West and East: Chinese business students bring best of both worlds

With more and more Chinese students and entrepreneurs attending business schools in the West, and especially in the US, they bring with them experiences and perspectives that enrich the Western view of Asian business practices. Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia is one such example. Over the years it has seen the number of its Chinese students multiply. Dean Scott Beardsley of Darden sat down recently with Shanghai Daily reporter Ni Tao to discuss these issues.

First, elite business education is becoming more and more global. I think there is a discontinuity brought on by technology, where an increasing number of courses or tools for teaching are happening with technology.

Millennial students have higher expectations for personalization and for what they can get out of school. The way we see it at Darden is that we think of students as a segment of one. Each person has their unique aspirations for their own development. And we are trying to help every individual to achieve what they want to achieve.

Another trend is that the need for lifelong learning is increasing as businesses are evolving rapidly. So getting a graduate business degree is a starting point, but you need to retool yourself throughout your life.

Another comment I would make is that if you look at business schools globally, it’s a very competitive market, and there’s kind of an arms race going on to attract the best and brightest students.

There is a tremendous amount of infrastructure, quality campuses and philanthropy required to become a top business school. As a result, I think strong business schools are getting stronger. the opportunity to study abroad as part of what we call the “Darden Worldwide Course.” We also have case studies that are set in other countries (outside the US). We try to ensure that the cases we teach represent the global economy.

Another way of ensuring an Asian context in the classroom is that many students are from Asia. Since we are a case-method school, there’s discussion in every class. As a result, all the students bring their experience into the classroom. So the Asian experience is present in every single class.

Competition among business schools is global, and competition is good. What I believe is that more American students should study in China, and more Chinese students should study in the US, because by living in another culture, you learn.

I don’t view universities as always substitutes; I view them as complementary.

It’s great that China is investing in top business schools.

Meanwhile, it is important for American students to study in other countries.

Business is global, and getting yourself out of your home country is an important learning experience.

Business schools are improving all over the world, and I celebrate the fact that competition is making them better.

So it is not a matter of one being better than the other. Instead, they are all improving each other, kind of like the World Cup soccer right now.

Everybody is trying to lift their game.