Recently, engineers are ruling the roost in the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for many years now. Recently, the focus has shifted to breaking this homogeneity on the campus. Boosting the academic diversity will help students understand each other’s fields, area of study and the academic background they come from. IIMs are now enrolling non-engineers including candidates from commerce, arts, medicine, pharmacology/pharmacy, dentistry, etc.
Promoting Diversity
IIMs are aiming to boost gender and academic diversity by amending their regulations and intake rules. Generally, engineers have a very technical and precise solution to any given problem. However, management that is related to humans needs a more flexible approach. More number of Non-engineers will ensure different thoughts and point of views shared between each other. This will help them learn many things and experience distinct thoughts.
IIM Ahmedabad has experienced a drastic boost in number of non-engineers as compared to last year. Non-engineering students in the PGP batch have gone up from 5 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in this year. In IIM Bangalore, the 2022-18 batch includes 11 percent of non-engineers, while the 2015-17 batch has more than 13 percent who are non-engineers. At IIM Ranchi, non-engineers have seen a high jump in numbers as compared to the previous years.
While there were more than 11 percent of non-engineers in 2014-16 PGP batch, it has increased to 17 percent in the 2022-18 batch. This year, IIM Kozhikode has admitted 10.5 percent of non-engineers for the PGP batch. Similarly, other IIMs are changing their system to diversify their academic environment, make it a better place for students, and give them an excellent source of higher education.