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Today’s leaders need the ability to thrive in complex environments. This requires cultural intelligence and the ability to truly understand others. Amy Major, MBA Program Director at Oxford Saïd, explains the importance of diversity of thought in the context of modern business.
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Diversity of thought is essential for navigating the complex, rapidly changing realities of business. Today’s best business schools prevent echo-chambers. They inspire culturally and cognitively diverse cohorts, preparing leaders to think logically, laterally, and independently.
In this regard, the Oxford MBA is one of the U.K.’s most elite MBA programs. It provides students with fundamental business knowledge. Furthermore, it cultivates their ability to think beyond existing paradigms.
Amy Major is the MBA Program Director at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, overseeing the one-year MBA cohort. She believes the Oxford MBA stands out for its diversity of thought, beyond demographics.
“It does attract MBA graduates from the most typical pathways of finance and consulting, but it’s really much more than that,” explains Amy. “So, bankers, lawyers, politicians, sportspeople, military professionals, through to people from what can be very liberal arts backgrounds as well.” (00:48)
This brings together an eclectic mix of students in the classroom, creating a rich diversity of perspectives. From this, students develop a deeper understanding of other industries and cultures.
As the MBA Program Director, Amy is renowned for driving diversity and inclusion. She has overseen a rise in female representation, reaching 48% for the 2024/25 cohort. What’s more, an impressive 96% of students on the Oxford MBA are international. These students represent 63 different nationalities.
“We don’t have specific quotas,” says Amy. “We aren’t looking to hit a certain number of sectors or a certain number of nationalities. It happens by us just following the same admissions rubric as we have done historically.” (11:32)
The MBA program team leans into this diversity, forming groups for project work that purposefully mix backgrounds. “We specifically are making them diverse, based on background, geography, and gender,” explains Amy. “With a cohort that’s 60 plus nationalities, and that’s nearly 50/50 male-female, it’s easy for us to make those [groups] diverse.” (06:03)
Oxford MBA students also broaden their cultural understanding during the Entrepreneurship Project. It’s a popular elective, during which teams of students collaborate with start-ups, scale-ups, or SMEs. Many students use it as a blueprint for a future venture. From this, they can see the genuine value of bringing various viewpoints and multiple skill sets to the table.
Students at Oxford Saïd have access to the wider University of Oxford community, one of the most renowned academic institutions in the world. With just a little initiative, students can tap into the many resources on offer, as well as the University of Oxford’s collegiate system.
“There is the wider university, which means there are all these other departments where there’ll be symposiums, lectures, events,” says Amy. (07:48) “It’s about networking, reaching out early, and taking the action to investigate departments where you think you might have an interest.” (08:31)
In addition, Oxford Saïd leverages faculty experts from across the university to teach specialized on-campus elective courses. This approach allows them to offer diverse expertise beyond the core faculty, enhancing students’ holistic understanding of business across different sectors and regions.
International electives are among the total 50-60 electives available during the program. Among these is the Doing Business in Africa elective, which takes place in South Africa during the Easter break. For Amy, it’s a standout experience.
“I think that is a course that opens up people’s perspectives, where lived experience can often inform people in the room who don’t have lived experience of the African continent… and the opportunity that Africa is presenting to the entire globe, given its potential growth over these coming decades,” she says. (10:15)
Amy goes on to explain how this particular elective takes people out of their comfort zones and challenges their existing beliefs. “It is an elective where people need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, given some of the perspectives that it starts to bring out,” she says. “It’s a course that has a powerful way of bringing people together and [helping them to] listen to each other.” (10:47)
In a world of increasing polarization, the art of listening is an increasingly rare yet powerful skill. It’s the kind of ability that characterizes Oxford Saïd graduates, who emerge ready to make a real global impact.
The Oxford MBA aims to develop high-EQ (emotional intelligence) professionals. These are people with the ability to solve complex human problems. They have high levels of empathy and self-awareness, and are capable of handling the rapid pace of technological change.
“I think more and more now, employers aren’t looking for a fit in a sector. They’re looking for resilience, for the ability to work with others, and bring human skills,” Amy says. “With the advancement of AI, we need people who can critically think, who can work across complex organizations, who can talk and communicate with people. I think that EQ is something that cannot be underestimated in the world we’re in now.” (15:08)
By working in cognitively diverse teams, Oxford Saïd students are exposed to a wide array of viewpoints. This develops a deep cultural intelligence, creating empathetic leaders capable of leading international teams.
A cohort made up of people from diverse backgrounds is not only the right thing to do; it also drives innovative thinking, creates leaders with superior problem-solving skills, and ultimately leads to better business outcomes.
“We know from research that diverse teams perform better than teams that are more homogeneous,” says Amy. (04:40) One of the key reasons for this is that a diverse classroom opens us up to ideas that differ from our own, forcing us to reflect and think differently.
“I think a lot of people come to the MBA thinking they have experienced diversity of thought, and then that view is shattered. I sometimes say it’s like ‘diversity on steroids’”, Amy adds. (05:03) “So, you will get challenged by your own cohort and by members of your groups, which I think then translates into how you operate as a leader in the future.” (05:36)
The impactful journey of an Oxford MBA creates leaders who embrace their unique strengths. They understand how to lead with empathy and harness diverse ideas to create an environment where individuals feel a sense of belonging. These leaders are the future of business.
Want to study at Oxford Saïd? Take our eligibility quiz to see if you qualify!
