Studying an MBA online at RGU while working full-time

MBA graduate Fiona shares her experience studying online at RGU and juggling university with a full-time job and new-born.

My background

Hi I’m Fiona, I live in Aberdeenshire and work in integrity monitoring in the oil and gas industry and have undertaken various science-based roles from lab work, offices, to rotational offshore shifts, since graduating from my first degree at Robert Gordon University in Forensic Science with Chemistry in 2010.

I wanted to learn more about business management and submitted an application to study at RGU for the part-time, online MBA course which was successful. I then joined the cohort in September 2022.

My experience studying flexibly online

The course lectures were held in the evening, which allowed me to log on after finishing work. The course being online-based gave the flexibility to watch the lectures at a later time that was more suitable on occasions when I could not join the live sessions, as the presentations were uploaded onto the university portal.

The coursework dates were mentioned early in the semester to allow students to plan ahead and meet the submission deadline. During the second semester, I became pregnant and juggled the end of the course with a new-born which was challenging at times.

The highlight of the MBA course was meeting the RGU lecturers and fellow students in person during Leadership Week who travelled lengthy distances to be in Aberdeen for the occasion. This was an intense week in which I learned a lot from the lectures, guest speakers, group work and business simulation.

The final consultant project was also a highlight of the degree which allowed me to contribute to my employer with a research project by guidance from an RGU project supervisor. Once this was completed, I presented my project to my colleagues. It was great to share my research and put it into practice.

Finally, the graduation was a great sense of achievement to celebrate the completion of the degree with fellow students and my family. I now look forward to applying my learnings to my career.