Rutgers Business School is adding a STEM designation to its MBA program, it announced this week, giving students the opportunity to focus on technology and analytic skills increasingly required in the business world.
While the Newark- and New Brunswick-based school noted that data-driven skills have always been part of its management education program, the new STEM MBA designation will reflect the need for business leaders to have an understanding of innovation-driven decision-making.
Lei Lei.
“We have taken another giant step toward building a strong business school for the future of work,” Dean Lei Lei said in a prepared statement. “The STEM designation will provide our students with a competitive edge to excel on the job market, and our corporate partners will know they can hire the digital-era talent that they need to make data-driven decisions and become innovative leaders in their organizations.”
The science, technology, engineering and math designation is an option for students who pursue a full-time MBA, part-time MBA or executive MBA, the school said. Students can pursue any of the traditional concentrations, such as supply chain management or marketing, but are required to incorporate at least 50% of their credits from curriculum identified as STEM.
“The increasing demand for such skills allows Rutgers Business School to leverage its strengths in new ways to make this learning available to more students,” Doug Miller, associate dean of MBA programs and associate professor of management, said in a statement. “The ability to make data-driven decisions involves analysis of situations as well as data.
“At Rutgers Business School, we’re providing students with critical thinking and leadership qualities as well as technical skills.”
