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Diversity Insights: Hispanic Americans

Diversity Enrollment, Research, United States, 2021, Research Brief

June 11, 2021

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19 pages
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Overview

This brief compiles data and analysis from the mba.com Prospective Students Survey, plus GMAT test taker data and external sources to illustrate what makes Hispanic American candidates distinct- from where they live, to when they being the school search, to their motivations and their career goals- all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Understanding the data landscape will help schools plan their recruitment efforts and create measure of success for their institutions.

Quick Facts

  • In 2019, there were 60.6 million people who self-identified as Hispanic, making up roughly 18 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics are the second largest ethnic group in the nation and will become 29 percent of the U.S. population by 2050.  Hispanic Americans in testing year 2020 (TY2020) were the largest underrepresented population (URP) group in the U.S. graduate management education pipeline. 

  • The perceived worth of a GME degree is high, as greater shares of Hispanics indicated a willingness to consider specific adjustments to their plans, such as online learning (39% Hispanics vs. 26% non-URP respondents) or a business school closer to home (25% vs. 21%) rather than abandon their GME goals.

  • Hispanics do not typically refer to published rankings as much as other groups (33% Hispanics vs. 48% non-URP). Similarly, fewer percentages of Hispanics are consulting the school brochures/publications (25% vs. 32%). On the other hand, Hispanics are consulting third party sources more so than others about business school, including: admissions consultants (20% Hispanics vs. 13% non-URP), virtual business school fairs (20% vs. 13%), social networking sites (25% vs. 20%), and career/school advisors (22% vs. 19%).

  • More than half of unique Hispanic GMAT examinees were business majors as undergraduates (55%), consistent with non-URP U.S. examinees (51%).

  • Slightly greater shares of Hispanics (when compared with non-URP respondents) were drawn to concentrations such as: product management (19% Hispanics vs. 16% non-URP), media management (8% vs. 6%), as well as accounting (15% vs. 11%), and tax (8% vs. 4%).