The dean of a European business school has said that “geopolitical uncertainty” on top of continued investment has made institutions in the Continent more attractive to international students than the UK.

Vincenzo Vinci, dean of ESSEC Business School, said that Brexit, tensions between the US and China, and the improvement of French business schools in global rankings had made “French business schools and ESSEC very attractive for international students” and that the “geopolitical framework has been favourable in attracting even more”, with international students making up 38 per cent of its intake last year. 

His comments follow drastic drops in international applications to English business schools after restrictions were imposed on international students bringing dependents with them, with a recent report finding that 90 per cent of surveyed English providers reported a decline in non-European Union applications for courses starting this autumn.

But business schools cannot rely on geopolitical conditions alone, he said, adding that ESSEC had also been working on increasing the diversity of its courses and modules in AI to capitalise on this wave, as well as bolstering its international influence through new global hubs and international campuses.

In the past year the school has seen the biggest increase in student numbers from India, with intake growing “twice as fast” as in previous years. Meanwhile, applications from Chinese students are growing but at a slower rate than in previous years. This is compared with business schools in the UK, which have witnessed the most significant drops in applications from India and Nigeria. 

Professor Vinci outlined that business schools must remain “adaptive” to stay relevant amid technological advancements and geopolitical uncertainty, with the school recently announcing that it was launching a hybrid MBA, designed to be more easily undertaken by working professionals.

The rise of AI has triggered a rethink from providers on how they deliver courses and the skills students need, Professor Vinci said, describing how students who graduated in autumn 2022 saw their studies become “obsolete three months after their graduation” as a result of the rise of generative AI.

“It’s no one’s fault. All graduates in the world were obsolete, and even though we were teaching them AI, generative AI did not exist. But it was so impactful in companies and organisations that our students came back to school for generative AI two months after they graduated,” he said.

This means that refocusing university studies on teaching students “how to learn” was increasingly important, with ESSEC opting for an interdisciplinary subject approach to create a holistic attitude towards learning and problem-solving.

“For older generations, [higher education] was a passport to enter professional life, but now we provide a visa,” Professor Vinci said, meaning that students are now expected to constantly “renew” their skill set, and have a “proactive attitude”.

“Beyond the specific content, it’s also about the delivery modes so they are prepared for this uncertainty in the workplace, which means it’s not only a matter of what they learn but how they learn. How they set themselves into a lifelong learning approach, and how they set themselves into their professional life with intellectual mobility.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com