<p>Formal management education in India is a little more than 50 years old. But over the past few decades, there has been a meteoric rise in MBA education, especially the part-time MBA programme.</p>.<p>Young professionals want to grow professional and keep up with changing trends at the workplaces. In the 1980s and 90s, it was mostly mid-career professionals who pursued part-time MBAs. Over the last decade, young professionals in their late twenties and early forties, with experience ranging from four to twenty years have been applying for MBA programmes.</p>.<p>An increasing number of women are also enrolling in part-time MBA programmes, from less than 10% in the 1990s to 20 - 40% today.</p>.<p>Many women also pursue a part-time MBA after marriage, after they have kids, or take a break in their career for personal reasons. Interestingly, our research reveals that 80% of the mid-career professionals who undertake part-time management education programmes in premier B-schools are over 36 years old. Also, nearly 90% of participants are male.</p>.<p>Most of the participants are from IT and engineering backgrounds, while others are from manufacturing, retail, telecom, and banking sectors.</p>.<p>Part-time MBA is basically for those looking to ‘Learn as they earn’.</p>.<p>The participants usually have clarity regarding which areas to specialise and grow in and decide to pursue a part-time MBA with the intention of expanding into general managerial positions from functional domains. </p>.<p>They prefer the premium business schools in India: the IIMs, XLRI/XIM, SP Jain Mumbai, to name a few.</p>.<p>Most participants prefer specialising in General Management, Strategy, Digital Management, Product Management, Marketing or Finance, IT, and occasionally HRM.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Funding part-time education</strong></p>.<p>Many organisations sponsor part-time MBAs for their top talent as part of employee engagement<br />policy. </p>.<p>However, more and more participants seem to be self-sponsoring their studies, keeping in mind their ambition for growth and to prevent obsolescence. Mid-career professionals also enrol in distance learning management programmes from top universities. </p>.<p>We observe that many multinational firms and Indian conglomerates support mid-career professionals by sponsoring their higher education, providing them with financial assistance to secure their future.</p>.<p>Also, many professionals bear the entire cost of management education on their own or by taking a bank loan.</p>.<p>A part-time MBA does not automatically lead to a fast-track management position or promotion. However, many talented employees who fail to get fast-track promotions in their organisation usually switch jobs and get better roles outside. </p>.<p>The part-time MBA also helps mid-career professionals who want to switch their job profiles.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Perceived benefits</strong></p>.<p>A part-time MBA is a great enabler for many professionals to accelerate their career growth, particularly in a country like India where management education is valued significantly.</p>.<p>A mid-career education equips professionals with new skills and competencies and accelerates their career to achieve success.</p>.<p>A recent exploratory research I conducted with a few hundred part-time / weekend MBA students of a long-term executive general management programme, showed they perceived the following benefits: A faster track promotion within the organisation, better growth opportunities outside their organisation, enhanced personal branding, high self-esteem and high social/ professional networks.</p>.<p>Overall, more people are pursuing part-time or weekend MBAs for future readiness. </p>.<p>In addition to part-time MBAs, the last decade has witnessed a boom of focused executive education of one week to one-year duration in the areas of Strategy, Leadership, Marketing, Business Analytics, and Operations. So this trend of part-time study is here to stay. </p>.<p><em><span class="italic">(The author is a professor of practice and chairperson of the weekend MBA programme (PGPEM) at IIM Bangalore.)</span></em></p>
<p>Formal management education in India is a little more than 50 years old. But over the past few decades, there has been a meteoric rise in MBA education, especially the part-time MBA programme.</p>.<p>Young professionals want to grow professional and keep up with changing trends at the workplaces. In the 1980s and 90s, it was mostly mid-career professionals who pursued part-time MBAs. Over the last decade, young professionals in their late twenties and early forties, with experience ranging from four to twenty years have been applying for MBA programmes.</p>.<p>An increasing number of women are also enrolling in part-time MBA programmes, from less than 10% in the 1990s to 20 - 40% today.</p>.<p>Many women also pursue a part-time MBA after marriage, after they have kids, or take a break in their career for personal reasons. Interestingly, our research reveals that 80% of the mid-career professionals who undertake part-time management education programmes in premier B-schools are over 36 years old. Also, nearly 90% of participants are male.</p>.<p>Most of the participants are from IT and engineering backgrounds, while others are from manufacturing, retail, telecom, and banking sectors.</p>.<p>Part-time MBA is basically for those looking to ‘Learn as they earn’.</p>.<p>The participants usually have clarity regarding which areas to specialise and grow in and decide to pursue a part-time MBA with the intention of expanding into general managerial positions from functional domains. </p>.<p>They prefer the premium business schools in India: the IIMs, XLRI/XIM, SP Jain Mumbai, to name a few.</p>.<p>Most participants prefer specialising in General Management, Strategy, Digital Management, Product Management, Marketing or Finance, IT, and occasionally HRM.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Funding part-time education</strong></p>.<p>Many organisations sponsor part-time MBAs for their top talent as part of employee engagement<br />policy. </p>.<p>However, more and more participants seem to be self-sponsoring their studies, keeping in mind their ambition for growth and to prevent obsolescence. Mid-career professionals also enrol in distance learning management programmes from top universities. </p>.<p>We observe that many multinational firms and Indian conglomerates support mid-career professionals by sponsoring their higher education, providing them with financial assistance to secure their future.</p>.<p>Also, many professionals bear the entire cost of management education on their own or by taking a bank loan.</p>.<p>A part-time MBA does not automatically lead to a fast-track management position or promotion. However, many talented employees who fail to get fast-track promotions in their organisation usually switch jobs and get better roles outside. </p>.<p>The part-time MBA also helps mid-career professionals who want to switch their job profiles.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Perceived benefits</strong></p>.<p>A part-time MBA is a great enabler for many professionals to accelerate their career growth, particularly in a country like India where management education is valued significantly.</p>.<p>A mid-career education equips professionals with new skills and competencies and accelerates their career to achieve success.</p>.<p>A recent exploratory research I conducted with a few hundred part-time / weekend MBA students of a long-term executive general management programme, showed they perceived the following benefits: A faster track promotion within the organisation, better growth opportunities outside their organisation, enhanced personal branding, high self-esteem and high social/ professional networks.</p>.<p>Overall, more people are pursuing part-time or weekend MBAs for future readiness. </p>.<p>In addition to part-time MBAs, the last decade has witnessed a boom of focused executive education of one week to one-year duration in the areas of Strategy, Leadership, Marketing, Business Analytics, and Operations. So this trend of part-time study is here to stay. </p>.<p><em><span class="italic">(The author is a professor of practice and chairperson of the weekend MBA programme (PGPEM) at IIM Bangalore.)</span></em></p>