VIEW FROM THE TOP
FACING THE FUTURE WITH OPTIMISM
Although rates of recruitment by multinationals are declining, AMBA & BGA CEO Andrew Main Wilson is encouraged to discover that many MBA students are forging a different path with their own ventures and global business school applications and enrolments are hearteningly healthy
I
have just returned from our annual Asia Pacific Deans & Directors Conference, held this year in Indonesia, where we attracted not only our largest-ever number of delegates, but also our most diverse
Student employment was, as ever, a talking point and I noted that even Harvard is experiencing significant changes in the recruitment of its desirable MBA students. In the past, a high proportion of the Harvard MBA cohort was recruited by multinationals. This year, however, most companies are recruiting only one or two graduates – I have no doubt this pattern is emerging across other business schools worldwide. This development increases the pressure on business schools’ career services departments, since they will need to cast their nets wider in terms of corporate relationships and job searches. In 2025 Harvard is still experiencing popular demand from technology, consulting, venture capital and private equity organisations, but increasingly MBA graduates are looking to start their own ventures or join startups. This was the case for approximately a quarter of those graduating with a Harvard MBA this year. At the conference, I shared the key Asia Pacific data from our 2025 AMBA Application & Enrolment Report , featuring the combined APAC results of
Australia, China, India, Japan and New Zealand. Their conversion rates from applications to enrolments was 24 per cent, compared with a global average conversion of 29 per cent. Our Asia Pacific schools, particularly China and India, have the highest number of enrolments per school, with China at 358 and India at 227. This compares with a global average of 169. Our five largest APAC markets attracted 46 per cent female enrolment – four per cent higher than the global average of 42 per cent – demonstrating admirable efforts in achieving the highest-ever market shares of female MBA students. China and India once again have the highest percentage of domestic enrolments in the AMBA network worldwide. In India, some 99 per cent of MBA students were domestic and a similar level was observed in China (95 per cent). As 2025 draws to a close, I would like to thank all our member schools for their support of both AMBA and BGA throughout another record year for our organisation. I look forward to working closely with you all again in 2026.
range of attendees, with participants from more than 20 different countries. Leaders from top schools in Bhutan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan attended the conference for the first time, demonstrating an increasing awareness of both AMBA and BGA in the Asia Pacific region, as well as a clear intent and desire to raise the standards of national business school education by understanding and adopting leading‑edge global quality ideas. The conference covered a wide range of discussions regarding the key issues that business schools are facing in the Asia Pacific region. International co-operation and relationship building featured strongly, with many of our China and India-based schools showcasing their own credentials and looking for international partnerships with institutions of equivalent quality.
38 Ambition • ISSUE 6 • 2025
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