Courses on business management, entrepreneurship and innovation, the most popular at ESADE Summer School
Today’s increasingly globalised and competitive environment calls for ever broader knowledge. Summer courses are an excellent opportunity for people seeking to supplement and expand their training. ESADE Summer School, whose courses usually last an average of four weeks, offers three programmes: Summer School for high school students, the International Summer Programme, and the Executive Summer School programme.
‘Recent years have seen a substantial increase in the demand for summer courses at ESADE, not only from university students seeking to fulfil credit requirements, but also high school students and recent graduates. There is another group that is also gradually growing: professionals, who increasingly look to this type of course to update their knowledge’, said Lydia Ros, associate professor in the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at ESADE and the academic director of ESADE Summer School.
According to Ros, the most popular courses at ESADE are those having to do with global business management, such as the International Business programme, with its focus on international finance and international marketing; starting a new business, such as ESADE’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation programme, which includes courses on global entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship; and innovation and project management, which students can explore in the Innovation & Methodology programme, which offers units on design thinking and project management. ‘Demand is also rising sharply for three specific programmes, due to their unique approach: Critical Thinking, Barcelona Innovation Industries, and Effective Interpersonal Communication, explained Maurici Rolo, the ESADE Summer School coordinator.
An international experience
Last academic year, 93% of the nearly 250 students enrolled on ESADE Summer School courses were international, representing 45 nationalities from around the world. Some 76% were university students, whilst 24% had already graduated. The average age was 22, with 79% of all students between the ages of 20 and 24.
According to Rolo, what draws people to ESADE’s summer courses is the chance to receive quality training that allows students to discover the ESADE’s academic offer and faculty, combined with the varied leisure offer available in Barcelona. ‘These courses provide students with an opportunity to obtain knowledge they have not acquired at their home institutions and to do so in an international environment with classmates from very different backgrounds. They also offer insight into the close relationship between academia and the business world’, Ros added.
