by Yulia Golub, Kyiv Post, Staff Writer
The influx of Western business, including multinational companies, to Ukraine was expected to stimulate demand for high quality business education. Yet after an initial spike, education in Ukraine overall is said to be weak, and enrollment in MBA programs stalled in 2007. They are likely to remain flat in 2008, experts said.
Rising incomes and the country’s expanding economy has raised millions of Ukrainians out of poverty, but few are achieving their full potential because of a lack of education.
According to Industrial Power, a recruiting agency, many Ukrainians do not believe they need higher education or an MBA to succeed in business.
There are several reasons for this trend. First of all, finding a highquality MBA program, particularly programs tailored to specific business spheres, remains difficult in Ukraine.
“There are a lot of MBA programs out there, but not all of them are very good,” said Reno Domenico, president and executive director of the Ukrainebased Sterling Business School that specializes in MBAs as well as short business courses.
Businesses are searching for job candidates with tangible skills that will help improve their profit margin, but most Ukrainian business schools do not have programs that deliver those skills, he added.
Ukrainian business schools continue to operate with obsolete Sovietera teaching methods. Therefore, much of the expertise in the traditional university setting in Ukraine is “outdated.” And many schools have not made an effort to upgrade their personnel or provide extensive professional development, Domenico added.
Few successful Ukrainian business schools offer Western marketoriented programs. But they usually establish partnerships with European or American universities.
“Our partnership with Rowan University in New Jersey gives us direct access to instructors and content at the same level as available in the [United] States,” said Domenico.
Kyiv Mohyla Business School, considered an elite Ukrainian business school, has close ties with the Northern University Center for Technology Innovation Management. Meanwhile, the Institute of International Business Relations, another Ukrainian business school, is partners with Steinbeis University in Berlin.
Experts in the field say that there are many unaccredited schools in Ukraine which offer MBAs that are not internationally recognized.
“Some schools in Ukraine using American or Western European sounding names have no connection to the United States other than a post office box address,” explained Domenico.
Today, none of Ukraine’s business schools are accredited by the world’s most prestigious accreditation organizations, the European Foundation for Management Development or the U.S.based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
“There are only two internationallyrecognized organizations accrediting schools in Ukraine: the Central and Eastern European Management Development Association (CEEMAN) and the Associations of MBAs,” said Svitlana Chenyshova, Kyiv Mohyla Business School’s Diploma and Corporate Programs Director.
“We received our accreditation from CEEMAN,” she added.
Ukrainians also shy away from MBA programs because of the expense. The cost of studying in an internationally recognized MBA program in Ukraine is between $20,000 and $30,000. Without tuition subsidies from their employers, MBAs are simply out of reach for most Ukrainians.
At the same time, Ukrainians are noticing that fewer companies take education into consideration when hiring staff, but experience remains a must. A person with international work experience stands a good chance at finding a high paying job without post graduate business education.
“A smart employer does not consider a diploma from some prestigious universities while hiring a person. But personal motivation and work ethic are the things that matter,” said Vasyl Vyshnyakov, Business Development Manager at Industrial Power Recruiting agency.
Still, business school executives expect positive growth dynamics for those schools that get the basic ingredients right.
“I think the time has passed for institutions that peddle worn out traditional business education or are actually fraudulently representing their accreditation,” said Domenico, “Ukrainians are becoming very discerning.”
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