AGSM Full-Time MBA ranks among the world’s best programs in 2022 global rankings

AGSM @ UNSW Business School ranked 35th in the 2022 QS Global MBA Rankings, up by six spots from last year. The result puts the AGSM Full-Time MBA in the top 12% of the world’s top schools of management. The rankings assessed 286 programs across 45 countries. 
 
AGSM’s MBA ranked above the global average across all indicators: Return on Investment (ROI), Alumni Outcomes, and Employability. The school performed extremely well in the areas of Thought Leadership (appearing in the top 7% globally), and for Diversity (appearing in the top 5% globally).  

Diversity was ranked against factors such as the percentage of female faculty and students, international faculty, and how many nationalities were represented in the AGSM MBA program. Thought Leadership considered factors such as the school’s research impact and academic reputation. 

The indicator of Employability was calculated using employer reputation and employment rate as ranking factors, with AGSM reaching a score of 67, placing it in the top 14% globally. 

See also: AGSM @ UNSW Business School’s full-list of rankings

Professor Nick Wailes, Senior Deputy Dean (External Engagement) and Director AGSM, says AGSM’s global rankings performance is a catalyst for continuous improvement.

“We use global rankings performance and other indicators to assess our programs and ensure we remain ahead of today’s pace of change.” 

“AGSM’s Full-Time MBA’s placement in the QS rankings show the program is continuing to deliver what is needed for tomorrow's leaders to thrive and survive in an accelerating world,” he says.

“Increasingly, employers and MBA candidates are seeking relevant and timely learning that exposes them to ideas and experiences that they can apply immediately to their work. Our curriculum is built around the issues organisations are grappling with today - disruption, technology, and innovation.”

Staying ahead of the curve in leadership development

AGSM has recently made several adjustments to its suite of MBA programs, in order to align graduates’ skills with the capabilities executives require in today’s world, and in the years to follow.

This year, it embedded principles of Responsible Management across the entire MBA curriculum, to prepare students to be more sustainable, ethical and inclusive leaders.

Other ground-breaking changes to AGSM’s suite of MBA programs include a pivot in 2022 to a 12-month Full-Time MBA (aligning the school with its global peers), and the embedding of crucial technology and data analytics skills within its courses.

For Associate Professor Michele Roberts, AGSM Academic Director, the school’s long-term achievements in the QS Global MBA Rankings are a product of this continual assessment of, and adjustment to, what society and industry are looking for in its leaders. 

“High placement in global rankings such as the QS Global MBA Rankings, which uses factors such as ROI and employability prospects to determine the top schools, demonstrates that critical thinking by schools of just how alumni leadership skills are being developed within their own institution is vital to success,” Dr Roberts says.

“In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased awareness that leadership is not simply a matter of running a financially successful business. Instead, thought leadership is essential to help organisations and society solve global issues and societies most urgent and complex problems.”

With this unprecedented pace of change in workplaces and workplace skills, the need to engage, learn and then implement ideas quickly is more urgent than ever before.

The QS 2022 Global MBA Rankings can be found here.

You can see the full suite of AGSM programs here or the Full-Time MBA here.