There are different kinds of MBAs for different lifestyles, expectations and resources. Traditionally, there were only full-time or part-time options but more recently several flexible programmes have been introduced to further accommodate working professionals trying to incorporate their studies into an already busy schedule.
Ultimately, the curricula of the different programmes cover the same bases, but a full-time MBA, which stands for master in business administration, requires candidates to take a full year out of work in order to complete it in the quickest time. Most part-time courses take two years to complete, while the flexible options vary between two and three years.
“It’s about looking around at the different business schools to see what works and what will complement and not complicate your life – there is a solution out there for everyone,” says MBA Association of Ireland president Michelle Gallagher.
Gallagher’s son was just five months old when she began to think about applying to an MBA in the University of Limerick. “I was really at a point where I was wondering can you do both? Can you be a mum and a full-time employee? Can you do it all?” she says. “Now I can say absolutely, but it has to be right for you. It’s not something that I would undertake lightly but it is hugely rewarding and it pays back tenfold.”
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For many, the financial commitment of an MBA means that taking a full year out of work is not a viable option. The part-time programmes offer a good alternative in this instance, although they can still be demanding in terms of workload and time commitment.
The MBA delivered by the University of Limerick Kemmy Business School, which Gallagher ultimately opted for, is a two-year programme that runs over eight three-day blocks. The time on campus is concentrated but gives candidates the space to focus fully on the teaching rather than having to switch in and out each week.
The University of Galway offers a similar option on its part-time MBA which runs over five two-day blocks, with three hours of online teaching per week between blocks. This blended learning option is a flexible alternative for students with less forgiving schedules.
Other part-time programmes have weekly classes scheduled for each semester. Part-time MBAs offered by the National College of Ireland, Munster Technological University and Trinity College Dublin all run classes twice a week, with additional workshops and events organised across the two years.
Flexible MBAs offer a different structure. TU Dublin offers a three-year flexible MBA, whereby a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration is completed in year one, a postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration in year two, and the Executive MBA in year three.
Meanwhile, Trinity’s Flexible Executive MBA is a two-year programme that is taught 80 per cent online and 20 per cent through live synchronous content. This option allows those unable to commit to the more regular scheduling of the part-time Executive MBA to choose where and when they learn.
Meanwhile, full-time programmes pack a lot into one year and require students on campus Monday through Friday, with some option modules and other events running in the evenings and weekends.
Trinity’s full-time course is distinctive in offering optional residency weeks in Belgium and South Africa where students complete an elective module through lectures, site visits, company visits and cultural excursions. These weeks are emblematic of the teaching ideal held by most MBAs, that being more practice-based and concerned with real-world application than with rote learning in a classroom.
Students come to these programmes with at least a few years of experience under their belt, some with nearly two decades, and so finding ways to bring the theory of each module into conversation with their profession and experience is a central component of the MBA learning experience.
Various courses, including the part-time MBA offered by the University of Galway, use group work projects to allow students to enact their new skills and lessons in real-world cases. Similarly, a key element of Trinity MBAs is the “company projects” that students work on together. These are based on strategic challenges facing partner organisations and require groups to work together to propose solutions based on their classroom learning.
MBAs attract professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds so curricula are kept broad and applicable across different sectors. The group work, as well as presentations you are required to give, allows students to learn from each other as much as their lecturers. “You really do get to experience different sectors and spaces and industries so it’s a great opportunity to open up your mind,” says Gallagher.
Assignments and dissertations offer the space to tailor the teaching to one’s own professional background and explore how it can complement the expertise students are already coming in with. Of course, this workload varies across the different full-time and part-time programmes.
“Whatever you go for, it is a big commitment,” says Gallagher. “But if you have the ambition and you have that grown mindset and you want to push yourself, then it is hugely rewarding.”
