Sydney launches masterclasses on leadership post-COVID for students
The first masterclass for Leading in a Post-COVID World will begin on 15 September. It will be delivered by professional speakers, leading employers, alumni and academics and is free for any student studying at the University of Sydney Business School.
We’ve taken what we learnt in the first half of the year to develop an immersive program that will prepare students for the highly disrupted job market.
With fewer opportunities for students to interact on campus since the coronavirus outbreak, co-sponsor of the program, Associate Professor Peter Bryant said the program will bring students from different disciplines together and inspire creative problem-solving.
“From finance and big data to management and logistics studies, students from different disciplines and knowledge areas will work together during the workshops on real-world problems,” said Associate Professor Bryant, Associate Dean (Education) in the Business School.
“In a post-COVID-19 job market, the need to look at complex problems from every angle and through different lenses will be even more important. This program offers students the opportunity to have a head-start to develop these critical skills.”
Four leading experts will present one masterclass each, staggered over September to November, on:
- ‘You know nothing about yourself’ by psychologist Milo-Arne Wilkinson
- ‘Global finance and the path to economic recovery’ by economist Bernard Salt
- ‘The never normal: future business, consumer and tech’ by futurist Chris Riddell
- ‘When no one knows, but you are the leader’ by consultant Jamie Fitzgerald
After each masterclass, students will participate in a highly interactive workshop, led by Business School academics, where they will work in small teams to crowd-source solutions to critical global, local and personal challenges impacting a post-pandemic world, such as how does society get to full employment when there are between 30 and 40 applications for every role, and how might the aviation industry get back on its feet while travel is restricted.
With academic and industry mentors available along the way, the program culminates in a pitch session where the winning team of each of the four topics will present their ideas to a panel of experts.
Co-sponsor of the program, Associate Professor Juliette Overland, said the sessions aim to take students out of their comfort zone and question what they know.
“The pandemic has had pervasive effects on how students learn and how academics teach,” said Associate Professor Overland, Associate Dean (Student Life) at the Business School.
“We’ve taken what we learnt in the first half of the year to develop an immersive program that will prepare students for the highly disrupted job market. We believe that, by participating in this program, students will be able to demonstrate to future employers that they are ready to respond to the many challenges that businesses will continue to face.”
Associate Professor Bryant added, “Students will be challenged to not only acquire knowledge and skills but to apply them. This program is the glue between academic courses and real-world experience, which will be key to succeeding in a post-pandemic job market.”