Double degree programmes with the University of Glasgow: "A German-language programme does no longer suffice"
2022-11-01 Growing numbers of applicants, higher internationalisation: Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the University of Glasgow are now offering management programmes together for the first time. Students can obtain degrees from both universities. Prof. Dr. Markus Reihlen, Professor of Business Administration, in particular Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, explains how the integrated semester abroad provides intercultural skills in addition to academic qualifications, which are also essential for the German job market.
- Professor Reihlen, how do students benefit from the double-degree programme?
We have strongly promoted internationalisation in the Faculty of Management & Technology. Our English-language Bachelor's programme International Business Administration & Entrepreneurship is very popular. We have excellent students. This success encouraged us to continue on this path of internationalisation with the Master's programmes. Management & Entrepreneurship, Management & Data Science and Management & Sustainable Accounting and Finance can be studied entirely in English. We bring internationalisation to the campus. We have students from all over the world, for example from Jamaica, Egypt, Thailand, Colombia or Slovenia. Still, it is not enough to study in English alone. Intercultural skills are in demand on the labour market - internationally, nationally and regionally.
- Does that also apply if I want to work for a local company later?
Absolutely. German companies are also looking for students with international experience, because companies have long been operating on the European and global market. A purely German-language study programme no longer meets the requirements of local industry. Teams have long been multicultural and international.
- Students can earn a degree in two educational systems. Why is this even more advantageous than a semester abroad?
After one year of study at Leuphana, students can immerse themselves in a Master's programme at the University of Glasgow. Degrees from two education systems send important quality signals: In the Anglo-American education system, a degree from the University of Glasgow is very prestigious and opens doors for students who want to gain a professional foothold in the English-speaking world. Nationally, a degree is helpful in the German education system. But the double degree is only one advantage: students have a wide choice of further programmes in Glasgow with which they can specialise, for example with a Master's in International Strategic Marketing, Financial Technology or International Human Resource Management and Development. Conversely, we send our students to Glasgow very well prepared. Our Master's programmes are research-oriented. We teach qualitative and quantitative research methods and emphasise theories that help us better understand the complexity of the world. Students on the programmes go through a research project. This also opens up the path to a doctorate for them. The quality of our Master's theses is already high.
- How can later founders also benefit from a double degree?
At the University of Glasgow, there is intensive research on start-ups. On the other hand, Glasgow is an industrial location and thus a good ecosystem for understanding how start-ups function internationally and which start-ups are being promoted. At Leuphana, we cooperate with the Hamburg metropolitan region. In the third semester, students complete an entrepreneurship project together with a local company. The companies provide a practical task, which is then solved and scientifically analysed by an interdisciplinary team of students. There is also the possibility of writing a Master's thesis on one's own start-up.
The second dimension is corporate entrepreneurship. How are start-ups implemented in established companies? One can see this best in a larger organisation. Glasgow is a good place for this.
- Why do we need to break new ground in management education?
Major crises like the one we are experiencing right now challenge us to find new solutions. We can't go back and say, "This is how we've always done it." That's why we place a lot of emphasis on interdisciplinarity in our Master's programmes. For example, we have strengthened finance and management topics, and students have studied psychology. To further deepen the exchange between the two universities, the Master's theses are each supervised by a professor from Leuphana and the University of Glasgow. The cooperation also offers the opportunity to further strengthen the cooperation between the two universities.
- Thank you very much for the interview!
The University of Glasgow is one of the oldest English-speaking universities and, as a founding member of the Russell Group, is consistently ranked among the world's best universities in international rankings. The Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow also ranks among the top in research and teaching. Leuphana students receive a 40 per cent reduction on tuition fees.
Students who would like to take part in the double degree programme must register through the International Office by 22 November.