Title: An approach for developing an MBA curriculum to meet the career objectives of MBA students with engineering/science background

Authors: Vandana Mangal, Guillaume Roels, Byung-Gak Son, Christopher S. Tang

Addresses: UCLA Anderson School, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. ' UCLA Anderson School, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. ' Cass Business School, London EC1Y 8TZ, UK. ' UCLA Anderson School, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Abstract: As more students with engineering background take management responsibilities in corporations, there is a need to develop a special track within the MBA programmes to help them bridge the gap between their engineering background and their required management skills. In this paper, we present a two-step approach for developing a special track in an MBA programme to help students with engineering/science background achieve their career goals. Our approach essentially relies on a dual study of the job market for engineers with an MBA degree so as to design a curriculum (courses, workshops, extracurricular activities) that best matches the supply and the demand on that market. We illustrate the proposed approach with the development of a specific track for students with an engineering/science background within the MBA programme at UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Keywords: engineering; science; career paths; content analysis; survey analysis; MBA curriculum; MBA students; career objectives; management skills.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEME.2010.036946

International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics, 2010 Vol.1 No.2/3, pp.103 - 144

Published online: 18 Nov 2010 *

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