Published in The Deal, September 2016

Jessica Volich felt like she was in a rut.

For 18 years the resources professional had been in and out of the workforce, sometimes working part time, as she raised three children.

“People were moving ahead and I felt like I had lost momentum and wasn’t sure where to go next,” says Volich, an environmental scientist.

But enrolling in a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Western Australia has enabled Volich to carve out a new career path.

With the support of her employer BHP Billiton, Volich is using the new skills and knowledge to springboard into other areas.

“Once BHP saw the sorts of units I was doing they put me into a business analyst role, doing strategic planning for my group. That was amazing because I had been trying to move beyond environmental management for some time,” she says.

After 18 months in the role, Volich was promoted into a management position developing governance processes for the sustainable closure of mines that have reached their end of life.

Like Volich, the majority of professionals undertaking an MBA are looking to acquire skills and knowledge that will help them move up the management ranks, according to Professor Alison Preston, deputy dean of UWA Business School.

“The MBA was originally set up because people from technical backgrounds found themselves in management positions but didn’t have any of that training,” she says.

The typical MBA student is in their early 30s, has around 10 years’ work experience, is working in middle management looking to move up or has recently stepped into senior management, Preston says.

They are generally working full-time while studying part-time, and many are also rearing young families, she says.

Students are drawn from a wide range of sectors, including business, education, health and the not-for-profit sector, but a large proportion has typically come from technical backgrounds such as engineering or geology.
Young professionals are turning to the MBA because the credential has currency amongst employers, Preston says.

“It’s obviously delivering the skills they’re looking for, and it’s used as a screening device. There’s a sense among students that they need the MBA if they’re to compete for the next level up,” she says.

Professor John Shields, deputy dean of The University of Sydney Business School, says that motivations to undertake the MBA vary from mobility upwards to mobility across industry and organisations.

“The older age group is looking to position themselves for C-suite positions, so chief financial officer or chief operations officer. The younger students are looking to move up a notch in the management hierarchy, and some are seeking to reskill completely and move into a different industry,” says Shields.

Dr Lan Snell, director of education services at the University of Technology Sydney Business School, argues that many middle and senior managers are undertaking the masters due to an increasingly credentialed workforce.

“They’re looking over their shoulders and seeing a whole bunch of younger people coming in who are much cheaper and highly skilled, so the question of maintaining relevance and competitiveness forces them to consider their furthest qualification as a means of differentiation,” she says.

Indeed, a recent change in the MBA demographic has been increasing numbers of younger students, Snell says.

“We think that’s reflecting the general characteristics of the labour market – increasing competition and the race to get qualifications to differentiate yourself at every level,” she says.

Similarly, Preston says UWA’s new full-time MBA, which is a one-year intensive course, is attracting professionals in their late 20s.

“They’re in a position where they can take that time off as they don’t have the financial responsibilities of mortgages and children. They’re often people who are sponsored by their company, and are looking to accelerate their career,” she says.

For Volich, who is preparing to finish her MBA later next year, the most valuable aspects of the MBA have been the leadership skills and a greater understanding of finance.

“It’s been a long road,” she says, “but a really exciting one.”
Published in The Deal, September 2016 issue