MBA students can now enhance degree with STEM designation

Rutgers Business School is enhancing its traditional MBA program with an optional STEM designation that offers students the ability to focus on technology and analytic skills demanded in a changing work world.

While Rutgers has taught rigorous data-driven analytical skills as part of its management education for the past 64 years, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) MBA designation reflects a recognition of the increased importance for business leaders to have a solid understanding of how to use data analytics and innovation to drive decision-making.

“We have taken another giant step toward building a strong business school for the future of work,” said Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei. “The STEM designation will provide our students with a competitive edge to excel on the job market, and our corporate partners will know they can hire the digital-era talent that they need to make data-driven decisions and become innovative leaders in their organizations.”  

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The STEM degree is an option for students in the Rutgers Full-Time and Part-Time MBA programs as well as the Executive MBA program. International students who complete the STEM MBA (like other STEM programs) are eligible to work up to three years in the U.S. without requiring sponsorship from an employer.

The option allows students to pursue any of the traditional concentrations of study, such as supply chain management or marketing, but requires them to incorporate at least 50 percent of their program credits from curriculum identified as STEM.

Doug Miller, associate dean of MBA programs and an associate professor of management, said the STEM designation was a natural step because Rutgers Business School was already providing the courses and experiences that would help students develop data-driven analytic skills for business use.

More than 50 percent of the existing courses offered as part of the MBA curriculum require advanced mathematics or involve the management of technology, including operations analysis, data mining, business forecasting and quality management.

“The increasing demand for such skills allows Rutgers Business School to leverage its strengths in new ways to make this learning available to more students,” Miller said.

The STEM credit requirement will be easy to meet for students with concentrations such as finance, pharmaceutical management, supply chain management and analytics and information management. For students concentrating their studies in real estate or strategy and leadership, meeting the requirement may take more careful planning.

Students who do choose to pursue a STEM MBA may select a concentration or customize a concentration depending on their career goals. Many of the traditional courses offered as part of the MBA program use case studies, experiential learning and collaboration to build knowledge and skills that are not tied to the use of math, science or technology.

The option of earning a STEM MBA increases the strong reputation and return-on-investment of the Rutgers MBA program, which also provides students with access to world-class faculty and connections to an extensive network of alumni as well as a solid education.

“The ability to make data-driven decisions involves analysis of situations as well as data,” Miller said. “At Rutgers Business School, we’re providing students with critical thinking and leadership qualities as well as technical skills.”