American companies consider STEM degrees a mark of distinction: Gregory H Bauer, Simon Business School

Prof Gregory H Bauer from Simon Business School tells us more about their STEM-certified business degrees and the opportunities it opens up in the job market for Indian students in particular
Prof Gregory H Bauer
Prof Gregory H Bauer

Last year, Skanda Sandeep, an engineering student from PES University, pursued a STEM-certified business degree from Simon Business School, University of Rochester, USA. And what came out of it? A great career, of course. Today, he works as a Financial Analyst with Citibank in the US. Indeed, the trend of pursuing an MBA, or any business-related course for that matter, continues to grow these days. But very few students are aware of the STEM-certified business degrees usually offered by universities in the US and Simon Business School is one such institute that offers this programme. 

Prof Gregory H Bauer from Simon Business School says, "The reason behind why many Indian and domestic students pursue this degree is that American companies consider it as a mark of distinction and quality of the MBA programme. Though our programme is a small one, which admits only 110 students, 40 per cent of them are international students. By choosing to pursue a STEM-certified degree, non-American students can opt to work in the US for up to three years even after their graduation, which solves their immigration issues. However, through a non-STEM degree, students without a H-1B visa can work in the US for only a year." Excerpts from the interview:
 

Skanda Sandeep, Corporate and Investment Banking Senior Analyst – Global Power and Utilities, Citigroup (pic: Simon Business School)

Take us through the STEM-certified programmes you offer.
Students are given a STEM certification in all the programmes, no matter what specialisation they choose to study. There are a total of ten programmes that we offer under our STEM degrees. It includes Finance, Asset Management, Banking, Corporate Finance, Venture Capital and Private Equity. When it comes to Marketing specialisations, we have Product Management and Brand Management. Under consulting, we have Operations, Pricing, Strategy and Technology. This degree is specially designed to teach the soft skills required for managers to hire employees and make other key decisions. These managers are not just going to be Computer Scientists, they will be studying various business problems and finding solutions to them as well.
 
What are the skills required for students to enrol in this programme?
An eagerness to learn and a basic knowledge of how to handle business projects and situations are what we are looking for in students. They need to have three to five years of experience and should be able to handle all kinds of academic difficulties in the programme. Their undergraduate degree doesn't matter to us. If students are choosing to study a STEM-certified programme, it doesn't mean that they need to have a background in business. Students who have studied Science, Engineering or even Liberal Arts can opt for our STEM programmes too.
 
Can you tell us about the opportunities students have in the job market after completing this course?
The job market is great for STEM degree holders. In India, the economy might have gone down, but in other countries, STEM degree holders have ample opportunities. Companies are looking for trained and qualified management students and having international skills is an added advantage. Since a combination of technical skills and data management is what today's companies are looking for, there are several career options for students, including working as a consultant for various brands and products, data scientist, bankers and so on.

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