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Can you earn an MBA degree without leaving your job? Yes. As online education becomes increasingly popular, numerous students from around the world are now pursuing business education degrees online. This has perhaps proved to be a boon for many adult students who need to balance their jobs, family and education at the same time. But are online distance learning programmes worth it? Let’s find out...
Why Study Online MBA?
Anthony Yu, who is pursuing online MBA from Sandermoen School of Business (University of Fredericton), found this mode of learning especially helpful when his wife was about to give birth to their third child. 40 year old Yu, who works as a bank branch manager, says “I always joked with my wife, ‘I might be bringing my computer with me into the hospital room’’.
It has now become a growing trend for most reputed B-schools to offer some kind of business degree online. Apart from a number of online schools, many top-rated, reputed and elite institutes like Queen’s School of Business and Harvard Business School are also providing online programmes to their students.
This can provide the perfect solution for individuals like Mr. Yu who wish to advance their careers by pursuing a higher education degree, without leaving their jobs or barely managing time for their families. Yu says “This (was) a better route for me, for my family, and for work-life balance. You still need to participate in your (live online) lectures and readings once a week (but), really, this was the route for me because of the flexibility it gave.”
Work Full Time, Study Any Time
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Peter Mersereau, Director of Operations at University of Fredericton, says “The main thing that sets us apart is how our programs are designed. They are created for working professionals; thus, students can study from anywhere in the world, at any time, completely online. The program provides students the opportunity to continue their education without sacrificing career momentum.”
This seems to be the aim of most universities that offer distance learning opportunities via the internet.
Athabasca University also offers a world class online MBA programme that aims to help professionals boost their careers in the direction they want. Dr. Alain May, MBA Programme Director at the university, believes that now is the perfect time to go for online studies. She says “When I first started going to conferences five years ago, once they found out you were from an online school, they would turn around and not talk to you, because they didn’t think you had a lot to tell them. When I’m at those same conferences now and you say you’re online, suddenly you’re the most popular person in the room.”
Fast Track To An MBA
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Dr. May believes that online MBAs offer enhanced accessibility and flexibility, which the traditional universities could even dream of providing. Students who wish to do a full time job and study can easily cater to their professional commitments and pursue an MBA programme online. By pursuing a distance learning top up programme from an accredited online B-school, students can easily manage to study their coursework over the internet from the comfort of their homes as per their convenience.
Moreover, learners can also study during lunch time at work or during leisure hours. This gives professionals the freedom to study at their own pace. One of the greatest advantages of an online top up MBA is that it allows students to fast track to an accredited MBA degree without investing excessive time or money.
A Collaborative Experience
In fact online learning is often more collaborative than students might think. She says “I think there’s an impression of online education that it’s a person sitting in a room all by themselves, working on their own. The reality is, we are very effective in networking the students so they can collaborate and build. Students work closely together and learn from each other constantly.”
As technology progresses further at an unbelievable pace, numerous universities and colleges are gearing up to improve their online offerings to reach more students worldwide. Dr. May adds “As technologies move, we’re trying to move, as well. We’re moving toward providing mobile applications for students. We try to innovate all the time.”
Mersereau of University of Fredericton says “It’s how work gets done today.” He continues “If someone sees an online MBA as second-rate, they are not prepared to do business in the 21st century. We live in a virtual world today, so I see no reason why someone would need to stop their career momentum to attend a physical location.”
Changing Employers’ Perspectives
Moreover, now recruiters and employers are also recognizing and accepting online degrees more than ever before. A new report from the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration shows that nearly 50 per cent of the surveyed employers believe the format of a degree is not a major factor in the recruitment or promotion of a candidate. The only thing that matters is whether the programme and the degree are correctly accredited or not.
Paresh Mistry, vice-president of the recruiting agency David Aplin Group, says employers are no more concerned about whether candidates earn MBAs online or on-campus. He adds “The working professionals aren’t readily willing to give up a full-time job for school purposes. In all the years I’ve been doing this, I can never recall a client turning down a candidate because of the circumstances surrounding their MBA. I don’t think that’s going to become an issue.”
Climb The Ladder With Online MBA
Online business degrees have enabled professionals like Anthony Yu to pursue their dream careers by getting further education. By studying for a distance learning top up degree in business, many young professionals can acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to climb up the career ladder and boost their careers to great new heights.
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Mistry concluded “It’s going to make this easier for a lot of students. If technology didn’t evolve to where we’re at today, I’ll tell you right now I wouldn’t have completed my MBA,” he says. “It would not have been possible.”
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