With the Chinese thirst for MBAs both at home and abroad seemingly insatiable, many people mistake this trend as a passion for business. The unfortunate reality is that most Chinese students go after a business degree because they want to avoid the current job market, or perhaps as an excuse to get out of the country and spend some time abroad. As Frank Mok, Director of Insights Educational International put it, “they are going to the top 10 Business Schools for the connections, the network, and the name,” rather than for actual business acumen. One could make a similar statement about American MBA students as well, which is why institutions like Stanford’s Graduate School of Business have created programs like the Ignite course that targets students with an entrepreneurial passion and desire to innovate.
Originally, I attended the Stanford Ignite Beijing program’s informational session as a lead on a story along these same lines, not even considering that I would be a prospective applicant. However, by the end of the session, I sheepishly raised my hand and asked if non-Chinese were also welcome to apply. The Director of Stanford Graduate School of Business for Greater China, Frank Hawke, smiled and said all applicants were encouraged. So I took a pamphlet, applied, burnt incense at the Confucian temple and voila: I became the token blonde for the first class of the Stanford Ignite Beijing course.
I say “token blonde” of course not just because of my hair color, but as I’ve got a master’s degree in Peking Opera, I didn’t exactly know much about business administration. Admittedly my decade of experience in media and four year stint at China’s largest private construction company certainly gave me a lot of information to base assumptions on, but the - Source
Igniting Beijing's Entrepreneurial Spirit
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