Diversity in The NUS MBA
With our diverse cohort – be it the range of nationalities, backgrounds and industries, full-time or part-time – your learning here at The NUS MBA will not just come from the faculty but from the different experiences your peers bring to the table, providing a truly global and dynamic MBA experience.
Diversity in The NUS MBA
Our students benefit from a level of diversity that is not typical for our programme format. For NUS Part-time MBA student Colton James Foster, the high number of international students adds an extra dimension to the programme.
“I think in a lot of part-time programmes, people tend to be from one background or local,” he says. “But in the NUS MBA part-time programme, we have people from all over with all different backgrounds, so I get to learn something new every day from a different type of person.”
Our faculty also has a strong international flavor, while NUS’s alumni network stretches across the globe. Shaurya Thapar explains how the international feel at NUS benefits the school’s MBA students.
“Learning does not only happen in a classroom. Apart from the academics, I also really wanted to learn from the people coming from all over the world. NUS alumni are spread across the entire globe. They’re in industries that I want to work in, and they’re at very good positions,” he explains.
No “traditional” MBA background at NUS
At NUS, diversity comes in many different forms from a diversity of nationalities to an above-average representation of women. The school’s MBA students also come from a range of different industries. Joanna Zhou Yuqiao, for example, belonged to another world entirely before embarking on her MBA.
“I’m not [from] a business background,” she says. “I learned Japanese literature during [my] undergraduate. I chose not to become a writer but to enter the Big Four. I entered Ernst & Young as my first job to become a tech professional.”
It’s clear that at NUS, there really is no “traditional”’ MBA background. Gaurav Gupta is another NUS MBA student who came into the programme from a different angle. He shares that the diversity among his peers “opened my mind” to fresh perspectives and different ways of learning.
“I was a bit more skeptical because of my background (architecture),” he admits. “But when I came here, I met people who are lawyers, doctors, who are scientists … it’s not like you’re coming from a different background that doesn’t fit in.”
The benefits of a diverse MBA class
It’s not just students from unusual backgrounds who reap the benefits of diversity in the NUS MBA programmes. Kishor Jain is from a finance background; an industry that’s closely associated with MBAs. For Kishor, working with people outside of the finance industry changed his approach to problem-solving.
“After coming here, I realised how I can open my thinking to new ideas, to new paradigms. And that is something that I could learn from my classmates, because I can see that in their thought process and I happily borrowed it from them.”
MBA programmes can give a huge boost to your career. They can help you switch industries, break into a management position, or even start your own business.
But according to Fadhli Adesta, the most valuable part of the NUS MBA was not the career development aspect. It was the diversity in its MBA programmes. It helped him understand how other people think, interact, and behave. That is an invaluable skill for any MBA student to have.
“Coming here with an eagerness to learn as well as an open-mindedness to take into [account] other people’s perspectives – I think that is the most enriching part of it.”
This article is an adapted version of the original article, “At NUS Business School, diversity is everywhere you look” by MBAGRADSCHOOLS.
