B-School Over Zoom Got Better During the Pandemic, Students Say
Survey data show some improvement in the digital experience in 2021. But students and schools are still anxious to meet in person this fall.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Photographer: John Greim/LightRocketTyler Schenk’s MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School ended with more of a whimper than the bang he’d hoped for. The last few months were conducted largely online because of Covid-19, and he missed the social and in-person collaboration he’d previously enjoyed in the classroom. “You just lose out on a huge component of the business school,” says the 2021 graduate. “I don’t blame anyone.”
Schenk, 31, was among more than 6,000 MBA students around the world surveyed by Bloomberg about their online learning experience during a year in which B-schools globally shifted operations to Zoom and other apps, or offered a mix of digital and in-classroom instruction. The crisis seems to have forced programs to raise their online game: The data indicate that students on average believe schools improved their virtual offerings in 2021.