Are Academics Out Of Step With Recruiters & Students?

Out of Touch

ACADEMICS HIGHER ON TOP SCHOOLS THAN STUDENTS

Alas, Bloomberg‘s student surveys come with this same issue. It is based on 9,119 survey responses from the Class of 2015, with questions answered by a minimum of 33% of a class and at least 30 graduates — an approach that produced an impressive 54.12% response rate. Another positive: Unlike the alumni ranking, the student survey only covers student responses (though 25% of the ranking was balanced out by responses from survey data from the 2014 class). However, the data still encompasses 27 questions. With Bloomberg only supplying a rank, it is impossible to identify where schools are excelling or stumbling.

That doesn’t make the results irrelevant, however. Compare academic and student sentiments. Among four of U.S. News’ five highest-ranked programs, academics ranked them far higher than students did. Stanford, for example, ranked first by both academics and alumni, slips to 14th with 2015 grads. There are similar drops with Harvard (second versus 19th), Wharton (third versus 27th), and MIT Sloan (third versus 18th). By the same token, Booth students were far happier than alumni with the school, with its ranking climbing from 29th (alumni) to 10th (students), but still lower than the U.S. News peer assessments (third).

That doesn’t mean academics were completely out of step. Both academics and students ranked Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management at No. 6 (with alumni not far behind at 11th). Haas was a model of consistency, ranking sixth among academics and fourth for both alumni and students. While Ross and Fuqua tied for eighth among academics, they finished fifth and 12th among students, respectively.

Overall, as a rule, U.S. News academics still scored schools higher than Bloomberg Businessweek alumni and students. Among schools ranked in U.S. News Top 25, 14 were rated higher by academics than alumni. That number increases to 18 when academics surveys are contrasted against student ones.

Some might argue that those aren’t earth-shaking numbers. More than that, these rankings measure different variables. U.S. News’ peer assessment survey addresses quality (by some unknown rubric), while Bloomberg Businessweek focuses on satisfaction (using numerous, and again unknown, rubrics). In the end, U.S. News symbolizes the real danger of rankings in general. Here, academic sentiments are seemingly so entrenched that it precludes prospective students from truly gauging a program’s momentum, whether that is expressed through such critical variables as new facilities, expanded services, a revamped curriculum, or a vastly improved career management staff. In the end, it is prospective MBA students — the ones whom rankings are supposed to inform — who lose out.

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