As part of their studies, students on many of our Business School’s postgraduate programmes take part in international study experiences. This includes the Durham MBA (Online), Durham MBA (Full-time) and Durham-EBS Executive MBA as well as those on MSc Management, MSc Finance and Durham DBA at Fudan. While this year, the students could not travel due to Covid-19 restrictions, we provided a virtual alternative, with 136 students taking part.
The experiences included ‘visits’ to Spain (Madrid and Barcelona) with partner ESADE Business School, Germany (Mannheim) with Mannheim Business School, Switzerland (Geneva), France (Paris) and the USA (San Francisco).
Taking place via Zoom also meant that students could use its functionality to directly communicate with company representatives and academics as well as peers.
When starting the MSc Management (Finance) programme, Akansha Agrawal was uncertain about what the future held for the International Study Tour module, with much of this being dependent on external factors.
Akansha remained optimistic that taking this path would be worth it and was pleased to enjoy a virtual version of the experience this spring. Akansha said:
“I was very excited to attend the virtual study tour!
The five-day study tour introduced us to companies in France and Spain. Simply in front of my laptop screen, I interacted with some of the most inspiring leaders of my life.
The tour started with Ernst & Young’s (EY) Europe, Middle East, India & Africa activation leader from Paris who introduced the impact of Covid-19 in decision making, operations and strategy in multinational corporations or companies (MNCs). Being an amateur in the field of geopolitical business groups, I was amazed to learn that EY and similar organisations have such dedicated departments. It made me look at my career growth through a different perspective.”
Read Akansha’s full review of the virtual study tour.
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