Despite the uncertainties and disruptions caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, was able to successfully conclude its admissions process into its Post Graduate Programme for the upcoming academic year (2020-21). The PGP-24 batch is also one of the most diverse batches of the Institute in the recent years. IIMK has also been able to successfully achieve gender parity in this year's PGP batch, with female students constituting 52 per cent of the upcoming cohort of the 492 students strong batch, says a press release from the B-school.
IIM Kozhikodehas been at the forefront of achieving gender diversity and its PGP 17 batch broke the glass ceiling by inducting a record 54.29 per cent women students in 2013. With 40 per cent of the PGP-24 batch coming from various non-engineering disciplines, such as architecture, arts & sciences, commerce, management and medicine, the current PGP will be also the most academically diverse.
Professional degrees
Moreover, students with professional degrees and certifications, such as, CA, CS and CFA constitute as much as 10 per cent of the incoming students. Also, over 65 per cent of the students have some degree of work experience in various industry categories, such as,automobile, banking, durable goods, engineering, FMCG, information technology, pharmaceuticals, with the highest contribution coming from students with 12-24 months of experience in the IT industry.
The class of 2022 will also be a culturally diverse one with representations from all corners of the country – Northern India (35 per cent), Southern India (28.4 per cent), Western India (14.8 per cent), Eastern India (13.41 per cent), Central India (5.69per cent) and North Eastern India (2.03 per cent).
Welcoming the latest entrants to the IIMK fold, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, said “IIMK began its journey of significantly contributing to the growing trend of women leaders from 2010. There has been a steady rise to our commitment to ensuring gender diversity in this past decade and the journey towards creating equal opportunities in society and business, the empowerment and advancement of women is fulfilling for an Institute like IIMK.
Multiple perspectives
“Uncertainties and complexities of managing in the current business world requires a working manager to be able to approach a problem from multiple perspectives and by nurturing diversity of thought in its classrooms by consciously choosing to create a diverse learning environment, IIMK aims to equip its students with the knowledge and experience that will be essential in sustaining them throughout their professional career.”
IIMK also announced the admission of students to two of its new and unique programmes - MBA in Liberal Studies & Management and PGP in Finance with a strength of 40 and 42 students respectively. The MBA-LSM programme inaugural batch with 62.5 per cent women students, has a balanced 52-48 per cent composition with respect to candidates from engineering and non-engineering background. Whereas, students with a background in engineering (73 per cent) form the bulk of the inaugural batch of PGP-Finance.
Tech-driven admissions
Prof Shubashis Dey, Admissions Chairperson, IIMK, also highlighted the fact the technology-driven admissions process for the current batch was made possible with the support of the diverse set of stakeholders of IIMK - the faculty, administrative staff, alumni community, and most importantly the participating candidates. Keeping in mind the safety and security of students as coronavirus infections continue to rise across the country the Institute has also taken a decision to begin the new academic year (2020-21) classes online, says the press release.
The current batch (2019-2021) of IIMK’s flagship programme (PGP) is set to complete its third term classes and exams online, from July 1 onwards. The batch shall also commence its Term IV classes online by August 10. As for the incoming batches (2020-2022), students will attend first term classes at IIMK virtually from August 12.
The Institute will also be conducting a virtual orientation session for the new inductees of its flagship programme before the commencement of the classes. As the situation improves, there are plans being chalked out for bringing in students in a phased manner maintaining all social distancing and quarantine norms, as specified in the government advisories that the B-school receives from time to time.