<i>'A stepping stone for greater responsibility'</i>

Yolande Sum, 28, has just completed a full-time MBA at the University of Strathclyde. She previously worked in marketing and product management:

After completing a degree in marketing at Strathclyde, I decided to work in Asia, so bought a single ticket to Hong Kong. I managed to find a job with Boots the Chemist, and stayed over there for seven years.

It was a risk for me leaving the company to do a full-time MBA, but it's been very exciting. I see myself working back in Asia in a management role in retail or corporate communication. A lot of MBA students want to make a career change but my intention was to become more competent as a manager. I want to do what I did, but in a slightly different context.

Alex Dinham, 27, is halfway through a two-year part-time MBA at Ashridge:

I joined Ashridge Consulting a couple of years ago from quite a specialist technical background. I wanted to spend some time broadening my horizons, and get a better view of how big businesses work and an MBA seemed the ideal way to do it. Part-time was the better option because it enables me to carry on working and I can apply the benefits of what I learn on the course immediately in my work here.

I see getting an MBA as a foundation for moving on in my career and as a stepping stone for greater responsibility, since I've now got a much greater awareness of how the different parts of a business interrelate.