The most recent crop of b-school students graduates this month and 60% of them already have a job offer, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). In fact, most of these students may have originally picked their MBA program based on how well it would equip them for the job market - and they probably leaned on one of the many rankings publications out there to help them. But if you're gunning for a great impact job, where do you turn for advice? More holistic information comparing how MBA programs do on social and environmental issues just can't be found in the Top 100 lists and glossy business school brochures. That's why Net Impact is getting ready to publish its 8th annual Business as UNusual guide, which gets the insider (read: student) perspective on how more than one hundred business schools incorporate social and environmental content into all aspects of their program.
Traditional rankings are ubiquitous - sacred even - in shaping business school decisions. Few can pretend not to use them, although many would agree they don't provide the whole picture. Rankings are based heavily on starting salary and employment rates, sometimes with nonprofit and public sector jobs completely removed so as not to affect averages. So we were excited to see Businessweek come out with a top ten list of business schools for sustainability along with other focus areas, because it shows a mainstream response to the student demand for this information.Unfortunately, basing your b-school short list on a single survey question doesn't present the full picture needed to make a decision as big as choosing a grad program. As Jessie Risch of USC's Marshall School of Business commented on her job search, it was important to me that there was a place to access aggregated information about the social impact programming and resources available at a school.
A top ten list also doesn't create accountability among schools, something publications like Business as UNusual and The Aspen Institute's Beyond Grey Pinstripes have been largely responsible for (unfortunately, it looks like Beyond Grey Pinstripes may be going out of publication). By giving a voice to students' needs and concerns, publications put pressure on schools to fill these gaps - and allow them to see how other programs are getting it right.Simply put, if schools do not have some credible way of comparing with each other, says Robert Strand, Assistant Professor of Leadership & Sustainability at the Copenhagen Business School, then the change we need to see in business schools will not take place at the pace we need.
Choosing a program that matches one's values isn't just about looking at a list of course offerings anymore, especially not one-off electives. In this economy, students who want to go into an impact career need to evaluate all the resources that can help them get there - including experiential learning opportunities, funding to support nonprofit internships, loan forgiveness, and of course, career services.
There's only one way to really get at that information: ask a current student. While some traditional rankings have begun incorporating student or alumni feedback into their rankings methodology, student voices aren't coming to the forefront quickly or clearly enough. That's why every year we collect more than 3,000 student perspectives through the only all-student survey of its kind.
And this year, we're asking some new questions to delve deeper into how business school can prepare students for an impact career. We want to know how your impact job search compares to a traditional job search, for instance, to discover how we might help level the playing field for impact job seekers. We also want to know how your school helps students develop the critical skills demanded by the impact sector, such as entrepreneurism, innovation, communication, and leadership.
So how can you be a part of the conversation? If you're a current grad student, share your own experience today - take the all-student survey by May 30. And if there's a school you want to see represented, email BAU@netimpact.org; any school with a Net Impact chapter is eligible to participate.Together, we can demonstrate how MBA programs are helping graduates conduct business as UNusual.