Business Education in Pakistan

This article was published in October 2011 edition of Circles Magazine. It has a follow-up article titled Marketing Education.

Higher education in Pakistan has had an unfortunate history of myopic view of what future of Pakistan holds and how a particular degree will bring glory to the family. There was a time when anything less than doctor or engineer was akin to insult for the family. Then came the ‘IT Boom’ and ‘Computer Wizard’ became the new trend that lasted for a while. In the previous decade the economy saw a lot of activities and MBA turned into the new star in parents’ eyes.

Universities, like Pan Shops, began to open all over the urban centers of Pakistan offering business education and throwing run-of-the-mill business graduates in the market. Similarly new engineering departments began to emerge in existing as well as new institutions despite lack of proper faculty and market demand.