Powering Through: Vedica alumna Pratima's Passion for Ed-Tech and her new role with UpGrad
Shards of shattered glass glisten as the Vedica alumni smash stereotypes and soar at the workplace. Pratima Dixit, a graduate from the third batch, shares her experiences of her recent switch to UpGrad and how the Vedica education gave her the prestige, prowess and passion for her work.
You’ve established a strong presence in the management education space with your current role at UpGrad and recent role at Nspira. What attracts you towards this space?
I am strongly attracted towards the ed-tech space as it enables scalability and provides an avenue for long-term impact. Through my professional journey, I was able to create and drive learning experience for different learners ranging from JEE aspirants to MBA aspirants. With UpGrad, I am venturing into upskilling programs for working professionals and I feel humbled to get an opportunity to lead UpGrad's online executive MBA with specialisation in Business Analytics in collaboration with NMIMS.
How was the transition from Nspira to UpGrad? How easy/difficult did you find switching jobs in today’s climate?
I was fortunate to receive attractive offers from 3 different companies while I was making my switch from Nspira. The transition was smooth for me. I think focusing on learning new industry-relevant skills helped me. I believe if you are working hard and have strong work ethics then you don't have to worry about getting a job. Rather you should be thinking about where and how you can make a difference.
Can you elaborate on how you felt Vedica’s multidisciplinary curriculum helped you at the workplace? Having gone through a unique management practice programme, do you feel comfortable innovating within this space?
I feel prepared and equipped to take on challenges at the workplace. Multidisciplinary courses at Vedica have helped me in structured thinking, and effective presentation and delivery. In my new assignment, I will frequently use the managements concepts that I learnt during Vedica.
What was the most relevant course you took at Vedica that continues to help you to this day at your job?
The curriculum of Vedica is aligned with skills required to be effective at the workplace. The soft skills I learned during Vedica has helped me significantly in verbal and written communication at the workplace. I have also used concepts that I learned in project management series and digital marketing course. Tools and techniques related to feedback sessions and organisation behaviour have helped me immensely while I was managing a large team at Nspira.
What do you think is the future of management education?
Management courses need to evolve. I believe the future workspace would require a mix of data, analytics, technology and soft skills. These skills would help in not just securing a job but would make learners relevant and effective in their future workspace.
What are your opinions on digital vs physical modes of education?
Digital learning space is growing rapidly and several niche ed-tech companies are creating impactful learning products. This is an exciting industry to be in. The major universities and coaching institutes are moving towards a blended learning model and they are investing in digital learning products to enhance the overall learning experience. However, it is too soon to compare the actual learning outcomes from digital learning and physical learning classrooms. There is a lot of scope for innovation in the blended learning model and I believe digital products can seamlessly complement the traditional learning facilities.
