IITs vs IIMs MBA: IITs make strides in ranking, IIMs continue to dominate placement

Why are IITs scoring high in management domains?

Every year, two to three IITs secure a position in the top 10 government institutes rankings. While in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2021, IIT-Delhi, Kharagpur, and Bombay secured spots in the top 10 management colleges, in 2022, there were two IITs (Delhi and Madras) while in 2023 and 2024, IIT-Delhi and Bombay have gained a position.

One of the reasons why IITs are competing with even private colleges is because they have shown improvement in management research, with increasing publications in top-tier journals and a focus on data-driven decision sciences.

“The departments at IITs are equipped with scholars with a focus on pursuing research output. The number of PhD students at each of the institutions is quite high. In addition, IITs are also funded adequately by the government through various resources. Hence, funding research is not a constraint. However, IIMs were largely practitioner-driven until recent times. The focus on research has started only over the past decade. Given the above, the research ranking of IIMs is lower than some of the comparable IITs,” Professor Rajesh Srinivas Upadhyayula, Dean (Programmes), IIM-Kozhikode, explained.

In addition, the scale of the IIT management department is significantly lower in terms of MBA graduates. Put together, their ranking appears sufficiently well, he added.

Besides research, IITs have expanded their industry engagement through consulting projects, executive education programs, and industry-sponsored research to ensure students gain hands-on experience in solving business problems.

“One of the biggest advantages of IITs is their strong connection with engineering, sciences, and emerging technologies. At IIT Roorkee, students benefit from collaborations across multiple disciplines,” Prof Rajat Agarwal, Head DoMS, IIT-Roorkee said.

This multidisciplinary approach ensures that IIT management graduates are equipped with a problem-solving mindset, integrating technology and management seamlessly. “It also allows them to explore emerging business trends, making them highly relevant in modern, technology-driven industries,” Agarwal added.

Placement and packages: IIMs hold their ground

While the IITs’ BTech placement packages are lucrative, when it comes to management, they are far behind the top IIMs. Prof Rajat Agarwal, Head of Department of Management Studies, IIT-Roorkee, said the difference in compensation packages between IITs and IIMs can be attributed to several structural and market-driven factors.

“IIMs primarily cater to roles in consulting, investment banking, and private equity — domains known for offering high salaries due to their revenue-driven nature. On the other hand, IITs have a strong presence in analytics, technology management, and operations, which, while offering lucrative careers, do not command the same pay scales as finance-heavy roles. Moreover, the top IIMs have a well-established legacy and a strong alumni presence in CXO roles globally, which helps in attracting premium job offers. IITs, while making rapid strides, are still in a relatively earlier phase of this transition,” he said, adding the IIMs have highly curated batches selected through CAT, often attracting professionals with prior experience.

“IITs, while admitting high-caliber students through rigorous selection, have a more diverse intake, including fresh graduates, which can influence median salary figures. If we compare the highest packages of top IIMs and IITs, the former is in crore like IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. Even the median packages are better,” he added.

In IIMs, consulting domain dominates a major number of offers (nearly 40 per cent), good packages are offered by finance.

“IITs have technology departments associated with management departments. Hence, students may be equipped in the domain of IT and analytics as a natural choice, whereas IIMs are traditional business schools where problem solving is treated as the most important learning outcome,” explained Upadhyayula.

Agarwal shared the same view: “IIMs have traditionally focused on business strategy, finance, and economics, making them a natural fit for consulting and investment firms. In contrast, IITs, with their strong technological background, excel in data-driven decision-making, analytics, and digital transformation, attracting recruiters from IT, analytics, and product-based companies.”

Gender diversity: Poor show

Regarding gender diversity, IITs and IIMs are almost at the same level. Before 2017, the representation of women students in MBA programmes was below 11 per cent. While a few second and third generation IIMs have worked on encouraging women students, top B schools have kept admission “strictly on merit.”

In IITs, there is a steady increase in the number of women entering these prestigious institutes in BTech or BE courses. However, MBA data reveals poor gender diversity. At IIT Roorkee (5 women) and IIT Kanpur (11 women), ranked as some of the premier institutes in the country, the data shows poor gender ratio in the classrooms.

Through leadership programmes, scholarships and incentives, IITs have taken baby steps but the road seems far. 

“Girl applicants who are gold medallists from the top 50 NIRF institutes are exempted from CAT requirement. They are offered supernumerary seats in IIT-Roorkee. Moreover, no application fee is levied on women students,” Agarwal said.