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The esteemed AFR BOSS  Best Business School list is the only domestic ranking of business schools in Australia, comparing 37 postgraduate business schools around the country. And while the recognition is nice, it’s the results our students are seeing in their studies, lives and careers that are the real markers of success for Deakin.

Using a methodology that draws exclusively from credible, verified and publicly available sources, AFR ranks three criteria: quality, reputation and career impact.

Deakin scored highly across the board but was a standout when it came to the quality of our business school education.

Amanda Pyman, Dean of Deakin Business School, told the Australian Financial Review that quality is at the core of Deakin’s four main pillars.

“Education and employability, research and innovation, international and partnerships and people and culture; it’s the mix of those four pillars that we look to deliver for students with a big focus on employability and skills, not just knowledge provision,” said Professor Pyman.

“Academic performance, retention and satisfaction are all important metrics. But we also build in work-integrated learning and looking at where our graduates go as important measures.''

Examples of work-integrated learning that have set Deakin apart in 2022 include:

• The Deakin Business Development Clinic for small and medium sized enterprises which nurtures our students and their fledgling businesses, helping them to grow their profits while providing them with real-world consulting experience.
• The Deakin Electric Vehicle Challenge, which sees business students develop high-precision data modelling that will help energy providers manage the demand of electric vehicles across Australia’s power grid – run by industry partners United Energy and Centre for New Energy Technologies with a prize pool of $20,000.
• Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset – an award-winning experiential learning program delivering real-world experience for students who want to develop their entrepreneurial skills for innovation and future growth.

Professor Pyman told AFR the most important thing is being able to offer courses that are both progressive and sustainable, and that produce students who go on to find work in their chosen field.

“It's a pretty competitive landscape for students. So, Deakin's success is its students' success.”

Further, when it comes to both reputation and quality, Deakin Business School has long been recognised for its class experience.

“Just this year Deakin’s MBA came equal first in the world for class experience in the QS Online MBA Rankings,” said Deakin’s MBA Program Director Dr Paul Harrison.

“It’s not surprising. Faculty staff members are incredibly committed to the students learning experience.”

Dr Harrison highlights responsiveness as the key to student experience. “Business doesn’t stand still, so we design the next stage of each unit to give faculty an opportunity to adapt and change elements of the program year to year, trimester to trimester as new technologies emerge, as new ways of teaching emerge, as new ways of operating a business emerge. An opportunity to focus the learning to keep it contemporary.”

These bespoke and industry-customised approaches are common across all of the courses offered at Deakin Business School.

“We don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” said Professor Pyman. “At Deakin, we work hard to be a catalyst for positive change in the business world, offering a broad range of core disciplines that allow our students to connect with real world business mentors and problems, use the latest technology, understand the importance of ethics, responsibility and sustainability, and learn up-to-date business and entrepreneurial techniques in an inclusive and engaging environment. 

“For DBS, it’s all about creating an outstanding learning experiences for our students, including work-integrated learning, student mobility and interaction with international partners and embedding connections with practice in our courses. We nurture our students’ capabilities and skills for graduate employability, empowering them to take their business ideas anywhere they want to go.”