Washington DC MBAs Decline Government Jobs
The number of MBAs in the DC metro taking jobs in government has dropped steeply in recent years. At American University Kogod School of Business’s numbers have dropped by half. At nearby George Washington University School of Business, the decline has been even steeper: from 19% of its graduating class taking government jobs in 2011, just 5% took government jobs last year.
Explanations for the decline vary.
“The reality is that the growth in opportunities is in the private sector,” Gil Yancey, of GW’s School of Business’s career services, recently told BusinessWeek–favoring the theory that MBA students are responding to changes in demand.
Others suggest that the numbers in 2011 were artificially inflated by the poor MBA job market–now bouncing back.
Yet another theory points to a change in policies that made government jobs hard to get.
Whatever the cause, it’s a slump in students taking government positions at two schools that have historically been among the strongest pipelines of MBAs into government-sector jobs. Due to their combination of exposure to government jobs during the MBA, ease of access afterward, and students’ government-related background and interests, DC schools like George Washington and American Kogod have long been leaders in the field.
