Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/233379
WAVE B R EAKM E DIA LTD/TH I N KSTOCK On the graduate level, we've addressed changing student needs. As an example, in 2012, we launched a master's in management to cater to students without business backgrounds, and more specialized master's programs are in the pipeline. I expect other schools to show their entrepreneurial spirit as they revamp their own programs to adapt to a changing educational environment. AACSB's 2013 Deans Conference, she made a cataclysmic prediction. She speculated that our industry will break down into pieces as students pick and choose courses from renowned experts in all subject areas, regardless of where those faculty members work. If she's right, will we see the day when employers collectively decide that a handful of well-chosen online courses are as good as a graduate degree from one university? Or will we see the day when these experts cut all ties with their home universities and set up business for themselves? Business schools need an entrepreneurial outlook if they're going to survive such wholesale transformations. 5. Refocusing on undergraduate education. American high school seniors have now made business majors more popular than liberal arts majors. Many well-known business schools offer only graduate degrees, and many b-school deans don't believe 18-year-olds are mature enough to major in business. But undergraduates represent a vast potential market, and entrepreneurial deans will find ways to tap it. At ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business, we've already made adjustments to reflect some of these five new realities. For instance, we're planning to follow up last year's launch of our master's in business analytics program with a new bachelor's in business analytics this fall. In recent years, we've also introduced several interdisciplinary degrees that combine a traditional undergraduate business degree with different concentrations from other ASU schools, such as sustainability, legal studies, communication, and technology. Past and Present One reason I believe deans need to behave more like entrepreneurs is that more of our students are choosing to be entrepreneurs themselves. They admire successful entrepreneurs, as opposed to the executives who lead mature organizations; they see entrepreneurs as people who can make a difference in the world, while they think executives have created some of our economic and environmental crises. It's no wonder that, in 2013, enrollment in ASU's entrepreneurship major surpassed enrollment in its more traditional undergraduate economics major. I worry that business schools are not offering students the training they need to become entrepreneurs; we're training them the way we train executives. But something else worries me, too. If we do train them to become entrepreneurs, will we hurt ourselves in the rankings? Most business school rankings are based on the kinds of metrics that would be used for schools primarily educating executives. These rankings look at job placements and starting salaries; they don't consider how many students start their own businesses. When our graduates go to work for themselves and live off their credit cards for a year, they're chasing their own dreams and having an impact on society. But we can't point to them when the rankings organizations ask us to identify our most visible alumni. If we're constrained by the metrics of the past, business school deans will never be the risk takers who capitalize on the opportunities of the present. We need to shift the paradigm. We need to recognize that the era calls for entrepreneurs in the classroom and in the dean's office. There is still some value to having an executive's skills—but we, and our students, need to learn how to operate in a world run by entrepreneurs. Amy Hillman is dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in Tempe. BizEd January/February 2014 65