More Business Schools Embracing ’Do-Gooders’

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The popular image of a modern-day business school student as a sharp-suited spreadsheet wizard increasingly is being turned on its head. For reasons ranging from the economy to a change in attitudes, many students today are pursuing business school degrees with a view toward working with non-profits, or launching socially responsible businesses.

Myles Lutheran is an example. Until recently he was the archetypal business school student. He had shaped his program at Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration in Boston in anticipation of a career in financial services. After graduation he expected to go to work on Wall Street. He was, he says, a “profit-driven student.”

But Lutheran’s outlook changed last spring when he took courses in Northeastern’s Social Enterprise Institute. He became heavily involved in the program, both in the classroom and as a team leader on three international field study programs where he used his business skills to help farmers and workers in South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Belize.

Source: MSNBC (link opens in a new window)