For years, executive education was as much about prestige as it was about gaining knowledge. Executives and middle managers took time away from work to earn skills and credentials from well-known institutions.
But business schools say executive learners are now approaching professional development with different priorities, focusing more strongly on immediate outcomes.
Across institutions, demand is shifting toward programs that deliver practical skills quickly, and that fit around unpredictable workloads.
Professionals seek fast, flexible executive education
Executive learners still care about where they study, but they care more about what they can use and how quickly they can apply it.
“Prestige still matters as a marker of academic quality, but the primary promise is now usefulness, speed and adaptability,” says Laura Sivula, director of academic and international affairs at Aalto University Executive Education and Professional Development in Finland.
“The value is measured not by hours spent in a classroom, but by how quickly new skills can be put to work,” she adds.
At Schulich Executive Education in Toronto, Canada, executive director Rami Mayer says format and time commitment now drive many enrolment decisions.
“Participants prefer modular, stackable options, such as micro-credentials and digital badges, over long programs,” he says, adding that time pressure is what is driving that preference.
“Our survey data suggests professionals are willing to set aside no more than one to two hours per day, including weekends, for professional development,” Mayer says.
At Rutgers Business School Executive Education, in the U.S., associate marketing and program director Christina Murphy says participants now closely scrutinize the return on investment.
“Learners want to know that when they leave the program, they will receive an ROI from the experience,” she says.
Program length is another deciding factor.
“The fact that learners can earn their certificate in a matter of weeks or a few months… is very alluring,” she adds.
Executive education courses adapt to changing demand
Aalto EE has redesigned its portfolio of executive courses around skills, agility and real-world impact. Learning is now organized as pathways rather than standalone courses, while delivery has also become more flexible.
“Executive learners are moving fast toward shorter, flexible, applied learning. They want practical skills immediately, not long theory blocks,” says Sivula.
At Rutgers, the appeal of online, self-paced or asynchronous courses with a focus on hands-on work has grown.
“They often ask if there will be a project required for the program… because it helps them validate that a learning solution is right for them,” Murphy says.
At Schulich, Mayer says content expectations have shifted.
“Learners expect applicable, real-world insights rather than just theory,” he says.
As a result, delivery has moved toward hands-on experiential formats such as cases, simulations, and live company projects.
Flexibility shapes how executive education is delivered
At ESMT Berlin, in Germany, Mandy Huebener, director of executive programs, says senior leaders and middle managers look for different things in executive education courses.
“Senior leaders continue to prioritize in-person programs,” she says, noting that for them it is important to step away from daily business and build trusted peer networks.
Middle managers are more focused on immediate applicability.
“They increasingly judge programs by the specific skills they can gain,” she says.
“This group tends to prefer shorter, stackable formats that help them upskill quickly and apply new tools right away,” she adds.
For this cohort, however, flexibility does not necessarily mean fully online.
“They do appreciate options like modular pathways, flexible start dates, and space to work through application projects at their own pace,” Huebener says.
At Schulich, Mayer says approximately half of all prospective learners are seeking in-person traditional workshops, while the other half are looking for remotely delivered, virtually led instruction with some blended learning elements.
“Currently, these blended approaches that are a mix of live virtual sessions, and occasional in-person gatherings have become the preferred mode of delivery,” he says.
Participants gain from practical, flexible formats
Executive learners say the increased emphasis on flexibility in executive education courses is helping them strengthen their professional skills.
Bill Lessard, a communications strategist and Rutgers Executive Education alumnus, says format made a clear difference to his experience.
“What really stood out to me was how personal [the learning experience] felt, which is funny, since I took the all-virtual program,” he says.
Lessard adds that the structure helped him stay engaged.
“I felt like I was absorbing the information a lot better,” he says, adding, “I also appreciated how effective the weekly Zoom calls were, specifically due to the instructors’ accessibility and how generous they were with their time.”
Antulika Bhadouriya, senior manager at ServiceNow, chose a program at ESMT Berlin to address a specific skills gap in her professional life.
“I chose the Finance for Executives program to strengthen my financial decision-making skills as a non-finance leader,” she says, adding that the learning translated directly into practice.
“The program deepened my understanding of key financial statements… and sharpened my ability to assess business cases and make sound resource allocation decisions,” she says.
