Business School Briefing: Top 95 European business schools ranking of 2021

Good afternoon from London. At last, we can tell you the results of the best European providers of MBAs, Masters in Management and short business courses. Apologies, Andrew Hill is away, but we hope to share his management column and wisdom with you soon.

Written and edited by Wai Kwen Chan and Andrew Jack.

Noticeboard

Join us for the FT’s ‘Future of Business Education: Spotlight on MBA’

We will be holding a virtual event on Feb 23 Wednesday 2022 with FT Editorial and top business schools sharing insights about the FT MBA ranking, responsible business education, innovation and the future of the MBA in a post Covid-19 world. Register for free on: https://businesseducation-live-ft-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu.

Read the MBA Roundtable Research Report of 2021

Gain insights into the student experiences of more than 300 graduate business programmes from 104 business schools. Do you know which are the most popular degrees on offer?

Calling all business school professors who read the FT

We are interested in hearing from business schools and their professors willing to help as advisers, identifying relevant FT content that is useful in their teaching and research and helping find ways to share it. Get in touch at bschool@ft.com.

European Business School ranking 2021

Top five schools in the FT European Business Schools ranking of 2021 © Financial Times

HEC Paris is number one for a record 10th time in this “ranking of rankings”. Again, French schools dominate the league table of various business programmes in Europe.

However, all institutions face challenges with Covid and competition from North America and Asia. But European schools have some advantages, as they are generally more affordable — and often have shorter courses — than their US counterparts, says Andrew Jack.

Find out if your school is in the full ranking, Also, learn how the table was compiled and read the rest of our coverage.

Data line

Where do graduates of European business schools work? We analysed the main sectors of employment for alumni surveyed in this latest ranking.

Chart showing sectors of employment, comparison by degree (%)

It comes as no surprise that a large proportion of MBA and Masters in Management alumni are in consultancy, 19 and 22 per cent respectively, write Sam Stephens and Leo Cremonezi. These alumni are also highly represented in the finance/banking sector, 15 and 20 per cent respectively. Career choices for Executive MBA graduates show a different picture — most work in the industrial, finance/banking, IT and healthcare sectors.

Read more analysis of the FT’s European Business Schools ranking.

Work and careers roundup

Nicole Perlroth says small, seemingly innocuous holes or glitches in corporate IT networks and management policies can become the gateways to much bigger disasters © Jason Henry/NYT/Redux/eyevine

Read our interview with the winner of the FT Business Book of the Year Award, Nicole Perlroth — her winning title is This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends.
GE Appliances chief, Kevin Nolan, led a shake-up of the company’s culture following a takeover — and took it down an entrepreneurial path.
Emma Jacobs talks about how companies who support paternity breaks and promote flexible working are likely to stand out in a competitive labour market.
Don’t despair if Omicron wrecks your holiday plans, advises Pilita Clark.
Confidence matters for new managers. It can be daunting to deal with senior clients outside our area of expertise but fears can be overcome.
A reader wants to swap the army for a career in sports. Do you have any advice?
As workers and consumers, we can push companies to put ethics first.
Read more features on ft.com/work-careers.