Dr Mandeep Rai
BEcon Politics, Economics & Philosophy (PPE), graduated 2000
Mandeep is a broadcast journalist, global authority on values, working with companies, institutions, and individuals around the world, and author of ‘The Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life and Leadership’. She graduated from Manchester in 2000 with a BEcon in PPE. She talks about what she does now and how she got there following her time at Manchester.
My current role and how I got there
My journey since graduating from Manchester has been wonderfully diverse. I began by studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at The University of Manchester (UoM), followed by an MSc in International Development from the London School of Economics and an MBA from London Business School, with time spent at Harvard Business School and MIT. I later completed a PhD in global values.
While at Manchester I gained a graduate role in private banking at JP Morgan and this became the start of a varied career trajectory. I went on to work with the United Nations, the European Commission, and grassroots NGOs, before establishing the UAE’s first media venture capital fund. I also ventured into journalism, reporting for the BBC World Service, Reuters, among others, and travelling to over 150 countries.
I am currently an author, a journalist, an investor, an entrepreneur and an adjunct professor. In essence, I have a portfolio career and am known as a thought leader.
My debut book, ‘The Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life and Leadership’, was named Highly Commended Business Book of the Year in the Diversity, Equality & Inclusion category at The Business Book Awards 2021, and I was recognised as a Thinkers50 Top Thinker to Watch in 2021.
My experience at Manchester
I believe PPE teaches you how the world works, and that is exactly what this course delivered.
Choosing The University of Manchester was easy, it is the best place on earth to be a student in those formative years. There are more students concentrated in and around The University of Manchester and along Oxford Road than anywhere else in the world. This means that everything is catered for students and our well-being, our ingenuity, our advancement – and soon we were experiencing for the student, by the student.
My first substantial jobs were found within this ecosystem during my University days, and then my first job post University was gained during the university milk round, and so I started at JP Morgan straight after UoM.
The very best part of The University of Manchester for me was their global outlook and reach. I was awarded a full paid scholarship to study PPE – commerce et al at the University of Melbourne in my second year of university. This was an extraordinary opportunity, and some of my lifelong friends and relationships were formed during this period. This also gave me the opportunity to travel many of the countries between Melbourne and Manchester – and these travels became the seeds of my current international bestseller – The Values Compass: What 101 Countries can teach us about Purpose, Life and Leadership.
What really shaped my experience at University was firstly meeting Jo Ryan – who recommended to JP Morgan, secondly, Professor Young, who supported and mentored me even after University, and thirdly, all the incredible experiences, and people – giving my content creation meaning.
My advice for future students
If I could offer advice to future students, it would be this: there are few programmes as enriching as PPE, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, including my own children.
Follow your passions wholeheartedly as doing so will always bring rewards in the form of success, fulfilment, and happiness.
Above all, take the time to identify your values and let them guide your decisions, you’ll witness how sweet life can be!