The 10-month, full-time degree is aimed at pre-experience students who wish to launch a global business career. The average age of candidates is expected to be 22 and they will have between zero and two years of work experience, which can include internships.
The degree completes INSEAD’s portfolio of programs—MBA, Executive MBA, Master in Finance, PhD et al—which has focused on those with several years’ working knowledge.
“Graduates holding at least a bachelor’s degree from any field will benefit from INSEAD, acquiring relevant skills to succeed in the complex world,” says Thibault Séguret, director of the INSEAD MiM course. “In return, the INSEAD community will become richer and more diverse with highly innovative alumni from this younger generation.”
Demand is expected to be high, with around 80 students set to enter the program in September 2020. MiM degrees have enjoyed strong global growth as many students see them as a quicker, cheaper route to a management career than an MBA, which teaches similar technical and leadership skills but is for experienced professionals. The 22 MiM programs tracked by the Graduate Management Admission Council received 7,834 applications in 2018, a 2.6% increase on the year before.
But INSEAD is late to the MiM game. Although the business school was established in France, which created the MiM through its elite Grandes Écoles professional schools, this is INSEAD’s first pre-experience master’s program.
There is growing competition in the MiM market across Europe, Asia and the US. Hong Kong’s CUHK Business School launched a degree in 2017, while Cornell Johnson College of Business in 2018 joined CEMS (with its sister school’s MPS in Applied Economics and Management), a global alliance of business schools offering MiM degrees.
Read: How To Choose The Best Master's Degree For You
What's different?
Thibault sees several distinguishing factors for INSEAD’s MiM. The first is the program’s length. At 10-months, it is shorter than the usual 12-month format for MiMs.
The result is an intense and immersive experience that allows students to enter the workplace rapidly and begin recouping a return on their investment: tuition fees are €47,500 ($53,000), though scholarships are available. The price is at the higher-end of the spectrum of MiM fees, which vary significantly at the top schools.
Another differentiator is global exposure. Students will study on INSEAD’s campuses in France and Singapore, and take field trips to Abu Dhabi, China or the US. “The program is a journey across the world, shared with a diverse class in terms of backgrounds and nationality,” says Thibault. “Diversity and inclusion are core INSEAD values, and they are reflected in this MIM.”
The program was also crafted with top employers in mind, who shared their perception on what skills were most needed for young graduates in today’s word. Core courses will provide a foundation in key management disciplines, while electives such as social media analytics, fintech and blockchain provide students with in-demand skills for the digital economy.
Students will apply theory to real-life business scenarios, including company visits and business treks in Asia and Europe.
They will graduate into a vast global community of more than 58,000 people working in 176 countries.
The drawback is that students who do not intend to pursue an international career may not fit into INSEAD’s culture. “Potential applicants that might not project themselves in a global career may not find themselves at home in INSEAD,” says Thibault.
Assessing cultural fit is an essential element of the admissions process—which includes writing an essay, sitting the GMAT or GRE, and answering questions via video, and potentially face-to-face.
“We are building a global community, and that is why we will be looking for candidates who will embrace those values,” says Thibault. “Those who do not embrace them might find themselves to be a better fit in [other] schools. Those who do embrace them will find that INSEAD always feel like home.”
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