Engineering Careers

Engineering has traditionally been a popular career choice for students in India. The Open Education Database (OED) is a useful resource for students interested in studying and working in the field. The site is dedicated to providing educational/career-oriented resources to those interested in pursuing an online education.

The website features a Guide to Engineering Careers. The guide itself profiles the best locations for a job/degree, the average salary, and general career information for a variety of different fields. The guide also features a section for those looking to pursue a career and/or degree in engineering.

India driving global demand for MBA programmes

Indian students are driving global demand for MBA programmes.

Professionals from industries such as banking, retail and finance are looking at the MBA programme as a tool to jump-start their careers. While there is steady interest in foreign schools, Indian b-schools are also reporting an increase in applications.

Piyush Saxena, a mid-level manager at a retail company in Delhi is taking a year off from work to join an MBA programme in the United States. “This is probably the best time to get an MBA degree as far as my line of work is concerned,” reckons Saxena. 


India’s retail sector is set for unprecedented growth with foreign giants such as IKEA and consumer brands such as Starbucks crafting their India stories. Saxena is hopeful of getting a top job with an international retail brand when he returns to the country after completing his degree.

With Asian economies such as India and China establishing themselves as powers to reckon with in the global arena, there is an increased demand for trained managers and management professionals who can thrive in an international setting. Students from these countries are looking for full-time MBA programmes that deliver quality education and international exposure giving them an edge over others.

Research from the latest Annual Application Trends Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has revealed that worldwide, Indian, Chinese, and US citizens accounted for the greatest number of foreign applicants to MBA programmes for 43 per cent, 27 per cent, and 6 per cent of MBA programmes, respectively. According to the survey, 83 per cent of MBA programmes in India which accept GMAT scores have also reported an increase in applications.

According to the GMAC survey, 80 per cent of two-year business programmes in Central Asia - a section dominated by Indian schools – have reported higher applications. Though impacted by the worldwide recession the Indian economy is not as badly hit as those closely integrated with the US economy, such as those in Europe.

The survey stated that "Indian business school graduates in 2012, reported large percentage gains in post-degree earnings compared to pre-degree salaries."

Also Indian business schools have emerged as the top study destination for Asians: receiving 41% of GMAT scores sent to top 10 Asian countries. "India and China are the leading Asia Pacific countries contributing to the influx of applications for the full time MBA programmes. The overwhelming response clearly indicates the value placed on quality graduate management education by candidates from this region," says Ashish Bhardwaj, regional director, South Asia, GMAC.

With globalization, the focus has shifted to acquiring skills for success in an international marketplace. Indian applicants are considering MBA programmes that combine academic knowledge, business exposure, learning and cross-cultural experience. Explains Sofia Ribeiro, Director, Marketing & Admissions, The LISBON MBA: “To successfully manage international teams, you’ll need a cultural sensitivity – which is best earned when travelling and working abroad.”

Adds Shirin Jarrar, Director of MBA Programmes, Edinburgh Business School, Dubai Campus: “There are numerous benefits to studying for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with common drivers among participants. Career progression, personal development, a desire to acquire new skills and knowledge, and the opportunity to network with like-minded senior managers from differing backgrounds and nationalities are just some of the reasons that students choose an MBA programme.”

According to QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey 2012, global motivations for taking an MBA are still dominated by the desire for career progression and to learn new skills, followed by attaining a leadership position. Building a professional network and seeking a salary increase, though less important, increased in relevance year-on-year.

 “We go to business school for two years, but the network that we build at school stays with us for the rest of our lives,” agrees Daljit Kochhar, director - KT Advisory, a consulting firm based in India. Kochhar is an MBA graduate from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds observes: “This year, there is a clear preference amongst global applicants responding to the survey towards career goals rather than lifestyle choices when selecting where to study. Reasons such as ‘would like to work there afterwards’ and ‘create a network’ have proven more popular explanations for selecting a study destination when compared to 2011, while choices such as ‘cultural interest and lifestyle’, and ‘improve language skills’ have dropped considerably in popularity.

The QS survey also indicates that the dominant MBA study destinations remain the USA and UK, but both markets continue to show year-on-year declines in popularity, as have other English-speaking destinations such as Canada and Australia. The popularity of the USA, which was a target destination for almost 80% of respondents as recently as 2007, has dropped significantly. However, it still retains top position by a large majority, attracting 62% of respondents.

Adds Ribeiro: “India is one of the two largest potential markets for us. We get a good number of students from India and would like to focus more on recruiting students for our 2013 programme.” Confirms Sherry Wallace, Director, MBA Admissions, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: “The enrollment of Indian citizens was about 20 per cent higher for Fall 2012 entry than it was in Fall 2011. However, the number of applications for Fall 2012 entry was higher than Fall 2010 entry, but lower than Fall 2011.”

(Published in QS TopMBA)

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Internationalisation on the table

While internationalisation is the newest buzz word in academic circles around the world, education institutions face different challenges when trying to make their mark in the globalised world.

Institutions in the South Asian region have similar opportunities and challenges but there is currently no regional initiative at the higher education level that focuses on collaboration. There are very few examples of institutions sharing their experiences with each other on how they are meeting the demographic challenge; what is working; what is failing and working together to do what needs to be done.

Britain’s Anglia Ruskin University hosted a round table in Delhi recently to discuss “Internationalisation and its impact on student experiences.” The initiative was part of the British university’s continued focus and commitment to South Asia.

Policy makers and senior academics from universities in the Asian sub continent (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) participated in the discussion, which ended up as a lively, interactive exchange of ideas and strategies that would help participating varsities collaborate with each other and promote internationalisation at their campuses.

Participants included Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University; Professor K S Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore; Dr Rajan Welukar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mumbai; Dr G James Pitchai, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiar University; Professor Erinjery Joseph James, Karunya University; Major General Milinda Peiris, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Colombo; Professor Abdus Sattar, NorthSouthUniversity, Bangladesh; Professor Rahman, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh; Dr Prem Nair, Amrita University; Dr Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, Pro Vice Chancellor, Calcutta University; Professor SH Pawar, Vice-Chancellor, DY Patil University, Kolhapur; and Sangeet Jaura, Associate Vice President, Chitkara University.

Academics at the round table: Collaboration on the cards

In India for instance, collaboration between universities and education institutions for research, teacher mobility, student mobility for research, joint degrees, and academic exchanges through partnerships and collaboration is prominent on the Government’s agenda. Indian universities are promoting research collaborations with foreign universities and this trend is going to continue to grow in the future. The Indian Government has been prioritising resources in favour of joint research collaborations and has increased allocations to research councils.

The round table in progress

However India hasn’t had much of a success in the race to be an education hub unlike Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. Sri Lanka on the other hand has a focused plan to attract foreign investment in the higher education sector – an initiative

which has strong government support.

With the participating universities promising to work with each other at the round table, their internationalisation strategies and efforts should get the much-needed shot in the arm.

According to Anglia Ruskin academics, progress from the round table will be monitored and reviewed for the next one to be held in 2014.

Foreign students heading back to Australia says government report

Australia may soon be reclaiming its title as a popular education destination for foreign students, according to an article published in the The Australian newspaper. The article refers to a report released by the Australian government’s new International Education Advisory Council which says the country will host 520,000 international students by 2020, an increase from the current 402,000 in the country.

AUSTRALIA: BACK IN FAVOUR

About 80 per cent will be from Asia and they will bring in $19.1 billion into the economy.

Despite the upbeat projections, the numbers still won’t reach the ones the country achieved in 2009, when 630,700 foreign students reached campuses across Australia.

Tertiary Minister Chris Bowen said interest in studying here was already up, with an increase in higher education visas applicants in the last six months of 2012. Actual student numbers are predicted to rise next year.

Released by Bowen at a Universities Australia conference in Canberra, the report foresees a "new era of sustainable international education growth'' after the "unsustainable increases'' in the VET sector between 2006 and 2009.

University College Dublin scholarships for Indian students

The University announces €250,000 Scholarship Fund to attract top Indian students

A leading European research-intensive university, University College Dublin (UCD), has announced a range of scholarships to attract top Indian students to its university. Valued at €250,000 the scholarship fund will be used to attract top applicants to postgraduate and undergraduate programmes commencing in September 2013. Amongst the scholarships (available only to Indian applicants) announced were 2 full tuition scholarships at graduate level, five 50% tuition scholarships for taught masters programmes and over 50 scholarships of €2,000.

At undergraduate level, UCD have also shown a commitment to Indian students by offering scholarships valued between 50% of the full tuition fee and €2,500. Speaking on behalf of UCD, Ms. Una Condron, the International Recruitment Manager for India said: “We remain extremely committed to India and have a very attractive range of postgraduate programmes in engineering, finance, biotechnology and computer science (to name just a few) in response to the demand we have identified by industry employers.  These scholarships, which are specific to Indian applicants, seek to attract top Indian applicants by making their studies at UCD as affordable as possible."

UCD is ranked in the top 1% of World Universities per 2012 QS Rankings (ranking 130). Established in 1854, UCD is one of the oldest universities in Ireland and is Ireland's largest and most international university (with over 25,000 students of which over 5,500 are international from over 122 countries around the world). This combined with its status as Ireland's leader in postgraduate education (over a quarter of all graduate students in Ireland study in UCD) has proven it to be the most popular university for Indian students looking to study at university level in Ireland.

Located in Dublin city, Ireland's capital, UCD has Indians studying at undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to high quality programmes in the humanities, social sciences and the natural, physical and performance sciences, UCD offers courses in most professional disciplines including architecture, business, education, engineering, law, medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, and diagnostic imaging.  Indeed, UCD is the only university on the island of Ireland to offer programmes across the spectrum of agriculture, food science, food safety and veterinary medicine. UCD Quinn School of Business is highly internationally networked and a major feeder to UCD Smurfit School, one of the world's great graduate business schools (top 100 in the world).

Research and Innovation

Indian students are also attracted west to Europe, and to Ireland, by the commitment of universities towards research and development. Europe’s universities have a strong reputation for research, development and technology transfer. UCD as the national leader in fourth level education again attracts students because of its commitment to research (with the highest number of graduate research students of any university in Ireland with over 1,684 PhD students). UCD has secured over €480m in externally funded research contracts in the last five years alone.

For further information on the scholarships in UCD, see www.ucd.ie/international

LSE scholarships for India

The London School of Economics (LSE) is offering 50 scholarships to students from India studying a Master’s programme at the School starting in 2013. Scholarships will range in value from £3,000 to £32,000 depending on financial need. Students must be holding an offer of a place on an LSE Master’s programme by 30 April 2013 to be eligible for an award and scholarships will be made on the basis of financial need.

LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun said “LSE has enjoyed a strong relationship with India for over a century. This has included welcoming thousands of Indian students to study at the School during this time. We want to ensure that LSE’s doors are open to all talented students, regardless of financial circumstances, and are delighted to cement this relationship further by offering 50 scholarships, for graduate study, for students from India.”

To apply for one of these awards students should first of all apply for a place on one of the school's graduate programmes. The list of available Master’s programmes can be found on the graduate admissions website. 

Once you have applied for a place at the School you should complete the LSE Graduate  Financial Support application form. A link to this will be sent to you when the application is received by the school. Please follow the instructions provided and complete all sections of the form. This form is used by the Financial Support Office to assess candidates’ eligibility for all awards available at LSE, including the new Indian graduate scholarships. If you have already received an offer of a place for 2013, but have not previously applied for financial support then you can do so at any point until 26 April 2013.

For more information on the scholarships for Indian students please email financial-support@lse.ac.uk

Number of Indian students in UK drops

Britain's strict student visa regulations has resulted in a dip in the numbers of Indian students in higher education by nearly a quarter last year.

Students from India coming to study at UK schools and universities fell by 23.5% overall, including a 28% drop at the postgraduate level.

Figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on Friday show fewer than 30,000 students from India were studying at UK higher education institutions in 2011-12 , compared with around 40,000 in the previous year.

India, however, remains the second most common country of origin for foreign students in Britain after China, which sent 79,000 students last year.

Universities have been warning the UK government that recent changes to student visa rules mean they face losing bright foreign students to rival institutions in the United States, Canada and Australia.