Dynamic Demographics

Complementing our team of scholar/practitioners are the Organizational Dynamics students themselves. Because they are actively engaged in the modern workplace, every student in this program contributes a valuable and distinctive perspective. And all share an enthusiasm for growth and learning through collegial, confidential dialogue and collaboration. Organizational Dynamics students are drawn from every sector of the global workplace.

Our 400+ students embody the diversity one expects to find at a world-class university:

► Approximately 20 percent of Organizational Dynamics students already have at least one graduate degree; academic credentials span business, law, medicine, social sciences, religious studies and healthcare.

► Approximately 75 percent of our students are employed as directors, managers, vice presidents or C-level executives.

► Our students are increasingly international, as globalization necessitates greater social and cultural understanding and interchange. Approximately 15 percent are drawn from countries other than the United States

► Our students represent large corporations, healthcare institutions, small entrepreneurial companies, international businesses, government organizations and educational institutions. Self-employed executives also find great value in the Organizational Dynamics program.

A typical class may have students with the following professional roles:

► Chief Operating Officer, Hospital

► Senior Project Manager, Insurance

► Consultant, Consulting Company

► Associate VP of HR, Food Service Company

► Plant Manager, Chemical Company

► Manager, Finance Team, Defense Contractor

► Marketing and Sales Analyst, Pharmaceutical Company

► Training Manager, Security Firm

► Quality Systems Specialist, Defense Manufacturer

► VP of Marketing, Communications Company

► Director of Organization Development, IT Company

► Manager, Strategic Planning, Educational Institution

► HR Generalist, Financial Services Company

The following general profile is typical of our mid-career professional students:

► Seeking improved organizational competencies due to the rapidly changing environment

► Considering a job change; perhaps starting a private practice or making a career change

► Concerned with managing complex problems with creative and innovative approaches

► Less focused on primary skills (how to do their specific job); more interested in integrative skills (how to manage the politics and communications and how to “get things done”)

► Concerned with leading from the middle and with addressing the dynamics of leadership and followership

► Less interested or in need of the traditional graduate business degree; more interested in the unique organizational dynamics degree

► Interested in the graduate certificates available within the program in part to demonstrate to themselves that they can master the competencies, but also to have others acknowledge they have earned a Penn certificate in the topic.