Non-Engineers Take the Lead at India’s Top B-Schools

Quick Summary

• Indian institutes of Management (iims) are witnessing a notable shift in student demographics, with an increase in non-engineering backgrounds such as commerce, humanities, economics, and arts.
• IIM-Indore’s 2025-27 batch has over 55% non-engineers; IIM-Lucknow follows with nearly 53%; IIM-Ahmedabad’s latest batch has about half from non-engineering streams.
• This trend reflects evolving corporate preferences for skills like creativity, critical thinking, interaction, and emotional intelligence rather than just technical expertise.
• Directors at these institutions attributed the change to deliberate efforts to diversify classrooms and adapt to industry needs. As an example:

– at IIM-Indore: Non-engineer representation grew steadily over five years (e.g., rising from ~41% in 2021 to ~55% by 2025).
– At IIM-Ahmedabad: The proportion shifted significantly-from 33% three years ago to around 50%.

• Commerce students lead the surge at IIM-Lucknow; according to its director MP Gupta, courses related to commerce attracted the most applicants.
• this marks a broader realignment of MBA education in India driven by shifting workplace demands.

!happy MBA graduate

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Indian Opinion Analysis

The diversification of student profiles at premier business schools is noteworthy for India’s education landscape and also its corporate sector. Historically dominated by engineers due to their perceived analytical aptitude and preference for technical roles within businesses-this shift toward inclusivity signals progress toward matching educational output with changing market realities.

Companies increasingly value skill sets such as creativity and interpersonal effectiveness alongside traditional competencies-a fact mirrored in classroom diversity trends across top-ranked institutions like IIMs Indore and Ahmedabad. While this adaptation is applauded for creating room for interdisciplinary growth among future professionals-it will likely bolster India’s capacity to deal holistically within modern workplaces driven by customization rather “one-size-fits-all” hiring patterns involving past emphasis Tech-driven niches exclusively