Global Trends in GMAT – Testing and Score Sending

From EFMD Newsletter

Ben Glover, Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) GMAC shared the latest trends in GMAT testing and score sending during the recent EFMD Deans and Directors General Conference at Koç University.

GMAT testing around the globe increased 11 percent in 2012, totaling 286,529 tests taken, and resulting in 831,337 score reports sent to business schools around the world.

“We have seen a number of very important trends that are currently and will continue to have an effect on business schools in the coming years,” said Ben Glover. “In 2012, five of the world’s top 10 study destinations were in Europe and the UK has become the second global destination for GMAT scores behind the US.”

The soon to be published GMAC World Geographic Trend Report includes full details as well as trends over the last 5 years. Understanding mobility shifts can help schools better identify potential sources of talent and also anticipate potential challenges brewing within traditional channels.

The three stand out trends reported by Ben Glover, at the Deans meeting were:

• GMAT test takers are becoming younger
• more women than ever are taking the test
• there has been a marked increase in interest for specialised masters.

Check other interesting observations on:

http://www.efmd.org/index.php/blog/view/273-global-trends-in-gmat-testing-and-score-sending

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

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EUA to look at development of MOOCs and trends in innovative learning

Extracts from EUA Newsletter 4 – 2013:

While the concept of free-of-charge, university online courses for large numbers of learners is not a new one, recently established Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have received keen attention from the higher education community and the media.

EUA Council (national university associations from across Europe) at its recent meeting in Istanbul held a discussion on MOOCs and their potential impact, but also the prospects that they could offer to European higher education. Discussions were based on a paper, authored by Michael Gaebel (EUA Head of Unit – Higher Education Policy) which has now been published.

The paper on MOOCs by Michael Gaebel can be downloaded here:

Check:
http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Publication/EUA_Occasional_papers_MOOCs.sflb.ashx

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

Language of influence

By Anne Corbett, visiting fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science, published in University World News.

To have true global influence today requires more than military or economic skill. It also requires the deep cultural knowledge that learning languages gives. However, the importance of speaking different languages has been ignored in the Bologna process until recently.

When asked in 1898 what was the most decisive event in modern history, German statesman Otto von Bismarck is reputed to have said: The fact that North Americans speak English.

Recently Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard effectively answered the same question for the global age. She has brought to fruition a strategy that her Mandarin-speaking predecessor, Kevin Rudd, advocated back in 1994.

This is to give all Australian students access to at least one ‘priority’ Asian language: Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese or Bahasa Indonesian, throughout their years of schooling. The aim is that a third of all Australian civil servants and directors of leading public companies should have a ‘deep knowledge’ of Asia by 2025.

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

Increasing the stay rate of international students

By Hans de Wit and Nannette Ripmeester in University World News

OECD countries require skilled labour, so they need to do more to encourage talented international students to stay on after completing their courses. However, competition is fierce and there are significant barriers to overcome.

The knowledge economies of OECD countries require highly skilled people, whom they will lack due to ageing populations and falling interest among young people in sciences and engineering. Immigrants with the requisite skills are needed to fill the gaps.

A recent McKinsey report, The World at Work: Jobs, pay, and skills for 3.5 billion people, speaks of a “mismatch between jobs and graduates”. The study claims that, although there are 75 million unemployed young people globally, 39% of employers state that difficulties exist in filling vacancies for skilled labour.

The European Commission, in its recently published Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2012 report, also speaks of a skills mismatch challenge.

Countries increasingly understand that the immigration of skilled people is not always effective, and for that reason international students have become an attractive group of prospective skilled immigrants.

Where in the past OECD countries had an open mind about receiving international students in general and even subsidised their education, currently one can observe a shift in Europe towards encouragement of a more controlled immigration of international students by focusing on talents and measures to increase their stay rate.

The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden have introduced full cost fees for non-EU students and at the same time developed scholarship schemes to selectively target talent and create opportunities to stay after graduation. The Finnish parliament is discussing whether to follow that example.

The pattern of low-skilled immigration from the so-called South to the North, of the past century, has been replaced by a need for highly skilled migrants.

Check:
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130213165216138

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

IMD – World Competitiveness Criterion of the Month

In Praise of dullness
By Stephane Garelli, Professor, Director, IMD’s World Competitiveness Center.

Of course innovation is a key aspect of competitiveness, especially for those nations with a higher standard of living and higher costs. But in fact 90% of competitiveness thrives on excellence in implementation.

The ability to turn innovation into products and services faster and better than others is also the key to success.

Dullness may not be that bad – perhaps a bank or an insurance company needs not be too flamboyant to reassure customers; and certainly a plane pilot or a train conductor should refrain from being too “innovative” – reliability and predictability are often the name of the game.

The criterion of the month highlights overall productivity. Although it is an overall indicator of efficiency, it is not very subtle:

• productivity depends on industry sectors
(capital intensive vs. services, e.g. Qatar);
• is difficult to calculate precisely
(cross border workers give it a boost, e.g. Luxembourg);
• and sometimes reacts strangely
(drop in employment or working time increases productivity, e.g. France).

However it underlines the ability of a nation to best use all its resources – natural, financial, technological and human – even if not in an exciting way…

Check:
http://www.imd.org/uupload/dm/files/WCC/criterionfeb13.pdf

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

EUA report looks at progress in developing full costing in universities

From EUA Newsletter 3, 12 February 2013.

EUA has published a new report which examines the development of ‘full costing’ in European universities.

Entitled “Financially Sustainable Universities. Full Costing: Progress and Practice”, the publication aims to assist university practitioners in implementing full costing, with examples of good practice, whilst at the same time providing important information for policy makers and funders, in particular for the current debate on Horizon 2020.

Full costing – the ability to identify and calculate all the direct and indirect costs of an activity – has been identified as a crucial element for universities’ financial sustainability.

It has become increasingly important as a result of the financial challenges that many universities currently face:

• reduced public funding (in many European countries)
• changes to the way funding is allocated (e.g. performance based elements)
• increasing use of ‘co-funding’ requirements
• and the management of diverse income sources.

The publication provides an update on the status of the implementation of full costing in 14 European higher education systems and examines its impact on the relationship between universities and different funders. It shows that funding rules are an important driver for full costing development.

In 10 out of the 14 systems analysed the possibility to recover costs based on a full costing methodology under FP7 have been an important driver for development.

Check:
http://www.eua.be/News/13-02-11/EUA_report_looks_at_progress_in_developing_full_costing_in_universities.aspx

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

Are Western management ideas crippling Asian business education?

By Murray Hunter, associate professor at the University Malaysia Perlis.
Extracts from article published in University World News

Business courses in South East Asia tend to be based on Western management ideals that reflect the needs of post-industrial society rather than of developing economies. Original thinking is required to construct homegrown management ideas appropriate to the region.

In today’s rapidly urbanising South East Asia, upward career mobility requires a diploma, degree and some form of postgraduate qualification, particularly within desirable publicly listed companies.

However, closer scrutiny of what is taught at these business schools shows a lingering colonial hangover and psychological dependence on Western ideas, an irony in a region where most governments publicly tout their own national values. Business schools stick steadfastly to occidental business curricula.

Check:

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130206154746686

http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/08/17/the-dominance-of-western-management-theories-in-south-east-asian-business-schools-the-occidental-colonization-of-the-mind/

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

MOOCs – Mistaking brand for quality?

By Stamenka-Trumbic, senior advisor, international affairs, CHEA
(US Council for Higher Education)

Extracts from article published in University World News.

MOOCs were the talking point of 2012, but how can their quality be monitored? MOOCs are part of a movement towards disaggregated international higher education, which will present a new challenge for quality assurance.

Where are MOOCs going?

Educational technology has a history of fads. However, the volume of MOOCs activity, even though largely US-based, means that MOOCs will evolve rather than disappear.

The UK is now joining the fray as Futurelearn, a new company owned by the Open University and which includes 10 top UK universities, the BBC and the British Council – launches its global MOOCs initiative.

Other countries will follow suit including, hopefully, some developing countries.

Following Coursera’s claim that its MOOCs are the answer to excess demand for higher education in poor countries, the movement already has a neocolonialist flavour. This will raise hackles, as did the first open educational resources (OER) when MIT launched its open courseware in 2001.

However, as well as MOOCs there are initiatives to expand online programmes with less fanfare. Thirty US state universities have teamed up successfully with Academic Partnerships. Students gain credit and degrees and there is a sustainable business model.

Some of its university partners will make the first course in their regular online programmes a credit-bearing MOOC and Academic Partnerships is now seeking alliances in developing countries.

In another promising experiment edX is working with Bunker Hilland Mass Bay community colleges are to offer MIT’s Introduction to Computer Science and Programming MOOC to 20 students. This will show whether using MOOC material can strengthen other institutions.

Check

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130206180425691

for further contents from this article:

• What about quality?
• MOOCs and the new dynamics of higher education
• Open education
• Competency based-education
• Disaggregating accreditation, unbundling QA?

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

Chinese salary statistics

In continuation to below innovation focus in relation to China – check also from J.M. Gemini Personnel Ltd. – Guide to China Market – Salaries 1st Quarter 2013:

http://www.gemini.com.hk/assets/doc/survey_china.pdf

For comments (in Danish), please visit:
http://www.uddannelse.urbanblog.dk

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013

Small Country Innovation Systems – Now Published in Chinese

By Charles Edquist

Interesting publication, please check:
http://charlesedquist.com/2012/10/19/small-country-innovation-systems/

To see the published version in Chinese, go to http://www.sciencep.com/

This major new book presents case studies of ten small country national systems of innovation (NSIs) in Europe and Asia, namely, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan. These cases have been carefully selected as examples of success …

Povl Tiedemann
February 2013