Interested in pursuing a degree in business? Have an interest in education and making a social impact? Some years ago, it may have been challenging to answer yes to both of those questions. Now, you can easily do so.
At first glance you may not see it but business is everywhere, including in the educational system. Looking at the educational system, your focus may be on the day to day actions we are most familiar with that occur within schools. Perhaps you can see the hierarchal structure with in a school. Teachers, department heads, vice-principal and principals. Moving toward the management roles, perhaps you can begin to see how the skills learned in an MBA program can be useful.
Take a moment and delve even deeper; think past the obvious.
As you look closer, you see more levels of administration. In essence, the gears and pulleys that keeps schools running at the regional and district levels. As it comes into focus, you see individuals who are managing the budgets, managing the hiring process, defining marketing initiative in school and making major decisions that will trickle down to the schools, teachers and impact each student. The education system in America is structured much like a business; there are managers, budgets, oversight and success is defined by various measures of success.
Take a second and look outside the box (a trait for any aspiring entrepreneur). Innovation in education is happening every day. Today, we are encouraged to break the bubble, jump out of the box, and look at new ways of approaching challenges. Education has always been at the forefront of conversation in America and with that, the discussion of new approaches to the system. Just in the last three to four years, there have been a number of new entrepreneurial ventures that are focused on getting resources to teachers, integrating technology into the classroom and augmenting the classroom experience. Though these are focused in education, they are businesses and the innovators behind these ideas have to understand business.
Want to find out more about how the MBA and a business background can impact education? I encourage you to join The Consortium and Teach for America in a webinar Wednesday, July 17th at 8 p.m. EST. To register, click here. We will speak about education, business and will have two business school graduates, including a former teacher, share their path and impact in the education field.
Corey Webb
Director, Recruiting
The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management