Associate Dean Toni Somers weighs in on millennial MBA preferences
Recent studies show they value mentorship, experiential learning, socially responsible missions in the workplace and a customizable education that is more intense than what colleges and universities have offered to past generations, local experts say. Southeast Michigan business colleges are adapting to that educational demand with half-semester courses that condense classroom time or undergraduate and MBA-level instruction combined into a five-year graduate degree program. Also trending in higher education is the offering of new or expanded mentorship programs, entrepreneurial assistance, community service projects and more elective coursework to give MBA students more specialization. More than half of millennials, generally born between the early 1980s and 2000, are interested in entrepreneurship and about 27 percent are or have been self-employed, according to a 2011 survey by the Young Entrepreneurs Council and Buzz Marketing Group. Research suggests they organize into groups and collaborate on projects faster than employees of other organizations, local university program directors said.
Toni Somers, associate dean of the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University, said students are more interested in attending class more days of the week or on weekends to complete their education sooner. The school saw MBA program enrollment plummet from nearly 2,000 to less than 500 in 2012, but it has since recovered to more than 850. Among the more popular program changes, besides offering accelerated 11-week semester courses and a four-week training module as an alternative to traditional 15-week courses, is a corporate mentorship program that launched last fall. About 50 students and 50 corporate mentors have participated, she said. "We find they enjoy teamwork, and they enjoy it when they're paired with seasoned professionals, and people who bring a wealth of experience," Somers said. "They're interested in learning from non-millennials — there's always been a little of that in other generations, but it's changing."
