New Delhi [India], September 4: In India’s bustling higher education market, the management degree, once viewed as a golden ticket to career security and social prestige, now finds itself at the centre of a reckoning. For tens of thousands of young Indians who sign up for MBA programmes each year, the rising cost of business school is compounded by the chilling reality of poor campus placement and mounting student loan debt. As Vineet Gupta, founder of Ashoka and Plaksha University, warns, “Management education has to reinvent to remain relevant not only in India but all over the world.”
- Shift from Input to Output: Indian business schools must move from input-based evaluation (number of teachers, buildings) to output-based metrics (graduate employability, student learning gains, career progressions).
- Industry Partnerships: Programmes should be co-created with industry to ensure real-world relevance. Gupta has advocated for making experiential learning, capstones, and internships a mandatory core of each program – “it brings in the whole element of learning by doing.”
- AI and Tech-Ready Curriculum: Since AI is here to stay, universities must equip students with the ability to work alongside technology, not compete with it. Courses on data analytics, machine learning, digital transformation, and AI-driven decision-making should become core components of the MBA. For example, Delhi University’s partnership with Google Cloud now trains students in AI, cloud computing, and data analytics.
- Focus on Teaching Quality and Well-Being: Top faculty, engaging pedagogy, and campus environments that promote student resilience and holistic development are essential.
- Transparency in Outcomes: Regulators, Gupta suggests, should publish placement, salary, and ROI data from each institution, empowering students to make informed decisions.
- Encourage Experimentation and Global Best Practices: Vineet Gupta cites the Ashoka and Plaksha models – rooted in philanthropy, interdisciplinarity, and global benchmarking as examples of how to build impactful institutions.
