The email for this entry comes from an MBA aspirant who is trying to decide between applying for Stanford’s MBA/MA.Ed program or the JD/MBA program, but his email has nothing to do with questions about either kind of program. Rather, he’s wondering what my plans are, if any, to work in the for-profit education space. I seldom get emails asking about me, so I enjoyed responding to this one. I haven’t really figured out whether I’ll do any work in for-profit education in my career, so I described some of my very early thinking on the matter.
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TW wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
I just stumbled upon your blog while Googling the MBA/MA in Education program – thanks for writing and sharing all those posts! I found the posts really informative, especially when you talked about the reasons why you pursued the joint degree (I’m currently debating whether to apply to the MBA/MA program or the JD/MBA program – if you have any insight into the JD/MBA experience, I’d love to hear it).
Though, to be honest, I’m actually more curious what you plan on doing in the education space. You mentioned your long-term goals of getting into the education nonprofit space, especially around the issue of rural access – which I think is great – but I also wonder how much thinking you’ve done around the for-profit education space, especially around technology, given your technology and business background. Is this something you’re also passionate and interested in? Something you see potentially revolutionizing issues of education access?
Anyway, thanks for blogging away and I hope to hear about your escapades in education.
Cheers,
TW”
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My video response:
Question about my future in the for-profit education space from Marquis Parker on Vimeo.
Key points:
– For insights on the JD/MBA experience, check out my man Jeremy Wilson’s blog at http://www.jeremycwilson.com/ (he’s currently a first-year JD/MBA student at Northwestern)
– Aside from my education-based non-profit, I’m not sure what I would do in the education space yet; Possibilities include:
– Education leadership role through a program like the Broad Residency, Educational Pioneers, or a foundation
– Entrepreneurship somewhere at the intersection of Education and Technology
– I need a game-changing idea, but haven’t come up with an especially compelling one yet
– There are so many good ideas that have been launched and I’d need to come up with something both unique and great to drive me to drive it to launch and growth
– Take on a leadership role at an existing Education-focused organization and help take it to the next level
– Key issues for anyone considering a transition from business to education
– Passion/fit
– Financial considerations
– Leveraging prior professional and educational experiences
Hey Marquis–Cool post! Your video idea seems to be working really well. I suspect your site will take off (even more) in the new year. Also, thanks for your reference to my site. Would be great to have those interested in the JD-MBA combo degree to read along. Also a quick matter of reference, I’ve certainly noticed your interest in the education sector as I’ve been reading your blog, which I think is pretty cool. Perhaps it’s largely because I’m similarly interested in the industry. Like you, I hope to be able to work with Education Pioneers and/or Broad at some point in the next few years.