What B-School trends to expect in the post lockdown world?

The Covid-19 pandemic has truly brought in a revolution in the way we lead our life. Everything has changed from our daily habits to our working styles. The long travelling hours are now replaced by Google-meet sessions and conference calls. Now all the work is being done virtually and even the lectures of students are being taken online. Our dependency on technology has increased manifolds since the lockdown. Every sector is trying to adapt to these changes. The education sector is the one that is showing tremendous efforts to ensure that their students do not get affected by the pandemic and do get the best. B-Schools are working towards making changes to their curriculum, joining, internships, and many more aspects in order to provide the students with the best. Most of these adaptations to the "new normal" are bound to translate into B-School trends that are here to stay!

We wish to share certain post COVID trends with you that B-Schools are either working towards implementing or are expected to implement soon. Continue reading to know about these B-School trends and gear up to use them to your advantage.

Curriculum

Many B-Schools are working towards updating their curriculum keeping in mind the impact of the pandemic on the corporate world. There is a need for innovative ideas to revive the economy. Therefore, IIM Amritsar has decided to inculcate in its students a spirit of entrepreneurship so that they are ready to face all sorts of challenges ahead. The focus of the college is on ensuring industry-oriented learning as well as the development of entrepreneurial skills among the students.

Internships

Due to the pandemic, many interns missed out on experiencing the office culture for which they had made numerous plans. The reason was that their internship was turned into a virtual internship with projects focussing on innovation and disruption as these two are the need of the hour for the companies. Since many companies are actually considering adapting this virtual working style in the organization, the projects done by interns become more important. B-Schools and the companies, realizing this shift, are expected to offer similar internships to the students in the coming years as well.

Joining date

Not only did the internship cycle say a delay, but also the academic session, keeping the impact of the pandemic in mind. There is a chance that this year the batch size of B-Schools consists of a lesser number of students than usual. International B-Schools such as the Harvard Business School has given an option to its students to defer their admissions. Though this practice is not being followed by B-Schools in India, the possibility does exist.

E-learning

One of the major B-School trends that has been observed is e-learning. Yes, there is a possibility that just like schools and many under-graduation colleges, B-Schools might also start virtual classes for the students expected to join them for the current academic year. The major drawback of this will be the absence of peer-to-peer learning. A classroom generally becomes a place for fruitful discussions, doubt clarification, and endless learnings that might be missing in this case.

In addition to this, the emphasis on certification courses is expected to increase. Post pandemic trends suggest that there will be a need for a skilled workforce. There are plenty of good skill enhancement courses available online on various platforms that are expected to come to a person's rescue. Students can start doing these courses as per their area of interest and prepare themselves.

The pandemic is here to stay and it has strong-armed us into examining the choices we have made as a society. The new normal that it has brought upon us, has needed complete overhauling of our systems. Calling them adaptations is a misnomer of gargantuan magnitude.

These trends in education and the B-School trends are here to stay, because, from the looks of it, so is the pandemic. All that students and educators can do is, adapt. Pay heed to these B-School trends. Not doing so might leave you stranded behind.