“New faculties don’t join IIMA, also because spouses don’t get suitable job in Ahmedabad”

IIM Ahmedabad’s new term press briefing took interesting turn when Hindustan Times reporter asked Director Samir Barua whether location is an issue affecting IIM Ahmedabad in getting new good faculty?

The IIMA Director replied positively to this question and added that nowadays new faculty wants to settle in a city where his spouse will also get suitable job.

Director Barua further said, in Ahmedabad, it’s difficult for a person suitable to become IIMA faculty to find a suitable job for his spouse, compare to Bangalore.

Barua said Kolkata is also coming up.

About Ahmedabad, he said, the city has manufacturing units, but faculty’s wife would probably look for a job in service sector, which is difficult in Ahmedabad.

Barua clarified that it’s a problem of a gap between aspiration of kind of job based on certain qualification and availability of that kind of job at particular location.

The whole discussion sparked off when Barua was speaking about faculty shortage in IIMA.

He said there should be total 120 faculties ideally in IIMA, but due to unavailability of suitable candidates, the actual figure is 93.

He said the institute runs faculty development program, but even such program fails to yield suitable faculty for the institute.