The Gabelli School’s Leading People and Organizations Area Provides Undergrads with Innovative Academic Options
Alumni , Undergraduate | Aug 07, 2023 | Gabelli School of Business
Concentrations and/or minors serve as key differentiators for career development and graduate school admission
The Gabelli School’s Leading People and Organizations (LPO) Area offers a master’s degree in management that provides a top credential, which prepares student for the workplace of the future. Undergraduate students, however, are often unaware that there are many great options in LPO to pursue after taking the integrated core course, such as electives and full concentrations in management consulting, leadership, creativity and innovation, and sustainability and entrepreneurship. The invaluable knowledge and skill set that these options afford, help to round out their résumés and enhance their graduate school applications by differentiating them in the competitive marketplace.
“An increasing number of students are taking courses within the LPO area to enhance their skill sets in disciplines that are critically important to hiring managers,” said Clinical Associate Professor Dennis Hanno, Ph.D. “In fact, over 60 students opted to take concentrations in this versatile area because they understood the intrinsic value of learning more about the management function and the role it will play in their own diverse careers.”
Mallory Lipski and Maya Bentovim, who both recently graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, each enrolled in a concentration in the LPO area after taking Principles of Management with area chair Professor Michael Pirson, Ph.D. during their sophomore year. “I enjoyed the collaboration that ensued from assignments and activities we did in class,” Bentovim said. “I was drawn to management because I knew once I finished college, I wanted to be in a collaborative work environment, so I found it valuable to take classes that involve self-reflection in addition to team-centric projects.” Lipski echoed the sentiment, adding, “I knew I could develop some skills in my job, but I wanted to figure out who I was as a leader, and how I work with people in teams.”
Students taking a concentration benefit from additional support from LPO professors to develop their leadership skills. “The LPO concentration significantly enhanced my experience at the Gabelli School. Not only did it help me understand people better, but it also helped me to understand myself better,” noted Lipski. It was a rewarding experience getting to know myself in a professional capacity, because I now feel prepared to enter a work environment recognizing my worth and what I can contribute to the team or where I might fall short,” she asserted.
Bentovim had a similar experience, emphasizing the importance of learning how to cultivate leadership skills early in life rather than waiting years for a management-level role in a company. “The professors really cared about who we are as people and not just who we are as students or future employees. That element of self-discovery was important, and the Fordham environment allows you to explore some of those leadership traits in a safe space while you’re still young,” she added.
Engaged in an internship while earning her degree, Bentovim already knew that her pursuit of an LPO concentration was giving her an edge. “Working in teams with other people, I realized how Fordham had pushed us ahead in ways that wasn’t happening at other schools. I was working and connecting a lot better than my peers, and some of that was about the Gabelli School and the management courses I was taking,” she said.
Both women have used their LPO experience to take the next step in their careers. Lipski is pursuing an M.S. in Media Management at the Gabelli School while continuing her athletic career on Fordham University’s Women’s Volleyball team. In the fall, Bentovim will begin her new job as a people advisory services consultant with EY.
Written by Michelle Miller, Associate Director of Communications, Fordham University Gabelli School of Business
