CAT 2016 not enough for a Seat in IIMs, Diversity will play an Essential Role

Getting a seat in one of the premier Indian Institutes of Management is the dream of every Indian MBA aspirant. Over the years, the demographics in IIMs have portrayed that institutes have been dominated by engineers. The reason behind this was a huge weightage given to the CAT scores. CAT being an aptitude exam provides an advantage to engineering students, hence decreasing the qualifiers from the other streams.

Analyzing the statistics, IIMs have decided to change their admission criteria in order to have a diverse group of students in terms of gender as well as educational background. The premier management institutions are planning to change the intake strategies in order to get a diverse crowd.

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The session 2017-18 may have a substantial increase in non-engineering students from fields like arts, commerce, medicine, pharmacy, etc. IIMs have witnessed a relative increase in the number of non-engineering students.

Prof Sony Thomas, Chairperson (admissions), IIM Kozhikode said that the diversity has increased at the campus in terms of female students as well as non-engineering students. Other old and new IIMs are also aiming to achieve diversity at their campus so that students can have a larger perspective in various domains.

Check out the number of non-engineering students in IIMs:

Why diversity is crucial in B-Schools: There has been a considerable rise in the number of non-engineering students at IIMs in the past three years.

• IIMs follow the discussion-based education methods to impart knowledge regarding management methodologies. By bringing a more diverse group of students, they plan to have the perceptive of people from all the dimensions in order to enhance the learning process.
• A broader approach is needed to solve management problems as they are mostly related to human beings. Engineers with their approach to provide precise-mechanical solutions can do a lot better when grouped with students of other streams and come with more human-related solutions.
• Having a gender diverse group of students will encourage soft skill development as women have better soft skills than men and both the groups can learn simultaneously.
• Bringing students from different backgrounds, having experience in different industries is a bright and enlightening opportunity for students to broaden their horizons.

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Initiatives that have been taken to improve student diversity at IIMs:

• 5% weightage will be provided to both female as well as non-engineering students. However, a student cannot benefit from both the preferences at the same time.
• IIM Ahmadabad is shifting its focus and rather than just focusing on CAT scores, they try to evaluate a student on his entire academic performance and work experience in order to take in students from different backgrounds.
• IIM Trichy provides a 15-day rigorous preparatory program to non-engineers who have taken admission in the institute. These programs are aimed to help students who have scored less in the entrance exams. Such students are trained to improve their aptitude skills so that they are at par with the other students before the session begins.