A new era in education: part 2 In the second of a four-part series focusing on adapting to the needs of Generation Z MBA students, Kortext’s Melissa Bowden speaks to Maria José Amich at the University of Católica Lisbon about purpose, partnerships and more G eneration Z (typically born between 1996 and 2010) now makes up the largest group of candidates applying to MBA programmes, according to Maria José Amich, executive director of the Lisbon MBA at the University of Católica Nova. She says that while millennials “search for a balanced life”, prioritising well-being alongside career advancement, Gen Zers are “more likely to cite increasing income and networking opportunities” as their top motivators when they select a programme. “They are concerned with the return on investment and the value for money that an MBA can deliver,” Amich explains. Consequently, prospective students expect “career services to be embedded in the programme”. They also ask questions up front about salaries per industry and which companies have recruited MBA graduates over the past five years.
In addition, she notes that Gen Zers are used to personalised technological interfaces and want to have this experience throughout their entire MBA journey. “Once they tell us who they are, they expect us to know them and cater to them in all our communication, from initial contact and enrolment, right through to graduation.” Furthermore, they are looking for “programme customisation to reflect their professional interests and increasingly they want to do it at their own pace”, comments Amich. Accordingly, the Lisbon MBA enables students to tailor their learning journey to their own career aspirations. “This impacts on everything from admissions and careers to programme operations, but also on our faculty and how they interact with students,” Amich says. The fundamentals of delivering an MBA While flexibility is important, Amich states that industry research shows that the one-year, full-time MBA continues to be king in the graduate management education offer. For Amich, this model is suited to the MBA’s role as “a transformational experience that goes beyond the acquisition of business fundamentals and hard skills”. She observes that “students need to be immersed in a programme that enables them to go through a journey of self-reflection and behavioural development in order to define and perfect their leadership persona”, adding that “this requires time and a trusted environment”. Gen Zers are also more conscious of the need to continually acquire new skills post-MBA because “what they have learned will evolve with new technologies and digital disruption”. This means that students are “very keen to find out what an MBA will provide for them in terms of lifelong learning opportunities,” she notes.
32 | Ambition | OCTOBER 2024
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