LEADERS MUST BUILD CONSENSUS

Deep Saini, President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, on how B-schools can remain relevant and why providing value to society is important

- BY SIDDHARTH ZARABI

DEEP SAINI, President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, one of Canada’s most prestigious institutions, was born and educated in India before pursuing an international academic career; he now leads a globally recognised research university and manages a budget of about $2 billion. In a rapidly changing global environment, where technology, geopolitics and shifting student flows are reshaping higher learning, Saini argues that management education must evolve just as quickly. During a recent visit to India, he spoke with BT about how universities can stay relevant, how leadership models are being rewritten, and why adaptability will define the next generation of managers. Edited excerpts:

Indian students face increasing barriers to their aspirations to study overseas. Do you see a permanent shift in how Indian students pursue education and opportunities, including in the US?

There is a wider global shift underway, not just in the US. My hope is that the current barriers are not permanent, but institutions must be prepared if they become so. Student mobility will continue; it may not remain at the levels of the last two decades, but no country can afford isolation. There will be a correction to what we see in the US today, though not a return to the past—it will be something new, with new opportunities.

The real challenge for institutions is anticipating where this change is heading. As Wayne Gretzky (former Canadian ice hockey player) said, success comes from knowing where the puck will be, not where it is. At McGill, we are applying that philosophy. We have launched a major institutional review examining everything we do—teaching, operations, admissions—to decide what to continue, what to stop and what new ideas to adopt.