Why mature executives return to study for an EMBA

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Sleep is over-rated, even for hardworking professionals in their fifties. That was the conclusion Michèle Horner reached when studying for an Executive MBA at Essec, near Paris, alongside a busy full-time job.

“The challenge was finding time to study after the working day and after home life,” she recalls, “but I discovered that midnight is a great time to study.”

Most EMBA participants are in their late thirties or early forties. They tend to be ambitious, with close to 15 years of professional experience, and typically study while working. But there are also many students like Horner — now country manager for France at insurer Beazley in Paris — who use an EMBA to recharge or redirect already well-established careers when in their fifties, or later.

“I’d reached a glass ceiling and was in a position at another company [that] wasn’t pleasant,” she says. “By your forties, despite your best efforts, you may have become dated in the workplace and need a refresh. Completing an EMBA makes a bold statement to employers about your mindset and energy — that you have more to achieve.”

Horner adds that she “was never made to feel older” during her EMBA. “We were simply a group of individuals with different experiences, at different places on the road, with varying views, which complemented each other. The whole experience gave me energy and showed me my worth in the workplace.” She has just won her second promotion since graduating in 2021.

Executive MBA Ranking 2024

Read the ranking and report

The Executive MBA Council, an industry network, puts the average age of an EMBA student at 39.2 years old. But EMBAC’s executive director, Michael Desiderio notes: “For older students, the opportunities of returning to school to do an EMBA outweigh any perceived challenges. With more work experience under their belt, they have a larger contextual frame of reference for the learning taking place in the classroom.”

By the time he was in his fifties, João Manuel Batista had reached a senior sales executive position at software company SAP, in Madrid, but decided to take an EMBA at Iese in Barcelona to gain new insights, frameworks and tools. These have since helped him step into a broader role as a senior partner at the company. “At the same time, I’m also considering a potential career move, shifting to a different industry or managing my own company,” he says.

“The programme provided me with the holistic understanding that’s crucial for running your own business and the global network of senior professionals I’ve met at Iese is already opening doors to new opportunities,” Batista adds. “The curriculum helped me develop a more strategic mindset . . . which positioned me for higher level roles within a global company . . . or even pursuing the management of my own company.”

The “right moment to stop and get a bit of fresh air” is how Stefano Bertello describes his decision to take an EMBA at ESCP, which has campuses across Europe, after two years working in the energy efficiency sector.

“During an EMBA, you have the opportunity to design and create or refresh your toolbox,” he says. “By studying and sharing opinions with other people, you become more confident and calm when having to act outside your comfort zone. You realise that anything can be faced and eventually solved.

The EMBA served as a guiding thread that allowed me to connect all my past experiences, making them more understandable for a potential recruiter

“The experience and awareness you have when you’re 50 helps you make the most of it,” argues Bertello, who started his own energy efficiency company outside Turin, EE50, straight after graduating.

An EMBA does not necessarily have to be a launch pad for dramatic change, but can ease you into new ventures with increased confidence. Jeffrey Bowman, managing director of New York investment firm Pickwick Capital Partners, is studying for an EMBA at HEC Paris. He says the masters has already made him more comfortable taking risks, better at thinking critically, and more effective at working with those from other cultures.

“Experiences and knowledge I’ve gained from HEC courses are why I am more confident now in completing an increasing number of complicated tasks that some would say are unresolvable, and avoiding confirmation bias that afflicts many leaders,” he says.

Bowman advises other executives in their fifties and beyond to “enjoy the experience of getting out of your comfort zone and meeting people who have different professional experiences and are from different cultures”.

An EMBA can also act as a passport to employment at an age when job searching can become more of a challenge. “That’s especially true in countries like France, where the employability of seniors remains culturally problematic,” says Patrice Verna, who graduated from Audencia last year.

“I had a career with experiences in a lot of different sectors, from journalism and education to industry, so the EMBA served as a guiding thread that allowed me to connect all my past experiences, making them more understandable and coherent for a potential recruiter,” he says.

Verna, who is director of flight simulator company ALSIM, had already gone back to school to become an airline pilot when he was 30 years old.

“But undertaking an EMBA at over 50 was a very different challenge. I had to balance the demands of the programme with family responsibilities — all while continuing to work full-time. It’s an adventure but one that requires a significant personal investment, so it’s important to prepare your loved ones, to ensure they’re also ready to embark on this journey.”