Is turning into a B-school the natural next step for liberal-arts pioneer Ashoka University?

Back in 2014, Ashoka University introduced India to the concept of a liberal arts education. The private research university, tucked away in Sonipat, Haryana, came along at a time when the cracks in India’s higher education system were starting to become pretty glaring.
It positioned itself as everything a conventional Indian college was not. Ashoka promised to offer ‘holistic, liberal, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary’ education. Simply put, it was offering choice. And that simple yet powerful promise is what made it stand out.
But ten years later, it is facing new pressures.
The latest phase of the Ashoka story is not one that a lot of people may have seen coming. It's marked by a stronger focus on business and sciences than ever before.
Case in point: the university’s thriving entrepreneurship department. In the last few years, it has become one of the most popular courses on offer. A big reason for its popularity is because students think signing up for courses like these will make them more ‘employable’. And that, fundamentally goes against what Ashoka stands for.
So now, Ashoka is facing a dilemma: Should it give in to parental pressure and start acting like a business school, driven by placements and employability? Or should it just stay the course?
Tune in.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at [phone]. For next Thursday's Unwind, send us your recommendations to us as texts or voice notes. The theme is "favourite folk songs."
Daybreak
Episode 335
October 10, 2024
★ Episode details: share.transist...
★ Additional episodes: the-ken.com/po...

[@linearequation99]

Ashoka Uni biggest problem is the fees - only real rich can afford if you don't get scholarship, even after 80% scholarship we still had to pay 1-2 Lakhs. Poor me studied in tier 2 college of Delhi University with 6,000 fees

[@linearequation99]

It's High time for Ashoka should launch their MBA program just like IIMs only if they can provide placements like Tier 1 institutions like MDI Gurgaon or SP Jain Bombay, Because with that fees , their MBA would be an investment and valuable

[@loidforger6413]

This seems like a paid advertisement...