Percept Research Presents Leading Factors of EMBA Program Differentiation & Success

With COVID-19 currently limiting travel, we thought it would be a good time to post an article about the great learning and networking opportunities at the most recent 2019 Executive MBA Conference.

Percept Research attended the Executive MBA Council annual conference in Orlando, Florida from October 13-16, 2019. Themed “Experience the Magic," the conference drew over 450 registrants from 152 schools and 26 countries. We are excited to share some of our experiences from the meeting.

Promising 2019 Management Education Insights

Approximately 85% of the EMBA programs in the council membership completed the 2019 Membership Program Survey, which is conducted by Percept Research. The Executive MBA Council includes more than 200 colleges and universities that administer 300+ programs in more than 30 countries worldwide.

This annual benchmarking survey revealed that member schools are receiving more applications than ever before with a 31.6% increase in applications received since 2015. The proportion of enrolled female EMBA students increased to 31.2% in 2019, the highest on record indicating a promising trend towards closing the gender gap.

Jerry Helisek (Percept Research) assisting Michele Taylor (Rutgers Univ)

Additional insights from the 2019 Membership Program Survey include:

• Approximately 55% of EMBA programs offer distance learning options compared to 42% in 2015.
• More than 90% of programs leverage technology to implement electronic delivery of course materials.
• A vast majority (over 91%) of EMBA programs offer career services to help students manage their career and program goals.
• The trend toward more self-funded students and fewer fully-funded students continues. In 2019, nearly 53% of students were self-funding compared to 41% in 2015, and just over 15% of students received full sponsorship in 2019, which is down from 23.2% in 2015.

More information about the 2019 benchmarking insights is available in this press release: 2019 Executive MBA Council Survey Results Show More People are Applying for Executive MBA Programs.

Jamie Breen (Univ Texas Austin) and Su-Lan Tenn (Schulich)

Networking and Learning

The conference offered time to learn, network, and have fun! Attendees enjoyed a memorable Orlando evening at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville located in the Universal Citywalk. The special event included great tunes, tasty food and beverages along with lots of smiles and lively discussion.

The Executive MBA Council expressed thanks to outgoing board members as well as welcomed incoming board members, Patricia Carnicero (IE Business School), Arnold Longboy (London Business School), and Anthony Campisi (Graduate Program Recruitment Solutions). 

Everyone knows outgoing board member, Elmer... a legend!

Program Differentiation & Success

The Center for Research hosted two concurrent sessions titled “Actionable Insights Based on EMBA Council Program Benchmarking Results,” presented by George Bobinski (Binghamton University) and Brian Mahoney (Percept Research).

Brian Mahoney (Percept Research) explaining the increasing trend of female applications

These sessions delved into factors related to program performance to determine which attributes are strongly related to program success. Percept Research utilized new frequency analyses to provide a deeper understanding beyond central tendency measures.

The market research firm examined over 25 dimensions such as enrollment, applicant yield, % female students, instructional in-class hours, distance learning asynchronously as well as many other factors which can be related to program success. The analyses yielded some surprising results that prompted discussion among the attendees.

Brian and George also explored how executive MBA programs are differentiating in 2019. This component of the session focused on elective courses, face-to-face meeting frequency, and concentrations as well as touched on the changing marketing trends for executive degree programs

Happy Executive MBA Council attendees!

About the Executive MBA Council and Percept Research

Percept Research serves as a research partner to the Executive MBA Council, which serves to network, educate, and inform the industry. The council’s Center for Research directs the research initiatives of the council and is represented by Elmer Almachar (Northwestern University), George Bobinski (Binghamton University), Jamie Breen (University of California Berkeley), Cheri DeClercq (Michigan State University), and Jeffery Petty (University of Lausanne).

Percept Research is a leading management education market research firm serving over 250 universities worldwide. Percept Research provides market research and consulting to higher education institutions and associations to assist with industry benchmarking, program demand assessment, brand positioning, student/alumni life cyle surveys and messaging strategy.

Be sure to check out more than 160 photos and videos from the conference on the Percept Research Facebook page (and ‘like’ our page!). We would love to hear about your experience at the annual conference.

We look forward to attending the 2020 EMBA Council Annual Conference in Scottsdale from October 25-28!