INSEAD dean says second place in MBA rankings likely due to proportion of women

The dean of French business school INSEAD has said that one of the reasons for its improved position in the Financial Times MBA ranking this year was probably the proportion of women in the academic year being evaluated.

INSEAD climbed two places in the 2026 FT MBA ranking to second, after being in fourth position in 2025.

In an interview with News Tank, Francisco Veloso, the Dean of INSEAD, said that the fact that INSEAD had dropped to fourth place in 2025 was not really significant as "the scores of the schools at the top of the ranking were actually extremely close. A slight variation from one year to the next can change the position of a school".

The dean said that the school was not aiming "for a specific place in the rankings". Instead, INSEAD wanted to "remain true to our commitments". Veloso said that the progress in the rankings "highlights the work we have accomplished, the excellence of our training and our consistency".

He said, however, that one of the criteria that may have allowed the school to regain its second place in 2026 was the fact that there were more than 40…