While engineering students are clearly dominating MBA admissions, many leading B schools in India are attempting to increase diversity on campus by recruiting more female candidates in addition with students from other academic streams. For instance a few Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs): are to include more non-engineers and female students. IIM Rohtak awarded 20 marks to female candidate and 20 to non-engineers, so a non-engineer female candidate was awarded 40 bonus marks during the selection process. And IIM Lucknow gave 5 more marks to women and 2 more to non-engineers. IMI has also worked on similar lines this year and made certain modifications in its selection criterion. As a consequence of which out of the 240 students selected this year for its regular PGDM and PGDHRM courses; roughly 50% are girls constituting a good mix.
While some students have welcomed the changes, others say that it is a sort of reservation. As far as more women in B schools is concerned it does not demean or underestimate the ability of women, just encourages more representation considering the number of women pursuing higher education in India is dismal. Women obviously add a new perspective to any topic of discussion. This camaraderie is bound to be carried on to the corporate world in the future. Increase in women students has increased the variety of the options offered and has brought in a new sensitivity to the institutes social outlook. The corporates also have agreed to the fact that bringing in more women to the Board Room helps in better decision making.
Students from different graduation streams and work areas bring in different ideas and perspectives to the classroom learning. These changes will not call for much of a major difference in either the pedagogy as the basics of management will remain the same irrespective of the background of the participants or the basic criteria for selection of participants.
In the long run, the society will get managers who represent different sectors. This will ensure better decision making which will help growth of businesses and the society as a whole. With these objectives in mind IMI is set on a path to create a difference in the way management education is perceived. Moreover, IMI also invites foreign exchange students to its regular courses. Students from countries like Belgium and France are attending classes currently on IMI – Delhi campus.
Talking about serving something different- coming October IMI presents its brand new management conclave: CONVENTUS being conducted for the first time in Indian B-school history. It’s a 9 day mega-event being organised by the student community inviting industry experts from different domains promising learning and enhancement of skill sets better than ever before. The theme for Conventus 2012 is “Role of corporate India in reviving the Indian growth story”.
The main agenda behind Conventus 2012 is the promotion of industry interface and enlightenment of students with the experience, leadership and managerial skills of the corporate. The conclave constitutes summits on finance, marketing, operations, economics, HR and entrepreneurship, panel discussions, online interactive events, intercollegiate business plan competitions, article writing competitions and much more for which all leading B-schools of the country have been invited. All this will be followed by the annual cultural fest “Kritva” bringing along the theme of ‘sustainability’. The motive is to sustain LIFE by nourishing the sapt-tantra of life-fire, water, air, earth, metal, soul and heart. This will serve as the ultimate platform for showcasing the talent of the students across different genres and disciplines. It will serve as a showcase of the brand and networking power that IMI enjoys at present. It’s once in a lifetime opportunity of great learning and enjoyment.
At IMI the aim is to enable diverse students to think alike and still be different, be better equipped with the required skill-sets and practical exposure in the right mix feeding the ever evolving needs of the corporate world.
Note: This is a sponsored article and has NOT been written by the PaGaLGuY Editorial Team. It is intended from an informational perspective only and it is upto the readers to research and verify the claims and judgements in the article before reaching a conclusion.