Lead the Future: Schwarzman Scholars in the 21st Century
Why should aspiring global leaders apply to a master’s degree in global a airs in China?
Our Founding Trustee Steve Schwarzman has long said that, in the twenty-first century, China is no longer an elective course; it is core curriculum. Looking at the state of the world in 2021, it is hard to disagree. China is one of the largest economies in the world and its role, culturally and politically, has become more important in the short term than we ever could have predicted.
Through leadership training, a rigorous curriculum, deep dives, internships, mentoring, and language instruction, Schwarzman Scholars have unparalleled opportunities to connect with Chinese culture while learning about global a airs. They develop skills to maximize their leadership potential through firsthand experiences in China. To be a leader in any discipline, you need to understand China—and Schwarzman Scholars is the best place to do so.
The pandemic spawned new obstacles to multilateralism around the world. What were the main lessons learned?
As the world lived through COVID-19, we saw that no country or community can tackle these complex challenges alone. This includes Schwarzman Scholars: in addition to acquiring critical leadership skills in an uncertain world, Scholars need to cultivate relationships across borders.
More than ever before, the past year has highlighted the strength and resilience of the Schwarzman Scholars community. Scholars have gone above and beyond in giving back to their communities across more than forty initiatives they founded during the pandemic - from facilitating access to credit and PPE, to founding a virtual tutoring program, and creating a microgrant venture to support high school entrepreneurs. We know Schwarzman Scholars will continue to prove how multilateralism can create a lasting positive impact.
How did Schwarzman Scholars respond as a program to COVID-19?
Since we are based in Beijing, Schwarzman Scholars was one of the first programs to go fully virtual in January 2020. We quickly pivoted to support our Scholars from around the world, increasing our course o erings by over 20% while our faculty led classes for Scholars across 18 time zones. We hosted guests such as Madeleine Albright, Richard Haass, Condoleezza Rice, Indra Nooyi, and more. Our careers team also hosted more than 120 collective coaching and resume review sessions while our student life team conducted over 25 virtual Deep Dives, a hallmark of our program’s unique curriculum.
Travel restrictions during the pandemic did not deter today’s young leaders from wanting to learn more about China. We hosted over 13,000 students in online information sessions in 2020 – twice as many as in 2019. We received more than 3,600 applications to select 151 students from 39 countries to join our incoming sixth cohort who will start the program this August.