COVID-19 and management education: Reflections on challenges, opportunities, and potential futures

• Main Authors: BRAMMER, Steve, CLARK, Timothy
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Coronovirus; Covid; higher education; Asia; Australia; United Kingdom; Asian Studies; Business; Higher Education; Public Health
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6587; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7586/viewcontent/Covid_Mgt_Edn_2020_pvoa.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

COVID-19 is having profound impacts on tertiary education globally. Border closures, cuts to aviation capacity, mandatory quarantine on entering a country, restrictions on mass gatherings, and social distancing all pose challenges to higher education (HE) institutions. Business Schools (BSs) have larger and more internationally diverse cohorts of students and staff, generating particular challenges, but also often have more mature digital and remote education capabilities that enable responses to COVID-19. Therefore, exploring emergent evidence on how BSs are likely to be affected by COVID-19 over the short, medium, and long term is of significant importance to our community. In this commentary, we share a perspective on the impacts of COVID-19 that draws upon our experience as leaders of BSs in Asia, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Our reflections are limited by our experiences and we acknowledge both our partiality and the diverse broader impacts of COVID-19 on business and society.