Eduvantis recently conducted its annual survey of business school deans. This year, we asked the question others aren’t asking:
How is AI impacting management education?
In this post, we are going to focus on the responses from survey respondents centered around AI that we found most intriguing, bringing forward our perspectives on this important topic.
AI is a top priority for business school deans
Unsurprisingly, AI is clearly the topic of the day.
Every conference Eduvantis has attended this year has devoted a significant percentage of the agenda to AI-related sessions.
Eric Anderson, artificial intelligence expert, a recent guest on our Business Education Revolution video podcast, and professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, explains, “AI is transformational. I don’t think it’s a fad. I think it’s going be here for decades, and by the time I retire, I think we’ll look back and say this is one of the biggest things that happened in education”
The business school deans surveyed agree. No longer viewed as a futuristic concept, AI is, at the very least, labeled as transformational by all business school deans surveyed. The majority label it as very or extremely transformational. Therefore, if you or your institution are not viewing it in this light, you are behind the curve.
AI: Transforming business school education
Moving a step beyond that, as a key output of the survey this year, we wanted to understand how AI is going to transform business education. As a starting point, business school deans surveyed expect that AI will be embedded throughout the curriculum of nearly every class.
Let’s think about that for a moment. Very few red threads weave through all business school classes at a particular institution—perhaps global-mindedness, experiential learning, or analytics. AI is expected to be on that list across nearly all institutions, a significant undertaking.
Anderson shares, “Currently, the ‘department of AI’ it does not exist. We have to figure out how to integrate this into our existing structure. Senior leaders are wrestling with where to put this and how to make advancements when we don’t have a department that this naturally fits”.
Are business schools ready to incorporate AI across curriculum and courses?
That is hard to say. What is clear is that they are focusing on it. 72% of our respondents have incorporation of AI across curriculum listed as one of their top priorities. They understand that continuously upskilling their faculty and staff, using AI as a learning tool, and keeping their curriculum relevant as AI evolves are all important as well.
Anderson explains, “Back in the day, many business schools said, ‘We need a global version,’ so we launched classes in international channel management, not just channel management. That’s all gone away, now international is integrated into all of our our curriculum. I think we’re going to go through that transformation with AI”.
What is NOT an AI priority?
Ensuring students aren’t cheating with AI and enhancing instruction with AI are way towards the bottom of survey respondents’ lists. However, when we hear people talk about AI, this is primarily where the focus lies.
- How can I use it to help me be more efficient when preparing for and teaching my class?
- How can we combat students finding shortcuts with their work?
The conversations seem out of alignment with the priorities at the moment, but based on our survey results, we expect that to change over the next six months.
Rebecca Achen, Ph.D., Director of the Professional Performance program at the University of Kansas and founder of The Engaged Professor and the Prof Talk newsletter, has already embraced AI in the classroom and recommends an approach that emphasizes the development of critical thinking skills.
She explains her stance, “For me, the question was: how do we, as educators, adapt to this new technology in a way that preserves the integrity of the learning process? Outright banning these tools didn’t seem to be the answer. It was likely that this approach would end up feeling more like a challenge to students to do it anyway and hope they didn’t get caught.”
She continues, “So, I spent a lot of time thinking about, learning about, and using generative AI in my consulting business. As I thought about its place in higher education, it came down to one simple fact – students will need to use generative and predictive AI tools in their jobs. The tools will keep evolving and getting better. Instead of limiting students because it is difficult to adapt to the change, we must help our students think critically about using generative AI tools in their careers and educational journeys.”
The future of AI and management education
AI, including how management education wrestles with and utilizes it, will evolve many times over the next year, let alone the next 5 years. Staying abreast of how the other institutions are approaching this, and maybe more importantly, how student expectations continue to adapt, will be critical to each business school’s success. As a market research firm that is continually surveying both business school administrators and business school students, we intend to stay one step ahead on this, so our perspectives and recommendations reflect where the market is headed and not where it has been.
“AI is the biggest thing to hit higher education since online education exploded years ago. And, like online education, AI has sweeping implications for curriculum, course modality, prospective student expectations, outcomes, recruitment strategies, and more, ” Steve Shriberg, Vice President and Partner at Eduvantis, explains. “The AI landscape in higher education is changing rapidly. We are watching closely as this unfolds and striving to make sure our clients are on the leading edge of this transformation.”
Get the full 2024 Dean’s Survey results.
If you are interested in receiving the full report, which includes answers to more questions, as well as additional data on the participants, request the full report here.
If you have any questions about this data or you just want to discuss a particular challenge your business school is facing, please schedule an appointment with Steve Shriberg, Vice President and Partner at Eduvantis.
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