IIMs want more women and non-engineers!

While the engineers and male students, for years, have dominated the majority of the seats at one of the country’s most prestigious B-schools - Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, things are looking different this year. The diversity quota at IIMs, which gives weightage to the background of a student and holistic profile, has given rise to more women and non-engineers, along with others from diverse backgrounds. 

The batch of 2020 will have a record-high number of females attending classes, according to data provided by the IIMs. 

Courses offered by IIMs - MBA, PGP, EPG, PGP-FABM, PDGHRM, PGPPM, etc.  

IIMs these days have been keeping up with on its euality front and given the rising trend of students from the non-engineering backgrounds and women, one can be sure to see more representation of a diverse gender and fields. This year the proportion of girls in a 405-student batch rose to 28 percent, which was the highest. Also, the ratio of Commerce students bagging seats at IIMs was up by eight percent as compared to six per cent in the previous batch.

Whereas, out of 441 students in the Class of 2021, 75 students were from non-engineering backgrounds, an increase of about 63% in the number of non-engineers as compared to the previous year. Of these:

• 46 were from Commerce

• 19 were from Arts & Humanities

• 9 were from Science

• 1 was from Pharma

Number of Arts students increasing in top IIMs   Officials at IIMs sat that, during final year placement primary 100 jobs offered at the institutes, about 60 of it went to women and non-engineers.  Recruiters believe that trade which is seeking to have more gender-balanced board rooms demands for numerous institutes fo female admissions additionally arises.

Thus, the institutes have made efforts to offer equal opportunity to the non-engineers and female candidates by improvising its admission criteria. Diversity in the student population helps in enriching the learning process. IIMs consider surface-level diversity that has easily identifiable characteristics such as sex or educational background to be important. 

Check Out: MBA Motivation | engineers vs non engineers

The institute believes such diversity has an impact on the heterogeneity of the deep and enduring attributes such as values, attitudes, opinions, and perspectives of students which enhances their creativity and performance in an organizational context.

MBA Preparation | Can an average student crack CAT? | 5 best tips to get into IIM  

IIM-Calcutta, believes that “inclusivity and diversity” represent the “core values” of the institute. In their upcoming batch, 35 percent are females, 20 percent are non-engineers and 60 percent are students with prior work experience. Apart from the government mandates, the IIM also “encourages additional dimensions of diversity including academic and gender diversity to facilitate seamless learning and program experience for all. 

The admissions policies of IIMs help to admit students with diverse perspectives to contribute greatly to the discussion-based learning that we employ at their institutes. Colleges these days desire to have a broad mix of participants without compromising on quality to enrich the academic experience of students. 

Also Read:

Why this is the right time to enroll for MBA

IIM Lucknow achieves 100% placements

IIM-B breaks into top 50 Global Ranking