STUDY OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING PARENTAL PREFERENCES FOR THE CHOICE OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION OF CHILDREN: RESULTS FROM A FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION.

The purpose of the study is to know the preferences of parents towards management education and the choice of a management institution. The study also purports the factors and antecedents that go into selection of a B-School for their child. A focus group study was taken as a qualitative approach amongst the parents (both male and female) of children studying in a B- School in Bangalore. The students were mostly from various parts of India. The study showed that parents seek good faculty, good placements and social support for their wards and the infrastructure is secondary criterion. Parents seek good social support and want their children manage the diversity that is seen in the B-School. Study indicates a high collectivistic approach of the Hofstede framework, though on a long term, parents want their wards to take decisions individually and decide for themselves about their future. The implications of the study is that results are applied to the higher education with respect to management education, given that the focus group was limited to seven parents who had their wards studying in the B-School in Bangalore. The parent as a stakeholder can be delved into, assessments and reviews can be done from the parent's perspective too. This paper throws light on the underlying factors for parents that form the basis for choice of a B-School. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]