Scholarship that widens horizons
When Eustina Musvoto embarked upon London Business School’s gruelling Sloan programme last September, she anticipated that, once she completed the programme, she would return to South Africa and resume her engineering career in the water industry.
But almost one year later, with the programme under her belt and only her 20,000-word dissertation to hand in, Ms Musvoto is having second thoughts about her career. While she is keen to return to South Africa, the Sloan programme has opened her eyes to other possibilities. “I have had such an intensive year and [it] has been so challenging I am not sure [what I want to do].
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“I want to take some time to reflect on the experience I have had, I want to go back and see what is available and where I can slot in.”
Last year, Ms Musvoto became the first winner of London Business School’s Sloan Fellowship women’s scholarship, run in partnership with Spencer Stuart, the executive search company, and Saatchi & Saatchi, the advertising agency. She beat stiff competition, with the selection panel praising her motivation and passion.
Approximately 30 per cent of Sloan candidates are female and LBS has been keen to increase the number of women participants. As well as having the ￡43,000 ($80,000) cost of the programme funded, Ms Musvoto was given career mentoring from Spencer Stuart.
She says taking part in the Sloan programme has been life enhancing. Coming from an engineering background with little knowledge of strategy, economics or finance she found the core courses a “huge learning experience”.
However, she has learnt most from interaction with her classmates. “The unique thing is the diversity...You sit in a class with these experienced people with different perspectives and that is where I learnt the most, through personal interaction and learning to hear other view points. I have learnt a lot about other industries and it has opened my mind to other opportunities.”
LBS’s Sloan Fellowship is a 10-month, full-time programme, leading to an MSc. Participants tend to be much older than those on the MBA programme, with at least 10 years’ experience in senior positions. Only two other schools offer the Sloan programme
