KOZHIKODE:
Despite the uncertainties and disruptions caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, was able to successfully conclude its admissions process into the prestigious Post Graduate Programme for the upcoming academic year (2020-21). The PGP-24 batch is also one of the most diverse batches of the Institute in the recent years. IIMK has also been able to successfully achieve gender parity in this year’s PGP batch, with female students constituting a healthy 52% of the upcoming cohort of the 492 students strong batch.
IIM Kozhikode, credited with so many firsts has been at the forefront of achieving Gender Diversity and its PGP 17 batch broke the glass ceiling by inducting a record 54.29% women students in 2013. With 40% of the PGP-24 batch coming from various Non-engineering disciplines, such as, Architecture, Arts & Sciences, Commerce, Management and Medicine, the current PGP will be also the most academically diverse.
Moreover, students with professional degrees and certifications, such as, CA, CS and CFA constitute as much as 10% of the incoming students. Not faring behind with respect to diversity in professional experiences too, the Institute notes that over 65% of the students have some degree of work experience in various industry categories, such as, Automobile, Banking, Durable Goods, Engineering, FMCG, Information Technology, Pharmaceutical etc., with the highest contribution coming from students with 12-24 months of experience in the Information Technology industry. The Class of 2022 will also be a culturally diverse one with representations from all corners of the country – Northern India (35%), Southern India (28.4%), Western India (14.8%), Eastern India (13.41%), Central India (5.69%) and North Eastern India (2.03%).
Welcoming the latest entrants to the IIMK fold, Prof.Debashis Chatterjee, said “IIMK began its unsurpassed journey of significantly contributing to the growing trend of women leaders from 2010. There has been a steady rise to our commitment to ensuring Gender Diversity in this past decade and the journey towards creating equal opportunities in society & business, the empowerment & advancement of women is fulfilling for an Institute like IIMK. Uncertainties and complexities of managing in the current business world requires a working manager to be able to approach a problem from multiple perspectives and by nurturing diversity of thought in its classrooms by consciously choosing to create a diverse learning environment, IIMK aims to equip its students with the knowledge and experience that will be essential in sustaining them throughout their professional career.”
IIMK also announced the admission of students to two of its new and unique programmes – MBA in Liberal Studies & Management, PGP in Finance with strength of 40 and 42 students respectively. The MBA-LSM programme inaugural batch with 62.5% women students, has a balanced 52-48 % composition with respect to candidates from engineering and non-engineering background. Whereas, students with a background in engineering (73%) form the bulk of the inaugural batch of PGP-Finance.
Prof. Shubashis Dey, Admissions Chairperson IIMK, also highlighted the fact the technology driven admissions process for the current batch was made possible with the support of the diverse set of stakeholders of IIMK – the faculty, administrative staff, alumni community, and most importantly the participating candidates. Keeping in mind the safety and security of students as coronavirus infections continue to rise across the country the Institute has also taken an unprecedented decision to begin the new Academic Year (2020-21) classes online.
The current batch (2019-2021) of IIMK’s flagship program (PGP) is set to complete its third term classes and exams online, from July 1 onwards. The batch shall also commence its Term IV classes online by August 10. As for the incoming batches (2020-2022), students will attend first term classes at IIMK virtually from August 12. The Institute will also be conducting a virtual orientation session for the new inductees of its flagship programme before the commencement of the classes. As the situation improves, there are plans being chalked out for bringing in students in a phased manner maintaining all social distancing and quarantine norms, as specified in the government advisories we receive from time to time.
