5 Reasons Joint Degrees in Management Are Not a Fad

Sponsored by emlyon business school

Increasingly popular, joint degrees are run by two or more host universities, often based internationally, and completed within the same lapse of time as regular single honors programs.

A joint degree will typically involve spending time studying at each university, eventually writing a single thesis in collaboration with your supervising departments, drawing together everything you’ve learned into a coherent project.

From getting multiple degrees and increasing your employability to doubling or even tripling your network of contacts, the benefits of completing a joint degree are obvious. Yet the experience can also be challenging, especially when it comes to adapting to different education systems and departments, sometimes with opposing methodologies and perspectives!

So, are joint degrees worth the hype or just a fad? Read on for five reasons why joint degrees in management are a sound investment.

1. You’ll gain an international edge.  

To launch a successful career in international business, you need all the help, insight and experience you can get. Many joint degrees are run by departments across different countries, featuring a semester or more abroad. emlyon business school’s two-year MSc in Management - European Triple Degree – Grande Ecole, for instance, is run in collaboration with Germany’s Ludwig Maximilian Universität and the UK’s Lancaster University Management School, offering students the chance to spend a year in Lyon, Lancaster, Shanghai and/or Munich.

2. You’ll have an unbeatable support squad.

As a member of several alumni networks, you’ll make connections with likeminded professionals, benefit from links with international companies, and gain access to multiple career services – increasing your chances of accessing those in-demand positions and promotions. For the rest of your working life, the universities involved in your joint program will provide you with a wide-reaching network of professionals across the world, multiplying your chances of knowing the right person, in the right place, at the right time…

3. You’ll really test your limits.

Studying on a joint program is an opportunity to test yourself and surmount challenges you wouldn’t normally come across – whether cultural, personal or academic. Moving to one or more new countries to discover new educational systems and working contexts will bring plenty of opportunities for fast-tracked personal development. Find out what it’s like to live abroad, overcome cultural barriers and work in a foreign business environment. Develop a host of transferrable skills – which, from picking up a new language to maintaining relationships across time zones – will come in very handy during your future job search and career.

4. You’ll catch employers’ attention.

Joint degrees are likely to impress employers, especially if those programs are run by leading universities such as emlyon business school, Ludwig Maximilian Universität and Lancaster University Management School. When comparing CVs, recruiters know that students with international joint degrees are more likely to be competent, flexible and resourceful innovators with strong cross-cultural communication skills. That's why your joint degree won't just get you job interviews; it'll help you cut the queue to those top-level positions.

5. You’ll have the chance to work abroad.

Some international joint programs offer students the opportunity to complete work experience abroad. On emlyon business school's European Triple Degree program, you would complete two relevant internships at companies of your choice based overseas. You can find out about the range of impressive internships students enrolled on the program have completed as part of the course, and what they have gone on to do, here. Like Pierre Etienne, business controller at H&M, you could be doing work experience at L'Oréal in consulting in your first year, and at Chanel SAS as a financial controller.

Become a global player with the European Triple Degree

emlyon business school, Ludwig Maximilian Universität and Lancaster University Management School have joined forces to teach aspiring business leaders how to innovate and operate in a global context. This two-year MSc will take you to France, Germany and the UK, providing an international outlook on current challenges and opportunities in business and management, across a range of sociocultural and legal contexts.