Harvard, Wharton Re-Claim Top Spots in Financial Times 2020 Ranking
The Financial Times 2020 ranking of the world’s best full-time MBA programs sees Harvard Business School re-claiming the top spot, with the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School moving back to second place.
Continue reading…Women’s MBA Enrollment Increasing, According to Forté Foundation
The Forté Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in business, just released some good news: A greater percentage of women than ever before are enrolled in full-time MBA programs in the U.S. This year, female full-time MBA enrollment neared 39 percent on average in the U.S., while international programs neared 36 percent. In both cases, it’s clear that we are heading toward gender parity at an impressive pace.
Continue reading…Outside the MBA: The Highest Paying STEM Management Degrees
STEM is everywhere. You hear about it constantly when it comes to career fields. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that there will be more than 10.5 million jobs in STEM by 2028, but not enough employees to fill in the gaps. It’s partially why STEM has become increasingly important in education.
Continue reading…Babson MBA Alum Wins Virtual IAN Global Startup Competition for $250,000 in Funding
Finding funding for a startup isn’t easy. Not only are there few angel investors looking to fund early-staged startups, but time and distance can make it even more difficult to succeed on the fundraising path. That’s why Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business works together with the Indian Angel Network (IAN), India’s first and the world’s largest business angel network, to develop a new type of startup competition: the IAN Global Startup Competition.
“We are pleased to host such a vibrant initiative that demonstrated the breadth of talent and truly innovative ideas being created by Babson startups,” Padmaja Ruparel, co-founder of IAN and Founding Partner of the IAN Fund, says in a press release.
“For more than ten years, IAN has worked to advance the transformative power of entrepreneurship across the globe, opening the door for emerging businesses to draw on in-depth operational and strategic mentorship.”
3 Professional Life Hacks from The ‘Master of Connections’, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
3 Professional Life Hacks from a Billionaire Introvert – MIT Sloan Newsroom
In a recent podcast with MIT Sloan School of Management Principal Research scientist Andrew McAfee, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman thoroughly explained how one person can maintain massive success despite their habits as an introvert.
Hoffman explains three simple professional life hacks that help his process, of which include:
- “Deliberately leave some room for serendipity.”
- “Find someone who knows you well enough to refer you to me and knows me well enough that I care about the reference.”
- “Embrace your skillset.”
On the latter, Hoffman says:
“What I learned was that private company boards are a very good use of my skillset because more or less … they go ‘here’s what we’re working on. That’s like sport, that I’m like ‘oh, I enjoy this.’ How do we solve a customer acquisition problem, how do we solve an executive hiring problem, how do we solve a competition problem, how do we solve a need to reinvent the product problem; all of these kinds of things. That’s what makes this game hard, and I enjoy that.”
You can read more from the Hoffman podcast here.
Work Your Magic: Erica Feldmann ’12MA Makes Witches Her Business – Simmons Blog
Erica Feldmann ‘12MA, Hauswitch Home + Healing’s Head Witch in Charge
The Simmons Blog recently profiled Hauswitch Home + Healing’s Head Witch in Charge Erica Feldmann, ‘12MA, who founded HausWitch to be a “hyper-feminist, hyper-local and hyper-inclusive” space for local, independent makers, crafters, and witches to meet, shop, and build community.
The Salem, MA-based Feldmann “focused her gender/cultural studies degree on the oppression of witches from a feminist perspective” so her use of the word—which one acronym could mean “Woman In Total Control of Herself”—and her choice of location are both very deliberate.
“I think the word ‘witch’ in its essence is female. I think it’s about power and challenging the dominant culture. Who better to do this than the witch? Not from a place of being a victim, but from a place of strength.”
Feldmann adds, “Being a woman in business, I literally surround myself with other women who are very invested in the project of lifting each other up.”
You can read more about Feldmann and HausWitch here.
Productive Slacking with Anirudh Dhebar – Babson Blog
Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business Professor of Marketing Anirudh Dhebar recently unpacked an FT article entitled “Managers can draw a line between slack and slacking” as part of a weekly informal student chat he engages in at the Olin Café on Mondays evenings and Tuesday afternoons “to address things that don’t get touched upon in class.”
Dhebar posits whether “it is better to slack or should we often be slacking—a time taken to unwind.” In other words, is it healthy for managers to incorporate slacking into everyone’s daily schedule or should employees practice self-care and slack off the clock?
“If you think it is the managers responsibility to inculcate a culture of slack, why should it not be the individual’s responsibility or the company’s as a whole?”
Dhebar describes their day as a series of different slacks. For instance, “Class is a form of slack where [I] push students to think beyond the case and [my] students’ perspectives make [me] think differently.”
You can read more about Dhebar’s perspective in the Babson Blog.
5 Questions with the Babson Olin Dean of Admissions
In our latest installment of the MetroMBA “5 Questions” series, we speak with Dr. Monica Moore, Dean of Admissions at Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School. She talks with us about the type of MBA applicants Olin looks for, its hands-on approach, and explains the importance of applicant engagement.
What type of MBA students is Babson Olin most interested in?
“Babson is #1 for entrepreneurship so, in some ways, that gives some insight into the type of student. But it’s not always the person who has already started or who plans to singularly start their business. When we speak about entrepreneurship, it’s also entrepreneurial thinking. So, while Babson is known for entrepreneurship, there is an act of being entrepreneurial that also lends itself nicely to the type of MBA student that we seek and who does well here.
Characteristics that we look for include:
- Someone who is a quick study because in order to be entrepreneurial you have to use data and facts but also be very swift in understanding going to market and reiterating as you go.
- Having less fear—or more courage—to not stop at what could seem like the first right answer. Those who are entrepreneurial know that something may seem like a fine product, but that’s not the end. You need to go to market, test, learn, and get feedback from the customer. Then, you develop version 2.0 and continue to reiterate as you go. This is the type of mindset and personality style that goes well with the Babson MBA.
The common denominator is being entrepreneurial, but it’s really about how you understand the act of being entrepreneurial that makes the difference in terms of what that looks like in an individual student.”
What is one area of the Babson Olin MBA student experience that you want applicants to pay attention to?
“The robust nature and the activities present in all of Centers. We have many Centers, and while a number schools do, some approaches follow more of a “look but don’t touch” attitude.
Our Centers are very hands-on, offering programming on a regular basis, not periodic or once-in-a-while basis. It’s a regular part of the Babson experience that you’ll interact with our many Centers. Female students will interact with our CWEL Center (Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership) for women in entrepreneurship. Others will interact with The Lewis Institute about social entrepreneurialism.
We have different Centers and they are part of the Babson experience that’s so ingrained in who we are that it would be peculiar for someone to come to graduate school at Babson and not be engaged with a Center.”
What is one thing a Babson Olin MBA candidate can do for the best chance of getting accepted?
Dr. Monica Moody Moore, Dean of Graduate Admissions
“Know the school that you’re applying to. I can’t say enough about not only doing the homework about what you see on the website—a number of students do that already—but taking personal engagement to the next step. Engage with an alum. Talk to or meet a current student. Even if you can’t meet up in person, which is not always possible (we have lots of students in lots of places), you can still meet up virtually to have some real tangible knowledge of the school. You have to do your homework beyond the website.
In particular, alumni engagement is vital. We consider it a hallmark of the Babson experience. They engage with students at the beginning, not just when you’re about to graduate; it’s a part of the whole experience. In addition, our faculty make phone calls to prospective students as a routine part of who we are. Smaller schools can often offer these unique opportunities with more agility, but it’s also something we’ve made a key part of our culture.
So, for applicants to improve their chances of getting accepted, the more you know and the more you have experience prior to even applying or while you’re in that process, the stronger applicant you’ll be. For example, different insights and understandings will help you write your essay and position yourself. Often, it’s not just about admissions but also about gaining scholarship dollars, so the more you know because you’ve engaged, the better applicant you’ll be.”
Are there any new courses, clubs, specialty tracks, or events that MBA applicants should know about?
“We have a new center that was just launched: the Weissman Foundry Center. It has a physical footprint as well as a scholarly footprint. It’s about innovation across undergraduate and graduate programming, and it’s another way that design thinking, innovation, and social entrepreneurship are all coming together under one hub and umbrella. We’ll have events there, seminars, programming, and more.”
What fun activity should every student do while living in MA?
“There’s always the sporting events—I can’t leave that out. Between baseball, football, and hockey, which we’re so known for, there’s always an event to attend. But, I also hear of our students talk about the cultural experience. There’s the Freedom Trail, which explores historic sites and visits a collection of museums, churches, meeting hours, and parks. Then, there’s the Boston Duck Tours, which give people an understanding of Massachusetts as a state and Boston as a part of that. I’m a transplant to the New England area, and I’ve been on the Duck Tour, and I always take visitors on it as well.
“I’m a transplant to the New England area, and I’ve been on the Duck Tour, and I always take visitors on it as well,” Moore says.
Find a way to get the facts about MA in a fun and light-hearted way. We like to encourage people to get out into the city between Boston and Cambridge and all its nuances and just explore. People think of sports most often, but don’t forget the history of Massachusetts as a state and the role that the region plays.”
You can find more information on admissions at the Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business here.
