The future can be scary and unpredictable, particularly in the economic world. There’s no way of knowing for certain what changes the future might bring for the business sector. There’s also no secret formula for creating businesspeople who will go on to change the world.

Or is there?

The Dundee Business School (DBS) at Abertay University believes that creating the business leaders of the future requires three things: turning students into “change makers” through contemporary education; teaching students to embrace globalisation; and educating students on real-life problems.

Seems simple enough, right? Let’s take an in-depth look at how Dundee Business School meets these crucial requirements.

Turning Students into Change Makers

Dundee Business School proudly declares that its programmes are “informed by contemporary circumstances and emerging trends”. An education that incorporates such nuances is essential to the formation of businesspeople that will succeed in a changing global tide. This is why DBS offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes that prepare students for modern challenges in whatever field they intend to pursue, whether it’s law, accounting, or the oil and gas industry.

But in order for the university’s educational approach to have maximum impact, DBS expects its students to be just as informed by contemporary trends as their professors. An important part of this requires an international outlook due to increased globalisation and the rise of technology. How can students really learn about the world if they have no experience of it? This is why DBS has partnered with carefully selected universities across the  world that offer their students study abroad opportunities that will provide them with a first-hand global experience.

The Art of Teaching Globalisation

For Dundee Business School, globalisation is more than just a topic in a textbook; it’s an integral part of the academic experience. One of the school’s chief focuses is to prepare students for careers on the international level. This is achieved in part by an internationally diverse teaching staff made up of professionals from various professional backgrounds, and industry experience, as well as advanced academic and teaching credentials. This quality of delivery is backed up by pedagogic packages that are compliant with numerous professional bodies in accounting, management, human resources, and finance, for example.

In fact, Dundee Business School offers a one-year graduate programme that focuses specifically on international finance and accounting. This programme is designed to provide students with the skills they need to secure jobs in both domestic and international settings by teaching them international approaches to finance.

DBS offers two other graduate programmes centred around the theme of globalisation: one is in international management, the other is in international human resource management. These programmes are primarily concerned with teaching students how international markets work, as well as how to implement managerial techniques to meet the demands of these markets. Additionally, DBS also aims to provide students with practical experience through workshops and intensive engagement with complex subject matter, including direct industry contact. 

University vs. the “Real World”

You’ve probably heard third-year students or recent university graduates say they aren’t ready to enter the “real world” just yet. That’s because their education hasn’t prepared them well enough for what’s in store! This is an attitude that DBS hopes to eradicate through its contemporary approach to education.

This approach seeks to provide students with a comprehensive background on the real-world issues they’ll face in their careers. This is why DBS’s Accounting professors teach the economic repercussions of global climate change. This is also why the Oil and Gas Accounting and Management programme prepares its students to critically evaluate both the economical and ecological challenges currently faced by the industry.

Teaching students these real world issues will enable them to make more informed decisions in the future, once they’ve secured careers and become successful leaders in their fields. DBS doesn’t want its graduates to be afraid of the real world; instead, DBS wants to cultivate positive attitudes toward life after university – a life their students will be well-equipped to improve thanks to their knowledge of real world issues and problem-solving skills.

No, there isn’t a secret formula for creating innovative businesspeople like Elon Musk or Sheryl Sandberg. But these two business moguls share three important qualities: a passion for making change, a global outlook, and an in-depth knowledge of current problems and events. There’s no doubt that these three ingredients are crucial for shaping students into businesspeople who will go on to change the world. DBS goes a step further, instilling confidence and an adventuring attitude in all students in order to maximise their future business potential.

Want to find out more about how you can become a game-changing business leader? Visit Dundee Business School’s webpage, or contact the Head of School via email at gavin.reid@abertay.ac.uk.

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All images courtesy of Dundee Business School

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