Does the world need more investment bankers?
In the aftermath of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, more business schools are overhauling their curricula to appeal to a different kind of student--one who increasingly looks to do good while also doing well.
The basics (accounting, finance) are still de rigueur, but hands-on experience solving real problems for real companies--even countries--is where the action is for many aspiring MBAs.
Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, which will welcome its first class this August, is a prime example. "We seek to prepare people for the world we haven't seen yet," says Dean Yash Gupta. He compares the new program's approach to making Jell-O: teaching students to take different shapes in an unforeseeable future.
Consider one course at Carey, called Innovation for Humanity. This new program will send students to a developing nation, such as Rwanda, Peru, Kenya or India, where they will study infrastructural weaknesses in water, energy and health systems, then work with scientists and citizens to develop solutions. The goal: to understand how to build sustainable businesses in developing markets.
Established programs are also looking to expand beyond traditional, cookie-cutter classes. At North Carolina State University's College of Management, students of the Product Innovation Lab take in lectures by business, engineering and industrial design professors who challenge them to work on projects sponsored by real companies. The sponsor identifies a loosely defined market need, and students craft a marketable solution. Previous teams have come up with a video conferencing system for physical therapy patients in rural areas, and a diet/nutrition tracking application for iPhones. "We expect teams to do primary, voice-of-the-customer research," says business professor John McCreery. "We push them toward prototyping."
John Hopkins' Gupta puts a finer point on the overall shift: "We don't live in a traditional society with traditional people or with a traditional economy." The good news is that the ivory tower is waking up.
Business on the Frontlines
Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
There's sprucing up a languishing company, and then there's dropping into war zones and helping to rebuild entire economies. Here students study peace-through-commerce efforts, and then spend 10 days on a field visit to map out rebuilding strategies, from farming to tourism. Past destinations have included Bosnia, Lebanon and Uganda. In Bosnia, where temperatures plunged below zero and Russia shut down the country’s natural gas supply, the students worked with nonprofits like Catholic Relief Services to discuss entrepreneurial efforts. "It’s not just about getting the experience; that’s for field trips," says Keith Flatley, MBA, class of 2009, on the school’s website. "This is about getting something done."
Women at the Top
Foster School of Business, University of Washington
Women are populating upper management ranks more than ever. Students meet women leaders--like Wendy Collie, senior vice president of Starbucks ( SBUX - news - people ), and Joanne Harrell, chief of staff of the OEM division of Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people )--and learn what helps them succeed. Students (both male and female) write a "Ten Year Difference Plan" at the end of the course, in which they present their values and aspirations involving family, career and legacy.
"No one I know has a job anymore; everyone has gigs." So said Tina Brown, founder of the Daily Beast. In this class students learn how to navigate the "gig" life of sequential jobs and temporary consulting work--a smart hedge at a time when full-time corporate jobs are increasingly tenuous.
Deutsche Bank Microfinance Class
Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Students work with the bank's managers to learn about responsible lending to underprivileged communities. Microfinance institutions send requests to students to evaluate for loan approval, and the MFIs use the bank’s money to make small loans to individuals and groups in rural villages. Last year students traveled to Cambodia to work with MFIs and local villagers.
Business, Government and the Global Economy
McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
This course examines how politics interacts with market forces. Introductory topics include regional trade agreements and obligations under the World Trade Organization. Later students independently research various topics to debate, interviewing company representatives and diplomats. Previous debates have covered the U.S.-Vietnamese catfish trade dispute, and how less stringent copyright and patent rules on pharmaceuticals would enable more Africans with HIV and AIDS to access health care.
Runner Up: Cougar Capital
Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University
Students learn about private equity and venture capital the hard way: by having real skin in the game. Cougar Capital is an investment fund run like a real firm--by students. In 2007 students made $262,405 in returns on their initial $45,000 investment in Riverbed Technologies, a company that had just made its initial public offering. The returns go into an evergreen fund available for future classes, not to the donors.
The Gig Economy and the New Entrepreneurial Imperative
Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College