<p>Actually, no, that is NOT what the paper says. The paper actually states that the EDUCATION of the MBA is probably not particularly valuable. And I agree.</p>
<p>To wit, the paper never deals with the issue of selectivity. For example, the paper states that those in investment banking (or other high-end business jobs like consulting) without MBA's make as much money (or more) than those with MBA's. The major problem with this is obvious - it is difficult to stay in investment banking or consulting or jobs like that without an MBA. Those who manage to do it are obviously highly extraordinary people. For most mere mortals, getting an MBA is one of the few realistic ways they can even have a job in banking or consulting. </p>
<p>Think of the way that the banking career path is structured. You come in right out of undergrad for a 2-3 year analyst stint. Most of these analysts will then be released, whereupon they will usually go to B-school. A small fraction of them will be promoted to the associate level right after their analyst stint. So, sure, I agree that for those who get that promotion, they don't need B-school. But the truth is, most of them don't have that choice. So for the vast majority who didn't get promoted and yet still want to continue in banking, going to B-school is the way to do it. </p>
<p>And then of course there are plenty of people who never even got an analyst job offer in the first place. If these people still want to be bankers, then, again, the only realistic way for them to do it is to go to B-school. What else are they going to do? </p>
<p>Secondly, the paper is actually mostly focused on the CURRICULA of the MBA experience. To that, I would agree that a lot of it is not particularly useful. Most of the value is indeed in the networking, the access to the career offices, and the selectivity of the school itself as a signal to the labor markets that were you good enough to get admitted in the first place. But this is nothing new and not specific to B-schools. The truth is, most undergrad programs don't teach you anything that is truly useful for the job, and the value of the bachelor's degree is usually attributable to the selectivity of the school as well as the networking and the access to the career office. Most college grads report never using most of the things that they learned in college. So the B-school education is really no worse. </p>
<p>The point is this. Just think of a guy who's a regular Dilbert-esque working Schmoe. Now he decides that he wants to be a banker or a consultant. What is he going to do? He can't just walk into the offices of Goldman Sachs or McKinsey and demand that they give him a job. For guys like that, an MBA is one of the few realistic options he has available. Sure, if companies like that were already making him nice job offers, then he wouldn't need an MBA, but the fact is, they're not making him any offers. So he's gotta do what he's gotta do to get access to these companies. What else is he going to do?</p>