Alex Kvaskov and Kanchi Uttamchandani | News Team
Featured image: The Economist ranks Schulich School of Business’ MBA program first in Canada, while international rankings decline. | Amir Yazdanparast
When it comes to legendary streaks, Schulich’s tenure as Canada’s top-ranked MBA program may jump to mind. That streak stretches to 14 years with the release of The Economist’s 2016 ranking, in which York’s imposing business school captured the top spot again.
However, the rankings may not paint the whole picture, as some of Canada’s leading universities flat-out refused to participate in The Economist’s survey in the recent past. In 2014, then U of T Rotman School of Management Vice Dean, Academic, Peter Pauly said rankings have to be taken “with a lot of skepticism.”
The Economist surveys students and faculty in a process that critics liken to a glorified cheerleading squad, in that students may rate their own school higher than it deserves. Moreover, schools can skew the accuracy of any ranking by simply refusing to participate.
The Economist did not reply for comment.
Though Schulich remains first at the national level, its international ranking has tumbled over the last five years, from a rank of ninth in 2011 to 56th this year, exposing the volatility of rankings.
The Economist warns that rankings reflect prevailing conditions such as salaries, jobs available and the situation at a school at the time the survey was carried out. “Results of rankings can be volatile, so they should be treated with caution,” reads the publication’s 2016 methodology.
In this methodology, The Economist explains their data collection process is based on two key surveys. The first, which accounts for 80 per cent of the ranking, is completed by schools with eligible programmes and covers quantitative matters such as the salary of graduates, average Graduate Management Admission Test scores of students and the number of registered alumni.
The second, which constitutes the remaining 20 per cent, comes from a qualitative survey filled out by current MBA students and the school’s most recently graduated MBA class. Respondents are asked to rate things such as the quality of the faculty, facilities and career services department.
“All data received from schools were subject to verification checks, including, where possible, comparison with historical data, peer schools and other published sources. Student and graduate questionnaires were audited for multiple or false entries,” further reads the methodology.
Nevertheless, Schulich Dean Dezsö J. Horváth is proud to be at the top of the pile. “Schulich was also ranked among the top schools in the world in a number of categories that students identify as being important, including diversity of recruiters, salary increase following graduation, international alumni networks and faculty quality,” says Horváth.
While prospective students considering Schulich may be smitten with rankings, Schulich MBA student Michael Guo says rankings are not his top concern as a current student. “I think the diversity of the student body, the strength of its alumni network, the overall quality of instruction and my career prospects after graduation have a much more meaningful impact on my overall student experience,” he adds.
Valid rankings or not, Schulich’s “lustre” benefits York as a whole. “We in LA&PS benefit greatly from the good reputations of Osgoode, Fine Arts—now AMPD—and Schulich,” says history professor Thomas Cohen.
However, Cohen strongly dislikes survey questions about school reputation, which he views as superficial. “Surveys ask me, ‘In your field, or in general, what is the best school?’ and all that I know is what school is reputed to be reputed. I think reputational answers lead to circular inquiries,” he says.
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