Imagine sitting down for your first job interview, understanding your exact role in that organization and feeling confident you can hit the ground running.
Now imagine being able to do that with only a business minor.
Debra Ringold, Atkinson Graduate School of Management (AGSM) JELD-WEN Professor of Free Enterprise, says the minor helps students become “organization ready,” with an understanding of the function and motivation of an organization.
Regardless of where students land after graduation — a business, government agency or nonprofit — they need to understand what organizations are trying to accomplish through their mission and what that means in terms of developing and implementing the programs that get that strategy accomplished, she said.
“This is a very important preview of what students are going to experience when they start employment,” she said.
A business minor is not a substitute for an MBA. But students who pursue it don’t have to sacrifice an arts and science education that fosters articulation and critical, independent thinking for an undergraduate business degree — or vice versa. And that type of education isn’t available at every college.
AGSM’s five-course minor covers business but also management in the nonprofit and government sectors. It’s a comprehensive introduction of organizations and how they function in the service of consumers, and a great opportunity for students who want to study management early in their career, said Ringold.
It’s hard to go wrong with a business minor. If you choose AGSM, you’ll join a legacy of students who work for organizations that make a positive, meaningful impact.
“If you want to work for an organization that changes the world, you want to be ready to hit the ground running,” Ringold said. “Willamette students want to do good — and this will teach them how to do good very well.”