Doctors, economists, social scientists may soon be strutting out from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) but unfortunately business will continue as usual at the India’s b-schools. Theres been a lot of talk about the problems that higher education faces in India and what changes need to be made. The IITs are embracing these changes and ensuring that they are not restricted to engineering courses. MBAs should also be able to rub shoulders with students from other fields but b-school faculty think that there are roadblocks.

The IITs and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are Indias most prestigious institutes and it is a wonderful idea that they should offer courses from other fields and operate as full-fledged universities. The IITs already have departments of social study and are now looking to start under graduate and post graduate programs in these fields. Most B-schools only have post graduate programs in place and require large faculty strength so that the various subjects of management can be taught.

Ganesh Prabhu, professor of Corporate Strategy and Policy at IIM Bangalore believes that subjects relating to different fields can be offered as electives but not as full-fledged programs. He says, We have had creativity related courses over here which students have opted for. However, the structure of the IIMs does not allow them to expand like the IITs. The Yash Pal report which is behind these changes repeatedly mentions MIT Sloan as an example which the IIMs should attempt to follow. Prof Prabhu points out that MIT also admits undergraduate students and hence is able to offer a whole range of independent programs.

The reports suggestions also apply to government universities such as the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). It is unlikely that IIFT will offer full-fledged programs in other fields in the next two years. IIFT and other b-schools pick students after graduation. The IITs admit undergraduate students and if they start a post graduate medicine program then they will also have an undergraduate program. We are however discussing a program on public policy management, says Dr Satinder Bhatia, Chairperson Graduate Studies at the institute.

Management at the end of the day is about people and b-schools do expose students to a whole range of subjects. But at least 80 percent of the batch in most MBA programs consists of engineers. Think about an MBA program where you can also interact with to-be historians, geologists, anthropologists and others from the liberal arts. There will be so many views exchanged, notes compared (not photocopied) and different issues to discuss. Learning across fields and establishing connections thats education for you. The Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi does offer post graduate programs in various fields and has very few undergraduate programs.

The IIMs have always provided only post graduate programs. Lets forget infrastructure and funds for a minute. The BBA is currently offered at some colleges in India and is nowhere near as popular as the MBA program. What if the IIMs began to offer undergraduate programs too? Lo, behold and a 21 year old exits from an IIM as a manager. Does such a proposition make sense and would companies fight to capture such a person? If it does then maybe some years down the line, the IIMs can start an undergraduate program in management and then look at functioning as a university by offering programs in other fields. Else, they should try to go the IIT way by starting with departments and then look at expanding them into full-fledged programs. What do you think?