Degree Programmes - 2020

Back in September 2019, we gave the traditional warm INSEAD welcome to hundreds of outstanding new students.

The MBA’20J and EMFin’21s were soon up to speed, while the rolling programme of Executive MBA intakes continued across our campuses. Three “waves” of the Executive Master in Change (EMC) were already successfully underway and the MBA’19Ds had graduation in their sights. The usual December ceremony was soon followed by Executive Master equivalents and the arrival of the MBA’20Ds. And, as we made our first offers of places, we began to realise just how exceptional our pioneer Master in Management (MIM) class would prove to be.

The MBA’20Ds showed similar entrepreneurial flair with the student-led COVID-19 Innovation Competition, in which virtual teams competed to “turn a force majeure into a force for good”. Our congratulations go to the winners: Farm Fresh, which seeks to improve food supply chains in Ghana, and All About Space, which provides a novel “membership” model for companies whose employees might need a short-term, remote desk to work from anywhere in the world. The two teams include not only members of the organising MBA’20D class but also an accepted student from MBA’21J and a member of our partner institution ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.

By 2 July 2020, we had held our first fully virtual graduation ceremony ever – for the MBA’20J class, almost all of whom had opted not to defer their studies. All other degree programmes were continuing on schedule. Meanwhile, we were busy re-engineering the curriculum and campus experience for the upcoming intakes. While the pandemic experience only served to underline the power of our face- to-face teaching model, we had learned a great deal.

As the new academic year began, we were the only leading international business school fully open for in-person instruction – with, of course, smaller and carefully spaced classes. However, we were ready for all eventualities, thanks to the new “dual-mode” of teaching pioneered in 2019/2020. It seems unlikely that we will ever return to “business school as usual”, at least as we used to know it.

Further programme-specific highlights

Our September 2019 MBA intake was the largest ever and also had one of the highest GMAT averages ever – all the more impressive, given the maturity of the MBA market. The new improved campus exchange process was somewhat overtaken by events. Indeed, it took on an unexpected form as new virtual teaching formats enabled students to attend classes on any campus, regardless of their own location.

Creativity was at an all-time high among the MBA community this year. Two music videos (“Lockdown” and “We Are the World”, both available on YouTube) by the INSEAD Music Club and MBA’20Js are not only achievements in themselves, but also symbolise a community forced apart yet coming together in a spirit of harmony.

Another creative triumph had come just before lockdown, when an INSEAD MBA’20J team flew into Barcelona on the red-eye from Abu Dhabi for the 25th Roland Berger IESE Case Competition. Sagnik Mukherjee, Subir Roychoudhury Shalom and Akinboboye Elie Bechara faced teams from the world’s top business schools and emerged – after 72 gruelling hours – the 2020 winners.

In September 2019, we had also welcomed our largest ever Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) intake on the Europe campus, again with no compromise in quality. They and their classmates in Asia and Abu Dhabi will graduate in January 2022, the first cohort to do so. Their colleagues on the Tsinghua–INSEAD EMBA (TIEMBA) programme now graduate in July. In 2020, both programmes were ranked in the global top ten by the Financial Times with the TIEMBA at a very impressive #5. Feedback from all EMBA students for the new dual mode of teaching is very good.

Last but far from least, the new Master in Management (MIM) was accredited by the French Government in 2019/2020, following the addition of an internship component. After the long years of thorough market research and programme design, INSEAD was ready for the inaugural intake of September 2020. As we welcomed the exceptional new class – the youngest ever at INSEAD – we paused to look back on the often arduous journey of 2019/2020. In our rear view mirror, we saw a year of challenges but also a year of triumph over adversity and immense creativity. Our portfolio of Master Degree Programmes was embarking on a new academic year larger, stronger and more diverse than ever before – making us well placed to face the uncertainties on the road ahead.

INSEAD’s elite group of PhD students form an integral part of the school’s academic community. During the year 2019/2020, there were 78 PhD students studying across our Europe and Asia campuses. The graduation ceremony in June 2020 celebrated the successes of 18 of them. We now have 238 PhD alumni of 44 nationalities representing INSEAD around the world.

The PhD programme, which is largely funded by INSEAD itself, represents our contribution to the next generation of global business academia. The new graduates have already joined prestigious institutions such as London Business School, the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the Indian School of Business and the National University of Singapore, to name a few.

We are particularly proud that our recent classes include so many outstanding female researchers, which means that INSEAD will be playing an increasingly important part in promoting gender parity among business faculty. In fact, around half of our PhD population and 60% of the 15 new entrants of September 2020 are women.

Before the pandemic

It was business as usual for the Career Development Centre and the MBA classes of ’19D and ’20J in the final months of 2019. In France, INSEAD joined forces with Institut Polytechnique and France Digital to run the annual Scale-up Fair in Paris for the first time. In Singapore, the September Networking Event – similarly devoted to start-ups and scale-ups – attracted a large number of students. Panellists from companies, big and small, contributed to a fascinating discussion on sustainable food production titled “Feeding the Future”.

After the arrival of COVID-19

During the crisis, the Career Development Centre moved all curriculum and recruiting activities online, thanks to the agility of the Operations team and strong relationships with digital experts.

At the same time, its specialist staff remained in close contact with our portfolio of 600+ recruiters across the world and the global INSEAD community. Alumni rallied in support of current students by joining new activities such as panels, webinars and chats. Our specialist team of career coaches and Sector Advisors was also an inspiration – to colleagues as well as students – as they adapted quickly to online delivery, refusing to allow dreams or ambitions to be compromised.

From March 2020 onwards, we hosted 250+ companies online – seamlessly turning the on-campus recruitment programme into a virtual experience and extending the formal recruitment period into P5 for the MBA’20Js. In addition, we provided ongoing support to those graduating mid-pandemic, although many were successful in securing great job offers despite the circumstances.

The highlight of the year was undoubtedly INSEAD’s first ever Virtual Career Fair. It gave us particular pleasure to host the Initiative in partnership with the world-leading recruitment platform MBA-Exchange.com, founded by Bilal Ojjeh MBA’94D. With 66 half-hour webinars, companies from all sectors and regions, 458 job openings promoted in 56 countries and 1,500 enthusiastic participants, including alumni and Executive Master students, the event surpassed even our greatest expectations. Recruiter and student satisfaction both stood at 4.2 out of a maximum of 5, which is an exceptional score.