Enterprise risk management knowledge gaps identified in Indian higher education system

A survey conducted by the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) India Regional Group in collaboration with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has found that education institutions in India still have a long way to go when it comes to delivering enterprise risk management (ERM) education.

The publication,  Enterprise Risk Management and the Indian Higher Education System, drew responses from over 1000 Indian institutions. This initiative is engaging with higher educational bodies to help them to improve risk management education, while focusing on embedding ERM education across the country.

Nearly 96 percent of the survey responding institutions considered risk literacy as critical for both organisational and personal success, yet only 27 percent of institutions believe ERM courses should be offered at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Only 19 percent of these institutes thought that their students had high risk literacy.

Given that 60 percent of the respondent institutions were affiliated with universities that exercised control over their course framework, there was a general consensus on the need for regulations that emphasise better risk education, for improving risk literacy among students.

This was evident as 82 percent of the study participants believed that academic regulators mandating a formal ERM framework would help the teaching-learning process. The lack of risk preparedness extends to the institutional level, with only 37 percent employing a dedicated risk officer or faculty to advise the school's leadership team on institutional risks.

Commenting on the survey, Hersh Shah, chairman, IRM India Regional Group, said:

"Our survey reveals a worrying gap between the need for ERM and the risk literacy of India's graduate and post-graduate students. Global events leading to business collapse to risk related events demonstrate the consequences of ignoring organisational-wide risk management issues ranging from cyber-attacks – supply chain – reputational damage.

This lack of risk preparedness among India's emerging workforce is a matter of grave concern. To build a robust and resilient economy, we must urgently address the gap in the system by strengthening the curriculum framework to promote ERM education across our higher educational institutions. In addition, there must be a sustained and systematic process to ensure the inclusion of new and emerging courses on the subject."

Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE, added: "Although the corporate world is now taking a proactive approach towards strengthening their risk management frameworks, academia is still, unfortunately, lagging behind. AICTE partnered with IRM with the view of raising awareness about risk management in our higher educational institutions.

The findings of the survey should motivate all the stakeholders, including academic institutions, students, instructors, the government, and organisations who depend on these schools for their workforce, towards greater introspection.

“We hope that this survey will help induce greater impetus towards strengthening risk management, both at the institutional level, and in building higher education curriculums across the country. With an increasing regulatory focus on risk management, there is a rising demand for qualified ERM and risk-intelligent professionals across every sector. Now, the onus lies with us, in academia, to ensure that our students are ready to take on the challenges of Industry 4.0.

“We recognise IRM's global leadership in ERM qualifications and examinations across 140+ countries and are confident of the support that they can provide to education institutions in creating qualified risk-ready professionals."

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