Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, or IIM Kozhikode, has improved the gender diversity in 2020-21 admissions for its flagship Post Graduate Programme, or PGP. According to official information, 52 per cent of the newly admitted PGP students are female. The admission for PGP's 24th batch, conducted amidst uncertainties and disruptions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ended in enrollment of 492 students. Out of them, 236 are men and 256 women, according to an official statement.
“IIM Kozhikode, credited with so many firsts has been at the forefront of achieving gender diversity and its PGP 17 batch broke the glass ceiling by inducting a record 54.29 per cent women students in 2013,” the official statement said.
"IIMK began its unsurpassed journey of significantly contributing to the growing trend of women leaders from 2010. There has been a steady rise to our commitment to ensuring gender diversity in this past decade and the journey towards creating equal opportunities in society and business, the empowerment and advancement of women is fulfilling for an Institute like IIMK,” Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode, said in a statement.
40 Per Cent Students From Non-Engineering Backgrounds
According to IIM Kozhikode, the PGP-24 batch is also one of the most diverse batches of the institute in recent years, as 40 per cent of the batch comes from non-engineering backgrounds, including Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Commerce, Management, and Medicine.
Students with professional degrees and certifications such as CA, CS, and CFA constitute 10 per cent of the total strength, and over 65 per cent students have work experience in various industry categories, such as, Automobile, Banking, Engineering, Information Technology, Pharmaceutical etc., the institute said.
“Uncertainties and complexities of managing in the current business world requires a working manager to be able to approach a problem from multiple perspectives...IIMK aims to equip its students with the knowledge and experience that will be essential in sustaining them throughout their professional career," Prof. Chatterjee added.
New MBA And PGP Programmes
IIM Kozhikode has also announced two new programmes, MBA in MBA in Liberal Studies and Management (MBA-LSM) with strength of 40 students, and PGP in Finance with strength of 42 students.
In the MBA-LSM programme, 62.5 per cent students of the inaugural batch are women with a “balanced 52-48 per cent composition” of candidates from engineering and non-engineering backgrounds.
In the PGP-Finance programme, 73 per cent strength of the inaugural batch have engineering background, the institute said.
Online Class For PGP Students
The institute will conduct online or virtual classes for the 2020-22 PGP batch from August 12. Term IV classes for the current PGP batch will begin online from August 10.
“The Institute will also be conducting a virtual orientation session for the new inductees of its flagship programme before the commencement of the classes. As the situation improves, there are plans being chalked out for bringing in students in a phased manner maintaining all social distancing and quarantine norms, as specified in the government advisories we receive from time to time,” IIM Kozhikode said.
