Degree Programmes

Growth in quality and quantity across the portfolio

The counter-cyclical nature of demand for our degree programmes brought some much-needed stability to the school after the previous year of economic turbulence. Although the number of MBA graduates in July 2021 was down – due to accepted candidates deferring to the next intake – the MBA’21D class was consequently slightly larger than usual. This cohort was finally able to experience the face-to-face teaching that so many students had been waiting for, and the MBA’22J intake was back to a normal size. To our great pleasure, we were also able to welcome the latter to campus in person in August 2021.

Also joining us in August 2021 were the 130 members of the second Master in Management (MIM) class. This number makes the MIM’22 cohort 40% bigger than the pioneer intake – which itself had been much larger than expected, thanks to the exceptional quality of the candidates. Applications remain buoyant in this important new market for INSEAD. Meanwhile, applications for our Executive MBA programmes, which remained relatively stable during the pandemic, are outperforming forecasts. We are delighted that the growth in quality and quantity of applications throughout 2020/2021 seems to be continuing across the portfolio.

One contributing factor to our continued growth is the increased investment in scholarships by both generous donors and the school itself. For the MBA’21D intake alone, we awarded a total of €4 million in scholarships, some 20% more than for the previous December graduates. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have also offered advice to all admitted candidates about financing, in recognition of the added challenges they now face, particularly in the case of our Executive Master participants.

Celebrating women students and the INSEAD spirit

Further cause for celebration came in March 2021 with the launch of our “Limitless” campaign. This showcased the successes of 18 women leaders, all graduates from INSEAD Degree Programmes. The multimedia campaign continued throughout the year with videos, articles and podcasts featuring alumnae who have pushed beyond the constraints placed on them and used their time at INSEAD to reach exemplary career heights.

A few months later, we were able to celebrate INSEAD women once again, as our August MBA intake registered record numbers in women participants, at 39% of the class. Congratulations to the women of MBA’22J.

Congratulations are in fact due to all members of our Degree Programme community – recent graduates, current students, faculty and staff alike – for their extraordinary adaptability and resilience. We thank those who bore with us throughout the disruptions of 2020/2021 and who continue to adapt to travel and working restrictions, as they ripple around the world.

Programme-specific highlights

When our intrepid MIM’21 students enrolled as the programme’s “pioneers”, even they could not have envisaged the year of constant adaptation and innovation ahead of them. In February 2021, for example, they had to quarantine for two weeks to embark on the Singapore stage of their adventure. In Asia, their performance continued to surpass all expectations. By the end of their academic studies, it was no surprise that they all successfully secured placements for the final four-to-six-month professional exposure module.

The pioneers certainly set the bar high for the 130 members of the second MIM class, who had an even more intense start to the programme thanks to a new online preparation module and an even more action-packed welcome week in August 2021.

As the world emerges from crisis, the whirlwind 10-month INSEAD MBA format is proving a competitive advantage – both to the school and its outstanding participants. After months of lockdown and home working, the intensive, global model that INSEAD pioneered is more popular than ever.

At the beginning of 2021, the world began to open up and most MBA classes were able to resume in dual – online and in-person – mode. However, the ongoing rules about safe distancing and isolation meant that extensive re-scheduling efforts were required throughout the academic year.

Fortunately, we were able to hold the 9th and 10th editions of the Master Strategist Day as planned. In November 2020, MBA’21J students pooled their newfound skills to support Banlieue Santé, a non-profit organisation that supports communities in some of Paris’s poorest neighbourhoods to overcome health inequalities. This was followed in March 2021 by a day that saw 650 MBA’21D students use VR technology to help another NGO. Their strategic challenge was to scale up MiracleFeet’s mission of helping 100,000 children a year in 70 countries overcome clubfoot, an entirely curable birth defect that still blights lives in lowerincome countries.

New developments and traditional strengths

As INSEAD emerged from crisis, our Career Development Centre support and education followed the “digital first” approach that has proven effective in recent years. New advances for this year include:

• Launching iLink, a peer-to-peer career advising and networking platform between alumni and students that had reached 5,000 users by August 2021;
• Introducing CareerMaximiser, an online course of career exercises to guide, structure and strengthen the experience and outcomes of coaching for participants who are working professionals, and INSEAD alumni.

Careers as a force for good

There has been encouraging news over the past year regarding sustainable finance, social impact and sustainability. A growing number of companies and large institutions incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics into their investments. We continue to witness considerable interest from our students in engaging with companies in this area and help them to engage with the ESG ecosystem. During our most recent Global Company Engagement Day, we had a dedicated section for Social Impact. We also welcomed back Systemiq, Thirdway Africa, Gavi, Mirova and Clinton Health Access Initiative to our MBA recruitment events.