Which Minor Is Right For You?
Each of the minors offered by Derby Entrepreneurship Center and Tufts Gordon Institute are designed for a different cluster of student interests. The following table can help you explore which one is the right one for you.
Most of the courses in entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and management are cross listed. If you took a course designed for one of the minors, and decide to declare a different minor, you can usually count that first course as an elective for the minor of your choice.
| Entrepreneurship Minor | Entrepreneurship for Social Impact Minor | Engineering Management Minor | Leadership and Management Minor | |
| Overview | The Entrepreneurship Minor is the most popular minor at Tufts. Students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset and learn business skills. | The Entrepreneurship for Social Impact Minor helps students solve societal problems and drive impact with an entrepreneurial approach. | The Engineering Management Minor emphasizes real-life experience and engineering practice, equipping students with a competitive edge in the workplace. | The Leadership and Management minor delivers essential leadership competencies that help students becomee impactful members of society. |
| Who’s it for? | Students interested in learning the language of business so they can take idea to action through an entrepreneurial approach | Students who are passionate about solving societal problems in civic life through social and political engagement with a bias to action | Students pursuing a career in technology who want to gain leadership skills that helps them go from theory to practice in the workplace | Students who want to learn business skills that help them become impactful members of society as they embark on their personal and professional journeys |
| What will students explore in our courses and programming? | Students examine their own passions and interests, develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset to take the first step towards realizing their purpose and impact. | Students explore the entrepreneurial method as well as the fundamentals of civic studies. They will learn to apply the former in the context of the latter for social impact. | Students develop soft skills, including communications, project and product management that will help them succeed in a professional career in technology | Students explore business skills including leadership, financial literacy, marketing and communications that helps them navigate their careers. |
| What are the takeaways for each minor? | Students will come away with a bias to action and the iterative mindset. Armed with strong business skills, they will feel more confident about taking the first step to turn their idea to action. | Students will become active citizens who turn their passion for justice into impact through starting, joining, or running social enterprises. They feel empowered to make change at any level. | Students entering a technical career will know how technical and non-technical work content manifests in the workplace. They are effective team members and are primed to learn, excel, and advance. | Students entering the workforce will have a better understanding of how business and industry works. They will have built a solid foundation of leadership mindset and skillset for career advancement. |
| Example Topics | Creativity and Innovation, marketing and sales, finance and operations, personal leadership and purpose, product management, venture creation | Creating and running social enterprises, philanthropy, civic action and social movements, civic skills, social conflict and justice, venture creation | Technical communications, technical project management, engineering leadership, innovation management | Leadership and management, financial literacy, marketing, career path planning, personal leadership and purpose |
| Example Career Outcomes | Consulting, financial services, marketing & sales, customer success, product manager, founding or joining new ventures, leading a family business | Policy and research, associate at multinational nonprofits, community leaders at a university, social entrepreneurship | Engineer, software development engineer, user experience designer, project manager, product manager | Consulting, financial services, marketing & sales, customer success, joining a large corporation, leading a family business |
Need help choosing a minor?
Contact us and we will be happy to guide you through your options.