Confidence is Good for Bocconi
Bocconi is one of the Italian institutions that has learned how to maintain the confidence of families, the job market and the international market, even during the most difficult times in the recent past. "In the past, in our own small way, we have dealt with several of the challenges that the country is now having to confront on a much grander scale: how to value merit and attract talent, strengthen international credibility, spread among us the values of mutual respect, rules, pluralism, cohesion and solidarity," the Rector, Guido Tabellini, affirmed during the Opening of the 2011-2012 Academic Year on 24 February in the Aula Magna. Among those attending were the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, the Vice President of Bocconi, Luigi Guatri, the Chief Executive, Bruno Pavesi, the Chairman of the University's International Advisory Council, Antonio Borges, and Professor Emeritus Piergaetano Marchetti, author of the opening address on the topic Ever-Changing Information.
The Rector, looking back on the three years in which he has led the University, emphasized success on the international academic job market, with the recruitment of 45 new faculty members with international experience, most of whom are non-Italian, who have chosen Bocconi over other European and American universities since 2009. Internationalization is also evident in the major dissemination of research carried out at Bocconi in the area of the international academic community, as well as an increase in international funding obtained through competitions. In 2012 these funds exceeded the record amount of 8 million euros.
Some data confirm that Bocconi is among the completely international universities: 34% of teaching hours are in English, and 23 programs, including Master of Science, Master and PhD programs, are in English; 17.3% of graduates find work abroad, with a peak of 43% for the Master of Science program in International Management; 11% of students are from abroad, in addition to 1,277 more incoming students are on campus for exchange periods from partner universities; 80% of those attending SDA international Master programs are from abroad; and in 2011, University offices handled 3,048 study and work opportunities abroad.
During an economically difficult three-year period, Bocconi's ability to place graduates in the job market was not only maintained but it also recorded a slight improvement, which was especially due to a more pronounced projection onto foreign job markets. The 2011 survey of Master of Science graduates one year after graduation showed that 94.4% were employed, compared to 93.6% in 2009. In the same period, the percentage employed abroad increased from 15.5% to 17.3%.
The confidence of families was confirmed by the increase in admissions applications compared to three years ago: +20% for Bachelor programs and +28% for Master of Science programs, with an increase of over 40% for international applicants.
The Rector also thanked the 2,388 supporters – both individuals and companies – who showed their confidence by donating to the University. "It is thanks to them that we are able to support deserving students with scholarships and exemptions, and fund the faculty internationalization process," Tabellini affirmed.
"However, the challenges that Bocconi has faced in recent years will continue to be those by which we will have to measure ourselves in future, within the University and throughout the nation," the Rector concluded. "If we look at how the great international universities were founded and grew, and how they have maintained their leadership over time, there are three essential ingredients that have been crucial in the past, for Bocconi as well."
The first ingredient is the people. "In a university, as in many other complex organizations," said Tabellini, "it is the individuals who make a difference. The quality of the people and the ability to maximize individual potential are crucial for the three groups working in the university: students, faculty and professional staff."
The second ingredient is ideas and values: pluralism, freedom of thought, critical rationalism, valuing merit, respect and mutual confidence.
The third is a favorable external environment, both because individual talents are attracted not by one institution but by the environment that can be created by a complete system, and because the resources needed to compete on a global scale increasingly require the support of the entire community. Bocconi was created and has grown thanks to a private endowment and, as the Rector added, "still leaves considerable flexibility to private institutions. And Bocconi is passing on the benefit of past generosity to the local community and to the whole country. The great universities, not dependent on economic and political powers, are a reserve of human capital to draw on in times of difficulty."