Latest news with #UniversityofExeterBusinessSchool
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MBA Employers Want AI Skills — And They Say Higher Ed Must Step Up
Lecturer Faye Manning of the Medical Imaging Department of the University of Exeter. A new UK survey shows that 85% of businesses see skills gaps as a threat — and many prefer collaborating with researchers over hiring externally. Photo by Theo Moye A new report finds that UK businesses are increasingly eager to work with university researchers to close widening skills gaps — particularly in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analysis — but struggle to access the expertise they need. The report, Equipping Researchers for Impact: Unlocking the Potential of University-Business Relationships, commissioned by the Developing Business-Aware Academics project at the University of Exeter Business School and authored by CBI Economics, warns that skills shortages are now seen as a major threat to UK competitiveness. In a survey of 235 UK businesses across all sizes, sectors, and regions, an average of 85% identified skills gaps as a top concern — with shortages in AI among the most pressing. BIZ WANTS AI EXPERTISE — AND IT'S TURNING TO HIGHED ED TO FIND IT As AI continues to reshape industries and accelerate business transformation, nearly half (44%) of large companies say they would prefer to engage with academic experts in universities to address AI talent shortages rather than relying solely on external hires or outsourcing. Yet businesses often find the pathways to collaborate with academia overly complex, opaque, or poorly aligned with their immediate needs. 'Businesses are expressing a clear wish to work with universities,' says Louise Hellem, chief economist at the CBI. 'At a time when the UK is seeking to go further and faster in its pursuit of economic growth, as well as address chronic skills shortages and embed cutting-edge technologies across its economy, the role of universities as connectors between academic research and business innovation has never been more vital.' The findings fit into a broader trend emerging across business education. As Poets&Quants has reported, the 2025 Graduate Business Curriculum Summary Report shows that AI is no longer treated as a niche topic, but is being embedded deeply into MBA and master's programs. Schools are revamping curricula to prioritize AI-driven decision-making, data analytics, and predictive modeling alongside traditional leadership training. Two years ago, in fall 2023, BGC reported that three of four surveyed B-schools had already integrated AI into their curricula. Employers are demanding it, after all. According to the 2024 GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey, global employers now seek MBA graduates who possess AI and machine learning expertise — but they equally want professionals who can combine technical savvy with strategic thinking, communication skills, and leadership. MBA PROGRAMS RACE TO INTEGRATE AI AS EMPLOYERS SHIFT HIRING PRIORITIES Top programs are responding with not only curriculum changes but entire tracks — and in some cases whole programs — focused on AI. Wharton, for example, recently launched a dedicated AI concentration for MBAs, and schools like INSEAD, London Business School, and MIT Sloan are embedding AI modules across core courses. Against this backdrop, the University of Exeter-CBI report warns that unless universities adapt how they prepare researchers — not just teaching technical skills, but providing sector-specific training, immersive business experiences, and networks — a huge opportunity will be missed. 'Researchers are a largely untapped talent pool rich in higher-level skills,' says Professor Alison Truelove, director of the Developing Business-Aware Academics project at the University of Exeter Business School. 'Support for researchers must be at the center of strategies to reshape academia-business engagement. 'Importantly, universities and funders need to incentivize and reward researchers, and recognize that business engagement and research excellence can be mutually beneficial: they both champion innovation, offer new perspectives and open new paths to funding.' SCHOOLS WARNED: ADAPT RESEARCHER TRAINING OR MISS A CRITICAL OPPORTUNITY The survey also reveals that smaller businesses, in particular, value access to universities' specialist facilities and consultancy but are often discouraged by the difficulty of navigating collaboration processes. Businesses across the board called for simplified engagement pathways, stronger networking initiatives connecting researchers to industry needs, and better alignment between funding opportunities and partnership goals. The report posits that universities are uniquely positioned to act as hubs for local and national economic growth — but only if they make systemic changes to reward industry collaboration alongside academic output. The full report, Equipping Researchers for Impact: Unlocking the Potential of University-Business Relationships, is available here. DON'T MISS TECH & AI ARE SOARING UP THE LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS RECRUITERS WANT FROM MBAs: SURVEY and IT'S HERE: HOW B-SCHOOLS HAVE 'STEADILY & CAUTIOUSLY' INTEGRATED AI INTO THEIR CURRICULA The post MBA Employers Want AI Skills — And They Say Higher Ed Must Step Up appeared first on Poets&Quants. Sign in to access your portfolio
Time Magazine
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Actor Rainn Wilson on Making Climate Messaging Relatable
Actor Rainn Wilson has long been a climate activist. He hosted a travel series called An Idiot's Guide to Climate Change and camped with climate scientists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2020, and in 2021, he shipped an iceberg to the COP26 conference in Glasgow so that the delegates attending would see it melting as they entered the grounds. 'I was just another actor living in suburban Los Angeles and sending out an occasional angry tweet about climate change,' the honoree said at the 2025 TIME Earth Awards in Manhattan on April 23. 'I was tired of yelling into the giant wind turbine of climate denialism, and I thought, I have to do something.' In 2022, Wilson co-founded Climate Basecamp with Gail Whiteman, a professor of sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School, with the goal of raising awareness about climate change and climate science through a pop culture lens. 'I realized that one of the most broken aspects of climate work was climate communication—it was either very well-meaning, lovely documentaries of butterflies and rainforests already preaching to the choir, or else, it was kind of angry shouting at science deniers,' Wilson said. Wilson realized there is a large young audience that is confused about climate change. 'We call this the movable middle,' he said. 'Their uncle is a climate change denier, but then they look on TikTok and they see science and they don't know what to think.' 'What we decided to do was undertake climate communications in a fresh, out of the box way,' Wilson said. To 'craft a message that's hopeful, courageous, and, dare I say, funny, to try and open people's hearts.' Climate Basecamp launched Arctic Risk Name Changer, an app that generated a name reflecting a climate risk to raise awareness on social media. Wilson's for example was 'Rainfall Heat Wave Rising Sea Levels Wilson.' The nonprofit also launched Save the Flavors, a campaign raising awareness about how common favorite foods are endangered by climate change—things like coffee, avocados, and chocolate. 'People may not relate to climate change science,' Wilson said, but they may relate to seeing the things they may eventually lose to climate change. In November, the climate crisis arrived in Wilson's own backyard. On Nov. 6, the day after the 2024 election, his home caught on fire while he was at a rehearsal as a mountain fire swept through Ventura County, Calif. While his wife and animals—pigs, dogs, and a peahen—made it out relatively unscathed, their house suffered severe damage, and several of their neighbors lost their homes completely. 'The message was clear: it doesn't matter who you are, this crisis affects all of us, from climate activists to climate deniers, and everyone in between,' TIME CEO Jessica Sibley said in presenting the award to Wilson. Wilson concluded his speech with a spiritual appeal: 'Spend more time in nature, and when you're there, let it move your heart, let it touch your heart and affect you toward action.' 'This is not simply a matter of legislation. This isn't a matter of carbon capture or limiting carbon and methane and planting more trees,' he said. 'All of those things are very important. But there's an underlying disease underneath climate change, which simply is a spiritual disease, where we are disconnected from our hearts and from beautiful, all-important Mother Earth that has fed our ancestors and hopefully will feed our descendants.'
BBC News
10-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Students and elderly pair up to combat loneliness
A project has been launched to combat loneliness and promote the exchanging of skills in University of Exeter said the scheme paired older people in Exmouth with international Yuxi Heluo, assistant professor at the University of Exeter Business School, said the project aimed to get the elderly to share their "life wisdoms and experience", while the students helped them learn how to use items such as phones, tablets and added: "This helps the older people with things like checking NHS records or buying groceries online." The government's University Mental Health Charter found that 90% of students in the UK considered themselves was one of the reasons Dr Heluo set up the as well as fighting loneliness, it has had bonus outcomes, such as true Wright said her student Jessie regularly went to stay with said: "Though we're generations apart, we have lots in common."Two of the other members of the project, Christine Chittock and Pam Hampson, found it broke the stereotypes they held about Chittock said: "It gave us the opportunity to see that students aren't just always on their phones.""Or out drinking and partying," Ms Hampson added. Members of the group said they had found this year to be a great success but would like to see the exchange taken further next Latham and Natalie Leung were paired up for this academic Latham said: "Not only could she teach me about the computer, she could have cooked me a meal as well."Ms Leung said Mary was going to cook her a Sunday roast as she as never had added: "I think it is really nice to share food."
