Rising demand from working professionals in Saudi Arabia drives Manchester MBA student numbers in the Middle East

Rising demand from working professionals in Saudi Arabia drives Manchester MBA student numbers in the Middle East

Dubai-United Arab Emirates: The University of Manchester Middle East Centre in Dubai has inducted its latest (January 2023) Middle East cohort (totalling almost 90 new students – all experienced working professionals) joining Manchester part-time MBA programmes (Global Part-time MBA, Finance Accelerated MBA, Global Executive MBA). Around two-thirds of the new cohort reside in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and Saudi nationals alone form the largest nationality group in the new cohort (more than one third of the total). The University has two part-time MBA intakes per year (January and July) and the Middle East Centre is the largest and fastest growing in the University’s international network of centres.

The January 2023 MBA cohort in the Middle East:

- 20 nationalities

- over 20% are female professionals

- Over 50% have more than 10 years of work experience

- more than 60% are in c-level, senior management, or consulting roles

- most are currently in finance, energy, consulting or manufacturing sectors

- more than 10% already hold a doctoral or master’s degree

- Vast majority of students joined the Global Part-time MBA and are self-funded

The Middle East Centre hosted an induction session in Dubai for the new cohort, led by Randa Bessiso, Middle East Director for The University of