Each week we collect all the MBA news you need that’s fit to print and provide a quick overview of the latest trending topics from top business schools around the world.
Here’s your quick MBA News You Need digest for the week of December 10, 2018.
UVA Darden Shared Application Advice
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—MBA application season! If you’re still working on your application for UVA Darden, head of admissions Dawna Clarke appeared in a video to offer some valuable insights, which include making sure that all students articulate how their leadership efforts have impacted others.
She also recommends highlighting which global and international experiences have shaped your career thus far. “A growing number of recruiters love to see that Darden students have gained global skills, and, if you have compelling international experiences, you may want to create a section called “Global Exposure” to make sure they are evident to our Admissions Committee,” Clarke explains.
You can watch the full video with all of Clarke’s resume advice here.
Yale SOM Study Dives Into the Roots of Economic Inequality
According to a recent study conducted by Yale SOM’s Michael Kraus, the widening economic inequality gap is relates to a number of deeply ingrained social behaviors at play.
The authors, which include UC Irvine’s Paul Piff and UC Berkeley’s Dacher Keltner, explain that people’s actions and beliefs maintain inequality. For example, what we wear, how we speak, and where we live can determine how successful our networking efforts are or if employers deem us worthy enough to hire. In fact, one study by Kraus revealed that participants can guess a speaker’s social class after hearing them speak just seven words out of context.
According to the paper, people are motivated to keep things the way they are instead of acknowledging that things aren’t as they should be. To change, we have to combat a meritocratic ideology in order to change people’s minds about essential topics such as access to education, higher minimum wage, and universal basic income.
“Maybe we’re a little too optimistic about how things will get better automatically,” said Kraus. “Maybe we need to acknowledge our collective part in perpetuating systems of inequality.” (Yale Insights)
Dartmouth Tuck Introduces New Courses on Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing
Dartmouth Tuck introduced two new courses this year that dive into how businesses can work with government agencies, NGOs, investors, and consumers to make the world a better place. Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing: Capital for Social Impact delve into the intersection of business and society. Some topics include asking students if soft drink companies should bear responsibility for obesity and type-2 diabetes or if manufacturers should take more responsibility about creating waste.
Both courses build on Tuck’s leadership in the social entrepreneurship space, encouraging students to identify problems that need to be solved. Together these courses provide Tuck students with a detailed view of the potential for businesses to make a positive difference in the world.
“We wanted to offer a course in social entrepreneurship to go side-by-side with courses and programs for traditional entrepreneurship,” said professor Curt Welling, “so students can get the same educational background, rigor, and toolkit no matter what kind of venture they are interested in.” (Tuck News)
Stanford Introduces View From the Top Podcast
In November, Stanford GSB unveiled View From the Top: The Podcast, a new speaker series that pairs prominent leaders from around the world with MBA students for conversations on everything from effective leadership to values, lessons learned, and more.
During its first few weeks of production, Stanford has already brought in many top leaders including Mitt Romney, who spoke about self-knowledge, and Sheryl Sandberg, who shared her insights on planning for the short term and dreaming for the long run.
Other View From the Top guests include Merck CEO Ken Frazier, Oprah Winfrey, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Magic Johnson.
You can listen to the current list of podcasts here.
Fintech Over the Last 12 Months
Fintech is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with record funding levels. Business Insider took a closer look into 2018’s major developments in the global fintech ecosystem to give readers more insight into this burgeoning industry.
According to Business Insider Intelligence, this year marked a seismic change for the fintech industry: increased competition, more innovation, and more collaboration. Fintech companies continue to blur the already ambiguous line between financial services and tech.
Key takeaways include:
- Fintech funding reached $32.6 billion at the end of Q3
- Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are gaining traction
- Considerable scaling among neobanks and alt lenders
