported exercising a degree of caution during their interactions with candidates.
38 | Ambition | MAY 2024
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