[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-585182-105":59,"doc-detail-585182-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","who-wants-a-businessmasters-degree-research-brief","Who wants a businessmaster’s degree? - Research brief","","Who wants a business master’s degree? examines who chooses non-MBA business master’s programs and how these learners make their decision. Insights draw on responses from nearly 5,000 graduate business school hopefuls worldwide in the GMAC Prospective Students Survey across 2024. The brief analyzes experience profiles, generational shifts, and geographic preference trends, and explains how digital transformation and economic uncertainty are reshaping candidate expectations.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/who-wants-a-businessmasters-degree-research-brief/585182/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/who-wants-a-businessmasters-degree-research-brief/585182.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Maya Linwood","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Who is most likely interested in business master’s programs?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Business master’s programs increasingly attract younger candidates with limited or no professional experience. In 2024, half of the interested candidates reported no work experience.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How has interest changed for different generations?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Interest has shifted toward Gen Z, which now makes up more than three-quarters of candidates who prefer business master’s degrees. Millennials’ share dropped from roughly half in 2019 to about one-fifth in 2024.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What geographic trends are shown in candidate preferences?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Candidates from Africa and the Middle East prefer business master’s programs at higher rates than those from Western Europe. Preference increased in each region from 2023 to 2024, with the largest gains noted in the Middle East and Africa.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},585182,1792190192,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":44,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962084928432,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","# Who wants a businessmaster’s degree?\n\nResearch brief | September 2025  \nIn an increasingly competitive and dynamic global job market, graduate management education(GME) continues to attract a diverse range of candidates seeking to sharpen their skills,broaden their opportunities, and redefine their career trajectories. The landscape of GME issignificantly impacted by the rising supply of—and candidate interest in—non-MBA businessmaster’s degrees.  \nThis research brief offers insights into who prefers business master’s degrees, what they wantto study, and how they navigate the decision to invest in higher education. These insightsare derived from the responses of nearly 5,000 graduate business school hopefuls aroundthe world to the GMAC Prospective Students Survey over the full calendar year of 2024. Byexamining trends, exploring learning and delivery preferences, and understanding key elementsof the decision process, this brief provides a multi-dimensional view of the modern businessmaster’s candidate today.  \nWith the landscape of graduate management education shifting, particularly in response todigital transformation, economic uncertainty, and changing learner expectations, this briefsheds light on how institutions can better meet the needs of today’s candidates and remainrelevant in the years ahead.  \n## Who is interested in business master’s programs\n\nBusiness master’s programs increasingly attract younger candidates withlimited or no professional experience.  \nNon-MBA business master’s programs have long attracted candidates with limited or noprofessional experience (Figure 1) . In 2024, half of the candidates interested in these programshad no work experience at all—up eight points compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, thecomposition of candidates with four or more years of work experience has remained largelythe same over this same period, as the share with some work experience (less than four years)shrank. As such, it is clear that business master’s programs continue to attract early careerprofessionals—but now even earlier in their careers than before.  \n\n| Share of prospective students   | Figure 1: The share of candidates with no professional experience who are interested inbusiness master’s programs has increased since 2019.  \u003Cbr>The share of candidates with four or more years of work experience has remained largelyunchanged over the same period.  \u003Cbr>Candidates interested in business master’s programs bywork experience, 2019-2024   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n|  | |  | No workexperience   | | Less than  \u003Cbr>4 years   | | 4 years to lessthan 7 years   | | 7 years  \u003Cbr>or more   |\n|  | 100%  \u003Cbr>75%  \u003Cbr>50%  \u003Cbr>25%  \u003Cbr>0%   | \u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>9%  \u003Cbr>12%  \u003Cbr>37%  \u003Cbr>42%  \u003Cbr>11%  \u003Cbr>10%  \u003Cbr>35%  \u003Cbr>43%  \u003Cbr>11%  \u003Cbr>10%  \u003Cbr>34%  \u003Cbr>45%  \u003Cbr>14%  \u003Cbr>12%  \u003Cbr>34%  \u003Cbr>41%  \u003Cbr>12%  \u003Cbr>10%  \u003Cbr>26%  \u003Cbr>51%  \u003Cbr>12%  \u003Cbr>11%  \u003Cbr>27%  \u003Cbr>50%   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n|  | 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n\nGeneration is another way to examine what experience, values, and motivations businessmaster’s candidates may bring to the classroom. Unsurprisingly, as the average prospectivestudent interested in these programs has trended younger over time, the proportion ofGeneration Z (individuals born between 1996 and 2012) candidates interested in businessmaster’s programs has also grown (Figure 2) .  \n\n| Figure 2: Gen Z now makes up more than three-quarters of candidates who prefer businessmaster’s degrees.  \u003Cbr>The share of millennials (born between 1981 and 1995) interested in these programs hasdropped from roughly half in 2019 to just one-fifth in 2024.  \u003Cbr>Candidates interested in common business master’sprograms by generation, 2019-2024   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| |  |  | Generation Z  \u003Cbr>(Born 1996-2012)   | | Millennials  \u003Cbr>(Born 1981-1995)   | | Generation X  \u003Cbr>(Born 1965","cbCaihV8ePfg0tyV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihV8ePfg0tyV","pdf",6550665,"English","# Who is interested in business master’s programs\n## Generation and experience trends\n## Geographic preference shifts","[{\"question\":\"Who is most likely interested in business master’s programs?\",\"answer\":\"Business master’s programs increasingly attract younger candidates with limited or no professional experience. In 2024, half of the interested candidates reported no work experience.\"},{\"question\":\"How has interest changed for different generations?\",\"answer\":\"Interest has shifted toward Gen Z, which now makes up more than three-quarters of candidates who prefer business master’s degrees. Millennials’ share dropped from roughly half in 2019 to about one-fifth in 2024.\"},{\"question\":\"What geographic trends are shown in candidate preferences?\",\"answer\":\"Candidates from Africa and the Middle East prefer business master’s programs at higher rates than those from Western Europe. Preference increased in each region from 2023 to 2024, with the largest gains noted in the Middle East and Africa.\"}]","Who wants a businessmaster’s degree? - Research brief | PDF",1792053970,23]