The business schools: 50 years on

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a critique of the development of university business schools over the last 50 years and provide a perspective on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the publication of the journal Education + Training.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is critical and reflexive, reviewing the historical growth of business schools and focusing on questions relating to their changing rationale.

Findings

The main themes of the analysis are that despite the considerable growth of business schools, this is not an unqualified success story, since recurrent doubts have been expressed regarding the central purposes and objectives of advanced business education.

Originality/value

The paper is of value as a critical and succinct summary of the vibrant but heavily contested growth of business schools.

Citation

Clarke, T. (2008), "The business schools: 50 years on", Education + Training, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 52-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910810855504