Gosh, if only we knew.
We’ve been following with interest the posts from Tuck’s Dean Dr. Matthew Slaughter. You may want to subscribe to their Slaughter & Rees Report which is an email blast every week-ish which we read with interest.
Dr. Slaughter served in the Bush White House and we found his (historical) profile on the White House website quite interesting: His area of expertise is globalization. Here is a post that offers a counter argument to some of the rhetoric of the President Elect around the loss of American jobs .
Tuck also published a video recently which seems to be saying, diversity is good and we need humble leaders who are focused on economic growth in order to fix the imbalances.
At least, that’s what we think they are saying. See for yourself.
Lots of top business schools have been focusing on international business and training leaders for the complexities of a global economy for decades now. That’s true in the U.S. MBA programs, where the international student body is touted as a key advantage, and it’s also true at places like the Indian School of Business which was founded 15 years ago with a mission to “groom future leaders for India and the world.” Bschools, and all of academia, rely on the flow of students and faculty to bring fresh thinking and new ideas from all over the world.
In response to the financial crisis of 2008, many American business schools implemented dedicated modules on ethics in business. Dean Lyons at UC Berkeley led an effort to define and codify the Haas School values. Many schools today place great emphasis on their values in communicating to their community and applicants, as you experienced in writing essays in response to their carefully designed questions. Schools react to what’s happening in the broader society.
With the easy flow of people, goods, and information across borders in today’s world, it is impossible to believe that a closed-off, protectionist America is even possible, much less desirable. Our planet is too interconnected these days for that, what with trade routes and supply chains and complex manufacturing flows that involve multiple countries at once. We blahgged right after the election on what the impact for international applicants to U.S. grad schools may be, and that post was later updated with links to some articles about effects that UK schools have seen post-Brexit which may signal trends to come here as well.
The incoming President has promised big changes in nearly every aspect of life, and an “America First” philosophy is prominent. However, we have a hard time believing that the institutions of higher education in America will be changing their strategies of recruiting and executing their missions as a result of this populism.
Everyone will be waiting to see what happens. It’s an interesting time, for sure.
Updated July 2017: Good news from the GMAC folks: Their research shows that U.S. companies’ MBA hiring plans for internationals remains unchanged in 2017 .
Tell us what you think.