We’d like to point our readers to a couple of interesting articles in Wednesday’s New York Times. Both pieces center on management education across the globe and the growing number of international programs that are using English as the language of instruction.
The first article, entitled ‘English as Language of Global Education’ highlights the fact that noted institutions in countries like France, South Korea and Spain are offering courses (and even full degrees) in English. The article features an interesting quote from the Dean of Essec (a top business school in France):
We are shifting to English. Why?” said Laurent Bibard, the dean of M.B.A. programs at Essec, a top French business school in a suburb of Paris that is a fertile breeding ground for chief executives. “It’s the language for international teaching,” he said. “English allows students to be able to come from anyplace in the world and for our students — the French ones — to go everywhere.”
But the article also points to another compelling reason for non-English speaking countries to shift their university offerings into the English language: increased revenue. Schools in France and Spain that offer MBAs in English are able to attract international students from around the world, typically at a higher tuition rate.
The second article of note, ‘Some Stilted Conversations, but Signs of a Cultural Shift’, is more of an on-the-ground view of the use of the English language on the French campus of Essec and how it impacts social life and recruiting (potentially putting French students at a disadvantage when competing with English-speaking classmates for jobs where English is required). The author also highlights the fact that for the first time ever, an American has been accepted into the equivalent of a fraternity/eating club at Essec, introducing the clubs members to some of the hallmarks of US fraternity life…
While these articles are clearly of interest to students looking at international programs offering MBAs in the English language, we also find the larger implications of this shift to be of note. For example, it’s interesting to consider how the use of English outside of major MBA markets (like the US, Canada and UK) might impact the volume of candidates coming to North America or the United Kingdom for their studies.
