A Suspect MBA Selection Model: The Case Against the Standard Work Experience Requirement

As of 2004, current selection processes of many graduate business schools may seriously be flawed and in need of systematic evaluation and improvement. Many master of business administration degree admission procedures are based on a collection of criteria adopted and perpetuated without serious consideration of the predictive validity of each requirement. Every group with a stake in educating and hiring MBAs, as well as potential MBA students, should strive to understand program selection systems and work to put in place criteria that accurately reflect desired outcomes. MBA admission systems should be of the same high quality as the best systems used by the organizations hiring their graduates. Organizations should systematically evaluate the quality of the admission procedures associated with the schools from which they recruit MBA-level talent. MBA admission directors should be able to clearly describe the knowledge, skills and abilities their admission processes target. For each identified competency, there should be a clear and well thought out approach to measurement. Employers will likely find that a high-quality admission program has been built on a sound footing of program evaluation. A sign that the MBA admission program is of high quality is that it is sensitive to the MBA-program curriculum. MBA programs will be improved when investigators learn more about the connections between such admission policies, educational processes and career success.