On growth, entrepreneurship, and community at WHU
01/21/2022
Sabrina and the Part-Time Master in Management
Sabrina Nielson joined WHU in 2021, looking to advance her existing business knowledge and explore entrepreneurial thinking. A motivated and driven individual, she completed her bachelor’s degree in international management in 2020 at ISM Cologne. Still, she saw that staying competitive in the job market was essential to her future success. “I live in Cologne, and I see that a lot of people have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. I want to stay competitive but also show that I am willing to grow.”
After taking a year’s break from studying to familiarize herself with a new job and feeling confident in the role, it was the right time to continue expanding her skillset. “I knew that I needed to continue with studying before it became too difficult due to either professional or personal reasons. As my previous studies were dual (study while you work), it was also important for me to study for a master’s degree in a part-time format. I like the idea that at WHU, you only need around one and a half years to complete the program. This is similar in other cities around the world, such as London, where it supports the idea of furthering your education but in a quick way. With the added bonus, of course, of the quality and reputation of WHU.”
Exploring entrepreneurial thinking.
Currently working in a large company in the chemical industry, Sabrina works in procurement but has a great passion for entrepreneurial thinking. Missing this aspect of her studies during her bachelor’s degree, she supplemented this with a summer school in design thinking and additional classes outside of her formal studies.
“The entrepreneurial mindset and network at WHU were big selling points for me. I was thrilled when in our first class on general management in September, Professor Witt was able to bring the focus to entrepreneurial thinking. He motivated us to think about how to be entrepreneurs and bridged the gap between this and general management.
What interests me the most is how entrepreneurs support each other. I work in a large company, and companies of this size have their processes and a set way of achieving their goals. What I like about entrepreneurs is that they question how things are done and bring their combined knowledge to find a better way or make a new idea come to life.”
A community achieving together.
Sabrina explains that it was often difficult to gain new perspectives from her peers during her bachelor’s studies due to their similarity in attitude and approach. However, at WHU, she notes that while they are a relatively small cohort that fits well together, they all bring varying experience levels.
“We feel like a strong community in class as we are near all the same age. But some of us have more professional experience than others, with some coming straight from their bachelor’s degrees. It’s a great exchange of knowledge. We also come from different strengths and academic backgrounds, so our capabilities lie in different fields. During the exams, we support each other in the areas we struggle so we can all reach the finish line together.”