They might find the idea absolutely appalling. Today, more than ever, you've got to be aware of the effect the business decisions you make have on your international partners. And in an age when people think nothing of crossing borders to find jobs and make deals, business schools across Canada, once dominated by white men, have adopted diversity in the classroom as a mantra. And we prepare all our students for a global environment. Ten years ago, most university business schools in Canada wouldn't have dreamed they'd soon be pulling such a large chunk of their MBA classes from countries in Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Universities have the Internet to thank for much of that boom.
The Web has made it much easier for international candidates to find information and even apply for admission online. And international recruiting is so popular that MBA forums and fairs are held regularly around the world. Just about every Canadian business school has recruiters who focus entirely on foreign markets, hitting the international recruitment circuit a couple of times a year. And with a few years' worth of multicultural alumni scattered all over the globe, schools can also rely on graduates to lure new recruits. So do students, whose tuition fees, it is tacitly understood, include great networking opportunities.