Dr Jeff Stangl
Commerce and economics students from all over the North Island gave up a week of their school holidays to immerse themselves in the world of business.
Seventy students from 33 secondary schools (from Kerikeri to Palmerston North) signed up for Massey University’s annual Business Boot Camp. This year the camp was over-subscribed within a week.
Word of mouth about the first boot camp last year has really spread through the teacher network. Some teachers had tough decisions to make as we usually take only two students from each school.
Raising awareness
Its aim is to expose students to all aspects of business so that they can make informed decisions about their future studies and careers.
We want to open up their eyes to what they can do when they leave school, possibly to opportunities that they have possibly not considered.
Most of these young people will have multiple careers and we want them to know that that a career in business can mean many different things.
New leaders
It is s about exposing them to a variety of ideas and helping them find their own way and inspire them to become the next generation of business leaders.
Some of New Zealand’s biggest organisations are opening their doors to the students, including NZX, Microsoft, Air New Zealand and GridAKL, the new technology and innovation precinct at Wynyard Quarter.
Basic concepts
We teach them fundamental business concepts and those all-important soft skills such as critical and entrepreneurial thinking that employers appreciate. But the most important thing will be connecting them with real people in business so that they can experience the whole ecosystem.
Camp to Campus
Former Westlake Girls” High School and current Massey University student Meg Kerry, who attended Business Boot Camp in 2014, said that the experience was transformational.
“It changed my whole university life. I was not even thinking about going to Massey, but after boot camp, I had made so many important relationships with people at Massey that I knew I wanted to study here,” she said.
Those who attended last year’s Business Boot Camp are still in contact through a Facebook page set up by the students and at least one-third of the group are now in their first year of business studies at Massey.
Ms Kerry said that she now has ‘an amazing network of friends.’
“It means that I have always got people to talk to who are in the same boat as I am and it is all because of boot camp,” she said.
Reality challenges
Ms Kerry said that the experience gave confidence to network and pursue opportunities. She also learned to apply business concepts in a range of ways in the real world.
“It was so different to learning from a textbook. At school, you learn for a test, but at boot camp, you learn to apply those concepts. We had the opportunity to ask real businesses how they used the strategies,” she said.
She said that the group’s visit to the NZX showed how economic theory translated into day-to-day running of a stock market, while the personal stories of successful business people brought insights of a different kind.
“There was one speaker who gave her perspective as a female manager. Like her, I want to be confident and motivated and not let stereotypes get in the way of being a successful manager.”
This year, along with another 30 Massey business students, she was at hand to help run Business Boot Camp and mentor the participating high school students.
Dr Jeff Stangl is Senior Lecturer at the Massey University School of Economics and Finance. He developed the Boot Camp with his wife Dr Loren Stangl, who is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University.
Photo : Dr Jeff Stangl with student Meg Kerry
