Growth, funding, and student engagement. Business school deans from across the globe named these as their biggest challenges in the latest AACSB Deans Survey Report. Academic Partnerships (AP), an AACSB Business Education Alliance member, together with Wiley University Services, was honored to sponsor this report and introduced it at last month’s AACSB Deans conference in Barcelona, Spain.
The triennial survey was launched in early October and closed in early November 2023. Over 450 Deans and interim deans from 64 countries and territories participated in the survey, which focused on roles and responsibilities of Deans today and trending concerns.
The conference provided an opportunity for business deans to further discuss the findings of the survey, discover commonalities, and share best practices. Topics highlighted in discussions included government funding, enrollment, and policies related to international students.
Professor Dana Brown, former Dean, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, who attended the conference, said, “This year’s AACSB Deans’ conference highlighted the dynamic challenges that deans around the world commonly face in their multifaceted roles. Their dedication to lead their faculties and keep the learner at the center of everything they do was most evident.”
She noted, “Collectively, deans see the need for increasing access to affordable, workforce-relevant higher education and continuing to recruit and retain highly qualified students. They also value collaborating to enhance higher education’s ability to deliver change in a marketplace that is undergoing significant shifts—a vision shared by Academic Partnerships.”
With the majority of AP’s university partners offering AACSB-accredited programs, AP understands the impact of accelerating innovation through workforce-relevant programs and supports the work of AACSB in confirming global quality and distinction in business education. For more insights on what it takes to be a business school dean in today’s higher education environment, access the AACSB Deans Survey Overview Report here.