The TIEMBA is an intensive programme, provides relevant course work, knowledgeable professors, and a very diverse student background; I am learning a lot and finding it very beneficial.
Karen Cai

Karen Cai

karen
Nationality/Passport: Singaporean Year of graduation: 2023 Current Role: Head of Equity Corporate Finance and Capital Markets

Can you tell us a fun fact about yourself?

I was born in China and moved to Singapore when I was a teenager. I practise transcendental meditation and benefit a lot from it.

So, what made you decide to pursue the TIEMBA, and why did you choose INSEAD?

The TIEMBA was the only EMBA programme that I applied to. I had been looking for a programme which would provide me with access to the best of both the east and west, and the programme offers exactly that.

INSEAD provides the best from the west in terms of programme and network, while Tsinghua allows me to be in touch with my Chinese roots. 

If you were to describe your experience in one sentence, what would it be?

The TIEMBA is an intensive programme, provides relevant course work, knowledgeable professors, and a very diverse student background; I am learning a lot and finding it very beneficial. 

Has the TIEMBA helped you in your career so far?  

The programme so far has broadened my horizons, helped me to better connect the dots together, and gets me to constantly reflect on my old way of thinking and doing things, providing me with new perspectives when I approach issues. 

What are your thoughts about the multi-campus experience?

So far, I have only been able to attend lessons at the Singapore campus but will be going to France in July and Abu Dhabi next February for some modules. I am looking forward to it.

I hope I will be able to be in the Tsinghua campus to attend some of the modules too and meet the professors and my classmates in person there. 

Could you tell us more about the curriculum so far and your learning experience?

The curriculum is very well planned, and I am enjoying them very much and learning a lot from different courses.

The TIEMBA focuses a lot on academic learning on top of students' network building, and pre-readings are provided ahead of each module to prepare us for the intensive days of learning in campus.

There are always key concepts that we can learn from each course and apply them to our work. The broad base curriculum allows us to have basic knowledge on many topics; and they come in very handy when we speak to different people on various topics and help to connect dots much better. It helps that the students are from very different industries and provide different insights to the various sectors.

What advice would you give to someone who might be interested in pursuing an INSEAD Masters programme?

It would be useful to speak to some of the alumni or participants to find out more about the format / curriculum / student profiles of the programme of interest to see if they are indeed what you are looking for.