Democratising management studies

Online learning platforms have seen a massive rise across various educational segments. They offer open access to courses online and education for many people, through the integration of digital technologies made possible in higher education. Online courses today provide large-scale interactive participation among learners and innovative offerings across various categories and ages.

It’s not new for working professionals to consider MBA as the key to fast-track their growth, with a high-paying package or to make successful career transitions. Once considered a luxury, it has now become a necessity to skip career redundancy. Owing to the dynamic job market situation, online or blended MBA programmes under the ‘management’ umbrella have started gaining prominence.

India alone is home to over 5,000 B-Schools, but there is still a large portion of the young working population, who still don’t get a chance to pursue an MBA degree due to the break they have to take from their jobs and forgo their 24 months’ salary – a bare minimum.

Another major challenge is about managing finances, while planning to pursue an MBA from a leading or a premium B-School. It must not be overlooked that an offline MBA from a reputed school comes at a bare minimum cost of Rs14-15 lakh, which makes it difficult for professionals to commit the cost upfront, thereby potentially discouraging or pushing them to pursue a namesake MBA degree.

Growth of edtechs for higher education. Today’s online learning programmes are no longer just a combination of recorded or live lectures, but a host of multiple other layers which has made these offerings extremely outcome-focussed. These are designed to address the economic and social-development demands in the market.

NEP has propelled a significant perception change within the education ecosystem for millions, followed by the recent notification by UGC to consider online degrees at par with traditional offline degrees has further accelerated the acceptance of online MBAs. It has also brought an emphasis on the role of Edtech as the technology, content and outreach partner of the universities and encouraged renowned Indian universities to launch their online programs to make management studies more accessible and flexible. Even top-tier global players such as Harvard University and Stanford University, are democratising learning by making courses accessible online. 

Indian edtechs are playing a critical role in democratising and internationalisation of higher education. When it comes to MBA programmes, the curriculum should not be limited to vast theoretical understanding but must incorporate layers like 1:1 mentorship with academicians and industry leaders, doubt resolution sessions, 24x7 student support, case studies and capstone projects, simulation-based learning, Bootcamps and on-campus immersion opportunities to facilitate desired career output for professionals who look at online or executive MBA programmes for career enhancement. By 2025, the online learning market is estimated to reach the $325 billion mark since inception two decades ago.

Why working professionals prefer online courses

• As much as 70 per cent of learners prefer online classes to traditional classroom settings (University of Potomac)

• e-learning helps learners retain 25 per cent to 60 per cent more information (e-learning industry)

• e-learning requires 40-60 per cent less time than traditional classrooms (Brandon-Hall group). This is a boon for working professionals, who can easily pursue online courses with their jobs.

Numeric study around the rise of the Online MBA Market: The number of AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredited business schools that offer fully-online MBA programmes has increased by 83 per cent in the last five years. The education market in India stands at $100 billion, while reskilling and online certifications in the online education space stand at $93 million. This is about 38 per cent of the total online education market. 

What do online MBA programmes include?

• Programmes tailored for working professionals with embedded 1:1 mentorship with industry experts;

• Multiple specialisations;

• Industry projects and bootcamps;

• Doubt resolution sessions and 24x7 student support;

• Insights by industry experts; and

• In the case of Global MBAs, globally recognised degrees and international alumni status.

It’s an era where India needs a pool of future leaders, who are ready to scale businesses across industries and positively impact the country’s developing economy. With the growing popularity of online, even edtech players are performing extensive market studies to understand the skill gap, thereby curating industry-relevant curricula in partnership with top universities that get an opportunity to tap into regions which otherwise, would get difficult due to infrastructure limitations.

Such key developments and growing popularity will help edtechs to continue with their efforts of redefining and democratising online MBAs, while also cementing India’s stature as the global teaching superpower.