Meg Murphy

When it comes to rising in the business world, women have what it takes in spades, according to respondents to Bentley’s PreparedU research study. Indeed, the study is one indication among several that job-hunting millennial female college graduates may actually have a distinct edge over male peers. That’s because just about everyone Bentley surveyed, including employers, finds millennial women better prepared and able to offer superior organizational and interpersonal skills.

Gender inequality is often left unacknowledged in business management classrooms across the world.

And that is not going to cut it.

Enter Patricia Flynn, Trustee Professor of Economics and Management at Bentley University. She is doing something about it.

Even if many of the young people of today do not — yet — perceive the problem.

We all know the rush of a conversation that leads you to make unexpected connections between different subjects — a fluidity of mind all too rare but always exciting.

Four first-of-their-kind “fusion” courses at Bentley University aim to make that synergy happen a lot. And according to early participants: mission accomplished.

Bentley University’s preparedness research documents a desire by employers for millennial graduates who can make an immediate impact with their professional and technical qualifications while also demonstrating creativity, problem solving, and interpersonal skills, all of which are required in senior level leaders.

Easier said than done, some believe.

What’s the benefit of a specialized university?

For a young person drawn toward a particular field of study, such as engineering, or music, or business, a specialized university offers more advantages than you might think.

Once dismissed as vocational, top professional schools nowadays operate on the premise that the best career preparation includes a deep embrace of the liberal arts.

It comes down to the way you think. Job hunters, including millennials, need to understand that a technical mastery of the finer points in your chosen business field is not enough. Skill matched with a particular quality of mind equals talent, according to successful business executives who have graduated from Bentley.

Mitch Roschelle, co-founder of the real estate advisory practice of the American unit of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said he seeks three key mental attributes when recruiting talent: agility, empathy, and passion.