First Nations students brought into the fold – The Globe and Mail

Nov. 05 2013

It has taken a few detours, but Sheryl Fisher’s 20-year-long dream to earn a master-level business degree is coming true.

A member of Squamish First Nation in British Columbia, the 44-year-old has worked since leaving high school and earned several college certificates, but none offered a path to a university degree.

That route opened last year when she was accepted into the first class of a new executive MBA in aboriginal business and leadership, unique in Canada for conferring a degree, at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

With Canada’s aboriginal population the fastest-growing segment of society – and with treaty rights, land claims and native cultural issues inextricably linked to Canada’s future resource development – some business schools are beginning to pursue new initiatives on recruitment, curriculum and specialty programs.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/business-education/first-nations-students-brought-into-the-fold/article15270545/