Master in Management Double Degrees – A Golden Learning and Recruitment Opportunity
Of the 59 double degree options currently available to emlyon business school students, no fewer than 53 are offered as part of the Master in Management – Grande Ecole program. Depending upon their specialization of choice, students can take part of their studies in one of 19 international partner schools present in 8 countries across 3 continents. Florencio Travesio (Associate Dean, International Relations), Lionel Sitz (Associate Dean, Master in Management – Grande Ecole program) and current student Rongshuai Wan (HEC Montréal explain the strategic, educational and professional benefits of such an opportunity.
Boosting trans-disciplinary recruitment profiles in the MiM program
Florencio: “Students of emlyon have an international appetite for studies and careers, of which the School’s double degree strategy is a perfect illustration. The double degree option ticks both boxes by enabling them to benefit from the excellence of renowned top-notch universities and business schools in destinations such as China, the US and the UK whilst increasing exposure to global recruiting companies.
“This two-fold chance to benefit from crème de la crème teaching in a refreshingly different educational and cultural setting with potential access to global companies that have identified graduates of emlyon business school can only boost the careers prospects of all participating students.”
Lionel: “One of the many ways of valorizing the educational path taken by our students is to enable them to blend different areas of expertise. For example, Law specialists can also incorporate a game-changing financial component into their curriculum by studying the area of mergers and acquisitions, among various options. We are constantly looking to improve our double degree portfolio by bringing in new partners, including an on-going project to include engineering schools, and ensure that such key areas as AI are more integrated into the many dual discipline specializations available.”
Giving due recognition to hybrid skillsets in a Master’s degree
Florencio: “By offering the chance to blend their management studies with Healthcare and Technical Innovation or BioPharma (not to mention the almost omni-present role that data science has to play in many disciplines and industries), we are creating the chance for students to develop a genuinely multiple set of skills that will open up even more job prospects. We have also hand-picked certain institutions and locations where particular industries are especially prevalent, such as the finance sector in the UK, marketing in Germany or filmmaking in the US.”
Lionel: “To check we are moving the double degree offer in the right direction, our continual improvement set-up conducts an annual review to ensure we are giving due recognition to the most relevant skillsets for the employment market. This includes students and Heads of program, plus alumni of the Master in Management – Grande Ecole program tend to participate around 5/6 years after graduation. In our experience, double degree students are especially skilled at projecting themselves forward to the career they’ll have further down the line, so it’s crucial we’re creating the right openings for them via the hybrid skills they’ll acquire. The message we are receiving loud and clear from companies is that a double degree represents a significant competitive advantage on a CV, so the onus is on us to keep developing our offer.”
A life-changing broadening of horizons after the MiM program
Rongshuai: “I’m currently studying at HEC Montréal in Canada, following the French part of the double degree program spent in Lyon and a seven-month internship in Germany. I was drawn right away by the chance to experience life on a different continent as well as in another country. I’d already gone through the very positive experience of adapting to the culture and language of two European countries and am now enjoying all that a more North American way of life has to bring.
“It’s also been an eye-opener from a learning perspective. Integration into the school has been pretty seamless, as they actively treat you like any other incoming student. The faculty are really welcoming, and it is striking just how much open and active debate you are encouraged to engage in with them. This will stand me in good stead for the more pro-active way of communicating and doing business in this part of the world. However, this more relaxed side to class discussions is coupled with a high degree of academic rigor. Courses are intensive and you have to do a significant amount of preparatory reading before every class, so there’s no resting on your laurels.
Earlier this year I was able to apply my various master i and here in Canada via an 80-page supervised project during an internship at an IT consulting start-up that is aiming to redistribute heat from data centers for industrial and domestic use. In terms of my prospects and professional project, I’ve gemmed up on the most active industries in the area (namely AI and aircraft manufacture in Montréal) and have my eye on working in market research, business development, or project management. One thing’s for certain – I see my first steps into the working world here in Canada, so it’s safe to say that the double degree has not only proven a real period of self-discovery but also a life-changer, both personally and professionally.”
