Starting next year, Yale’s School of Management will offer a dual-degree program called M2M that will enable students to spend a year at one of four partner schools around the world before matriculating at the SOM.
By partnering with these schools, which are part of a group called the Global Network of Advanced Management, Yale will allow students to simultaneously apply to both the SOM and a school outside of the U.S. The four partner schools are the Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo, HEC Paris, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School and Sauder School of Business University of British Columbia.
Students in the M2M program will spend their first year abroad at one of the partner schools before entering the SOM for another year to complete a Master in Management Studies program in Global Business and Society. The M2M program’s deadline for its first round of applicants on Oct. 24.
According to the SOM Deputy Dean David Bach, students enrolled in the program will learn fundamental management skills in marketing, economics, finance and accounting in their year abroad and pursue more specialized studies upon entering the SOM. This practice, he said, will immerse students in the business practices of a different country and allow them to arrive at Yale with a broadened international perspective.
“We’re doing this program because there are people who are in positions to lead and have impact globally who do not choose the traditional two-year MBA path,” Bach said. “In some ways, what we’re doing is trying to make sure we can deliver on our mission: to educate leaders to benefit society and our world who are smart, talented people achieving different paths into leadership roles.”
In other countries, said Bach, business schools primarily admit students who have just finished an undergraduate education and have little to no career experience. In contrast, students at American business schools are usually those who have spent around five or six years in the workforce before entering an MBA program.
According to Melissa Fogerty, assistant dean of Management Master’s Programs at the SOM, the dual-degree program will target prospective students interested in launching their business careers early. She added that the SOM already offers international programs, such as the required global experience component of the MBA degree. However, M2M differs from existing SOM programs in that it allows students to plan their careers in advance to a greater extent.
In addition to taking a wide range of classes, M2M students will also be able to participate in specialized programming. Fogerty said that the SOM and its partner schools will offer opportunities such as speakers, online presentations and career counseling.
Fogerty also emphasized that M2M aligns with the SOM’s strategic priority of becoming the most global business school in the U.S.
“You will find that this [priority] pervades everything that happens at this school, from our curriculum to the student body to the global opportunities that students take after graduation in their careers,” Fogerty said. “The kind of students we attract is looking to have an impact, not only on their own country of origin. We’re truly educating leaders who are prepared to tackle challenges all over the world.”
Xavier Morin SOM ’18 said the M2M program will be especially conducive to understanding the current trend of business globalization. According to Morin, factors such as the rapid advancement in communications and information technology, as well as improvements in transportation and logistics, have contributed to this globalization. He added that although globalization is unifying different business processes, it is even more important to recognize the “subtle differences” between regions and cultures.
For Guilherme Hadler SOM ’18, what sets the SOM apart from other business schools is its emphasis on international experience. He said that the SOM has done a good job of implementing study abroad programs that expose students to diverse cultures and perspectives.
“Most of those schools tend to say they have a diverse body of students and diverse faculty. But one thing is to say it and another thing is to put it in practice,” Hadler said. “To have this ability of going abroad and in fact knowing what diversity is, and what different cultures are, in practice and not only in theory, is amazing.”
The M2M inaugural class will enter the Global Business and Society Program in fall 2018.
Natalie Wright | natalie.wright.nw287@yale.edu | @nnataliewrightt
Amber Hu | amber.hu@yale.edu