What’s Wrong with Wharton?

In the following article published by the Wall Street Journal, the author implicitly conveys that the University of the Pennsylvania business school, Wharton, is losing its prestigious status as a top business school.  The author correlates the school status to the number of applications in certain year.  Initially, the article states that the applications to the University of Pennsylvania business school have dropped 12% in the past 4 years.  The university’s college of business received a total of 6,034 applications for2013.  Notably from the chart below, academic year 2010 had » 7000 applicants, academic years 2011 and 2012 had » 6,500 applicants, and academic year 2013 had 6036 applicants.  This data is taken over the span of 4 years.  When I calculate the mean and the standard deviation for this data sample, they are roughly 6,500 applicants and 395 applicants, respectively.  Admittedly, the data over the past 4 years shows a downward trend in the number of applications received by Wharton; the 2013 application number is still within one standard deviation of the mean.  

The article also talks about Wharton’s reputation as a top school acting as a farm system for the major leaguers in Wall Street, but the financial crisis significantly impacted that relationship.  The chart below shows the job-seeking Wharton MBA students entering the financial services.  The sample is taken over 8 years and when I calculate the mean and the standard deviation, I find the mean to be 21% and the standard deviation to be 5%.  Again, the data shows a downward trend, but last year’s percentage is still within one standard deviation.

                                      

When I analyze the two charts above, I find it difficult to correlate or conclude that Wharton is losing its academic status as a top business school in the US.  In order for the article to strengthen that argument, larger samples needed to be evaluated.  In addition, data of other schools where a drop in applications led to the school demise as an MBA powerhouse would have been more convincing.  Moreover, it needs to include more data about parameters such as tuition hikes and its impact on pursuing private schools and application numbers. 

In this case, the article mentions that Wharton and other top schools had workarounds by targeting technology giants like Amazon and Google.  Hence, led to increase in applications this year.  For example, Harvard and Stanford schools of business reported 3.9% and 5.8% increase, respectively. Yet, gains can be a result from recovery efforts.  Colombia business school showed 6.6% increase, recovering from a 19% decline last year.  Furthermore, another graph showing application numbers vs. quality of schools would have had a great utility in understanding the idea and how it impacts academic status.  In another article written by Forbes Magazine, (http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds/2011/08/03/getting-the-mba-admissions-edge) Wharton and Stanford business schools had a 10 to 15% decline in applications between 2009 and 2011.  However, they still could have filled their programs many times over, but this would conflict with their ideology of quality over quantity. 

In conclusion, the article did not articulate the data to show that a drop in application numbers would result in diminishing academic status.  The data shown is within one standard deviation; hence, additional data is needed in order to correlate such parameters.  Furthermore, the data provided is based on a very small sample of evidence and it is just a snapshot in time, therefore deeming it not credible. 



Links: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds/2011/08/03/getting-the-mba-admissions-edge

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304795804579099522033254380#printMode

 

TOP MBA School rankings -- based on what?

There are a lot of schools offering MBA in the country and overseas as well. India for one has 2000 business schools, more than any other country. More schools are tailoring their programs to particular industries such as health care, public service and encouraging students to focus in one area such as Human Resource, International Business etc. Schools such as Wharton is offering free MBA courses dubbed as MOOCS and University of North Carolina –NC is offering distance learning MBA program. These top two Business schools are not shying away from educational technology as a means to maintain competitive advantage in the industry.

A lot of indirect and direct costs are associated with taking an MBA program. Money and time are the top two. The recent ranking of full-time MBA programs published in The Economist (as shown below), showcases these schools. The ranking weight was according to what students say is important, which in my opinion is a very subjective method to come up with the rankings. One reason may be of much importance to another person considering the MBA program than for another individual.  The schools are ranked based on students’ opinion. It relies heavily on self-reported data.  The title of the ranking should have been, “Ranking of full-time MBA programs based on the importance of personal development” and another “Ranking based on the importance of increase in Salary” and so forth. Or it could show a ranking on a cost-benefit analysis. To make the ranking even more compelling, The Economist could have presented the data with graphs on percentage of students with preferences on certain criteria and based the different rankings from it.

 

MBA rankings such as this base it on what is easy to count – GMAT scores, salaries. It lacks indicators such as teaching quality, networking opportunities etc. It does not even mention where the samples of students are coming from – from which school they are currently enrolled as this could have an effect on the result.

I was ready to embark on another journey in my life that I decided to take an MBA after taking a break from my career of 5 years. The cost of the MBA program played a huge part in my decision which school to choose, not to mention the location and the amount of time I’ll be spending to be actually in school. Sure, I could get information here and there regarding salary or GMAT scores  but if I was a potential student this ranking would be of little use to me. The ranking itself is flawed.   To rank a school based on factors that are subjective is no ranking to even consider at all.

So, what was your reason for choosing your school?

 

Reference:

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21587781-which-mba-2013

 

 

In the Busness and Politics of Female Sterilization

It has long been recognized that India's population far exceeds its sustainable resources.  Ranked 2nd in the world with an estimated 1.27B people, the Indian government is forging new ways to control the population - incentivized sterilization.

The article, Pushing Indian Women Toward Sterilization, Business Week, June 24, 2013, is a narrative of a growing movement in India wherein the Government is extending incentives to doctors and women themselves for having a sterilization procedure performed that cuts and ties their fallopian tubes.  The goal is obvious -- to slow population growth.  The article's primary purpose is to expose the unsafe conditions and unethical methods associated with this growing movement; however, the author's nonchalant approach and lack of descriptive data to support it lends to the article falling short of its full potential.

Data presented was gathered from the Census of India.  The purpose of the data analysis was to show the percentage of sterilizations of women aged 15-49 world wide.  Data was used primarily for a visualization to show the significant percentage of sterilizations in India (37%) as compared to the other areas of the world utilizing a histogram.  The Histogram data focuses on the data grouping by continent except in the case of China, which also depicts a significant percentage of sterilizations (~33%).

Additionally, a pictorial image of India is shown to represent the number of female sterilizations by state.  This graphic further adds statistical information showing the ratio of literacy to population growth in two regions - indicating a direct correlation between higher literacy and slower population growth.  My impression is that the supplemental data was added to suggest that perhaps the government should consider the correlation between literacy and population in its control efforts; although, the author does not expand whatsoever on this data any further.  This data is extraneous and somewhat irrelevant tot he overall purpose of the article in focusing on the unethical methods and unsafe conditions. 


This article gave me a new perspective on the use of statistics for shock value and distraction.  As depicted, the data points to seemingly alarming or important issues; however, the corresponding narrative doesn't do it justice.  Furthermore, the real issue in this article isn't the necessarily high sterilization rate in India, nor is it the obvious correlation between literacy and slowed population growth which isn't being exploited by the government as emphasized.  The real issue and focus of this article is the manner in which the sterilization movement is taking shape.  Women are being victimized not only by the government, but by their spouses as well.  Women are being turned into numbers to meet an arbitrary quota system established by the government to implement an easy method to control population growth.  Women are being manipulated and exploited based on their economic standing, and devalued in the process by the poor means of patient care.  Statistical data showing infection rates caused by the unsafe conditions, a ratio of women "incentivized" into having the procedure with a lack of or misleading information, or a cost comparison of the sterilization movement (i.e. doctor payments, patient payments, medical care costs, etc.) vs. a cost analysis of implementing education and literacy programs would better depict the severity of the issue at hand, and give a much broader, shocking perspective than the data utilized.

This article grabbed my attention because of the subject matter; namely, women in India.  Having visited India twice in my military travels, I am fascinated by vast dichotomy and idiosyncrasies of the culture.  This article touches a nerve as a woman, but also taps into my compassion for the poverty and desperate circumstances that lead women to pursue these procedures. 

When all is said and done, I'm left wondering what the author was truly trying to accomplish in writing this article.  The issue deserves greater visibility and attention than was given therein. 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-20/inside-indias-female-sterilization-camps

Andrew MacAskill, "Pushing Indian Women Toward Sterilization." BusinessWeek, 20 June 2013. 18-19. Print.

School Choice, Does it Matter?

We've heard in the news that many school districts are considering allowing parents choose where their child goes to school.  Most of the school districts that allow this have many charter schools but other cities without as many charter schools are still allowing parents to choose where their kids go to school.  However, does choice really matter?  Will it fix the broken education system in America and will our children be more successful in school?  An article in the WSJ talked about New Orleans overhauling their failing education system after Hurricane Katrina.  Most of their schools were converted to charter schools with non-union teachers.  After overhauling the school district and letting parents choose what schools their kids their graduation rate went up from 52% to 78%.  Their proficiencies in math, reading, science, and social studies also went up from 35% to 58%. This was represented using a line graph shown below.

What is more interesting is that they attribute the  higher test scores and graduation rate to choice of school but they don’t attribute it to spending more per child ($8,000 to $13,000) then they did before the overhaul and that the salaries of teachers are rising slower than they were.  However, one of the problems with having a choice in school is that every parent wants to get their child into the best school.  This chart below shows the number of slots in each category of schools.  It shows that the better the school the less number of spots.  In the article they mention that parents are fighting for spots at failing schools.  This makes me wonder if it is really beneficial to the student to have a choice in school.

This article shows that giving parents a choice in schools can help their child find a school that is a better fit for them can raise test scores.  The article mentions that Denver, Chicago, and Cleveland have tried school choice on a smaller scale but they don’t mention if it was as successful compared to them.  This made me wonder if there is any real evidence that school choice will make a difference in test scores.  What I found was that there isn't much evidence and if there is any it is really thin.  There are many factors that can contribute to higher test scores and better ranking.  It might not be the school but the parents working with their child or students are just smart.  I also wonder how sustainable this model is and if they can keep their scores up.  This article shows some of the great things about school choice but also reveals the fact that there isn't enough data and studies to show that it would be successful everywhere.

Sources:

BANCHER, STEPHANIE. "Inside the Nation's Biggest Experiment in School Choice." N.p., 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323398204578489333180027550?mod=WSJ_article_EditorsPicks

LEVITT, STEVEN D. "More Evidence on the (Lack Of) Impact of School Choice." N.p., 04 Oct. 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

http://freakonomics.com/2007/10/04/more-evidence-on-the-lack-of-impact-of-school-choice/

To Fear Job Interviews Or Not to Fear?

The purpose of the article, 92% of U.S. Adults Fear Something About Job Interviews, Survey Finds, is to reveal how U.S. adults feel about job interviews. According to the article, the job interview is a stressful ordeal for most American adults as over 90% employed adults said they fear something about the experience.  

The data used in this article is from the 2013 Job Interview Anxiety Survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Everest College. The data was analyzed in various subgroups comparisons: (1) Sex: women vs. men (2) Geographic: South, Midwest, etc. (3) Education level: high school diploma vs. college degree (4) Household income: less than $50,000, greater than $100,000, etc. However, we don't know what the sample coverage is. For example, did the survey interview enough women to represent the American women population that the biggest fear for women is "being too nervous" in a job interview? What is the ratio of women and men interviewed in the survey? Does the ratio make sense as the author makes a conclusion that the biggest fear for women is different from that of men? Also, we don't know if the women and men interviewed have similar background, such as location, education, income, etc. It would make more sense if the data analysis is conducted with only one variable. For instance, if the author wants to compare women and men, s/he should choose the women and men in the same region, with similar education background and income level.  

As Everest College wants to make an impression that their core training equips graduates with "the necessary tools to handle the interview process with poise and confidence", "being nervous" and "being unable to answer questions" are emphasized in the author's data analysis. While other source of analysis on job interview fear discovered different reasons. For instance, according to the Successful Interview Strategies by Keuka College [1], some examples of the top 10 fears behind job interviews are "lacking the skills", "having work-disrupting character flaw", and etc. 

The data analysis also helps emphasizing Everest College's impact on job interviews. For example, as shown below, people would have an impression that getting a degree in college will help in job interviews as data shows that the biggest fear for college graduates in job interviews is "being overqualified"; and college graduates are less nervous about job interviews than high school graduates.  

As stated in the article, "Everest College's 2013 Job Interview Anxiety Survey was conducted by telephone within the United States by Harris Interactive between July 11-21, 2013 among 1,002 employed U.S. adults ages 18+. Results were weighted for age, sex, geographic region, and race when necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population." The sample size is 1,002 employed U.S. adults. The data sampling approach can be categorized as several various sampling methods: (1) if the data was collected nonrandomly, the method may be quota sampling. (2) if the data was collected randomly, the method may be proportionate stratified random sampling or cluster/area sampling.

There are some questions about the statistic method and data analysis in this case. First, we don't know how many of the 1,002 adults have valuable responses. What is the response rate? Was the sample coverage big enough to be representative? Second, does the data differentiate interview types? Different interview types, such as phone interview vs. onsite interview, give people various experience. For example, one of the fears that people chose is "being late for interviews", but this option would not be often chosen if the interviewees have telephone interviews. Also, job industries can impact how intense the interviews are. Behavioral interview is usually easier to prepare than technical interviews. Thus, for some industries where only behavioral interviews are conducted, employees would feel less pressure.

 

I chose this article because the data analysis covered a huge frame - American adults. Demography is a complicated topic. There are too many factors involving, such as age, industry, sex, location, education, etc.. It would not be easy to analyze something from such a big frame. Statistics method must be used with extreme care if the conclusion needs to be objective. From this article analysis, I learnt that statistics is a very convincing method to present an idea. With all the data and numbers, people would be more likely to believe what the authors try to convey. However, if the data is not analyzed carefully, the knowledge drawn from the data can be misleading. Further more, statistics can also be manipulated. Without knowing how the data is analyzed, people won't discover the misuse and manipulation, and resulting in believing a false.  

Link to Original Article: 

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130820-905121.html 

92% of U.S. Adults Fear Something About Job Interviews, Survey Finds

Reference: 

[1] http://experiential.keuka.edu/files/2010/06/Successful-Interviewing.pdf