With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1494678
MARCH/APRIL 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 43 "I needed to understand where the money was coming from," she explains. "I felt like Robin Hood, trying to rob all the corporations." She thought business school would teach her how corporations really work, and how organizations could do good while supporting themselves financially. Chaimahawong's quest reflects one facet of the changing face of MBA students in B.C., and how business schools in the province are adapting to new demands from students, industry and society. Students are using MBAs to propel themselves along a broader range of career paths. Many still pursue con- ventional corporate roles, but, increasingly, graduates are using their degrees to become leaders in public service, NGOs or social enterprises, too. Nowadays, they have more options to find an MBA that fits. Institutions are intro- ducing new programs that specialize in key areas like technology, entrepreneurship and NGO management. Some tailor their schedules and curate their classes for par- ticular audiences, like mid-career execu- tives. And B.C. schools are becoming known worldwide for embracing a greater sense of purpose, ethics and social responsibility. Those values attracted Chaimahawong to Canada, Vancouver and UBC. She remem- bers researching her eventual destination and feeling that "the people are socially conscious. They care about the environ- ment and society." Sauder's dean, Darren Dahl, agrees, and notes that this ethos shapes the learn- ing environment. "It really attracts a cer- tain type of person," he says, adding that it creates particular types of opportunities. "When you think about climate and sustain- ability, this is where Greenpeace was born." No school—not even one as big and diverse as UBC—can deliver excellence in every area. Sauder doesn't offer any courses in tourism or sports management, for example, because the university lacks relevant experts. "We don't have that bench strength," Dahl says matter-of-factly. Instead, UBC has all-stars tackling con- temporary problems like climate change and data analytics. When its world-class applied-science researchers create techni- cal breakthroughs in areas like energy stor- age, they can work with Sauder's innovation experts to commercialize and scale those solutions through programs like the Cre- ative Destruction Lab. This gives the school's MBA students a front-row view of real-life, real-time problem- solving—they're not just reading old case studies in textbooks. They learn to help businesses solve some of society's most important, current challenges. Dahl says Sauder is pivot- ing toward more specialized streams where students work hands-on with these kinds of emerging issues. "It's a living, dynamic pro- gram," he explains. Business schools across the province are evolving in their own ways. Which one should MBA students choose for their needs? Where should employers look for new talent? Let's take a tour of a few other schools across B.C. EDUCATION GUIDE 2 0 2 3 DRINKING IT ALL IN Kookai Chaimahawong applied for UBC's MBA program to learn more about how organizations could do good and be financially solvent at the same time " I needed to understand where the money was coming from. I felt like Robin Hood, trying to rob all the corporations " –Kookai Chaimahawong