IFIM Business School, Bangalore, welcomed its 25th PGDM batch with a total of 300 students. The class is diverse in terms of gender ratio, participants’ undergraduate qualification streams and work experiences. The selection process changed this year as it comprised an innovation potential test (IPT), a group exercise (GE) and a personal interview (PI).
About 41 per cent of the 300 participants are women. More than 66 per cent participants have completed their undergraduate qualifications in streams other than engineering and technology. A total of 27 per cent of the participants come with a prior work experience, while 73 per cent of them are freshers. Around 29 per cent have worked for less than a year, 30 per cent have worked for 1-2 years and 41 per cent have worked for more than two years. The average work experience is almost six months.
Diversity in all forms
The highest number of students joined from Karnataka (14 per cent), followed by Tamil Nadu (11 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (10 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (8 per cent) and West Bengal (8 per cent). Almost 49 per cent are from other States and UTs. There is a student each from Nepal and the UAE.
Dr Atish Chattopadhyay, Director, IFIM, “This year is significant as we welcome participants from across the country with diverse backgrounds who have come through the new selection process and would significantly contribute to the quality of learning environment at the institute. This is also the first batch that will go through the new curriculum aligned to the needs of Industry 4.0, developed as an outcome of the research of Industry 4.0 needs in partnership with National HRD Network.”
Don Capener, Associate Dean, Woodbury School of Business, said, “This day marks a new beginning that would bring in success and failure altogether. To cope with failure each time, is what the students must strive for to grow into professionals that the industry anticipates. With each failure, there will be multiple opportunities coming in to show us the light of success. Believing in this would not only make us develop a positive approach towards learning but also help us uncover the optimism that lies within each and every individual. Young students entering the field they’re passionate about would determine the skills they would develop throughout their journey of becoming professionals along with the roadmap of success.”