Recent literature highlights the pragmatic and pedagogic challenges faced by MBA programs trying to serve the expressed needs of employers while providing educational value to students.  In June 2017, The Economist cited employers’ complaints that business schools “encouraged students to think rigidly, to value cautious consideration over risk taking†and described industry-led curriculum design initiatives that focused on “experiential learning with large companies, solving real-world problems.â€

 

Building on Kolb’s theory of experiential learning and critiques of the mismatch between MBA education and the professional competencies required by employers, the Temple University/Fox MBA has developed a  competency-driven curriculum capped by a highly structured, industry-academic-led, live consulting project. In its design and execution, the capstone offers student teams a systematic approach for practicing in-demand business competencies while synthesizing knowledge and applying both to the solution of a pressing business problem for a client expecting practical results. Using over 200 Professional MBA student self-assessments conducted since 2013, this paper provides empirical evidence of the impact of experiential learning. The results indicate the model achieves both professional and educational goals, though perhaps at the price of over-emphasizing competencies that students do not value in the short term.

 

This paper describes the role of experiential education in competency and professional development, offers initial tests of several theoretical relationships, and concludes with implications for MBA education that balances student and marketplace demands.