Inaugural Smith-Tuck Bridge Program Underway

The Smith-Tuck Bridge Program began on May 25.

Held at Smith College and run by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, this unique installment of Tuck’s Business Bridge Program accepted a competitive mixture of 38 exceptional women students from Smith and 10 other liberal arts and sciences institutions.

“The Smith-Tuck Bridge partnership is a terrific extension of our longstanding partnership in educating high-potential women leaders,” says incoming Tuck Dean Matthew Slaughter. “Our aspiration is not just to create more women leaders, but more women leaders of distinction who draw on the array of critical-thinking skills that the liberal arts instill.”

Lasting three weeks, the Smith-Tuck Bridge Program offers a variety of courses, including managerial economics, corporate finance, and leadership, in addition to capstone team projects and in-depth, one-on-one professional preparation from Tuck’s Career Development Office. After the program ends on June 12, students will have the immediate opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in summer internships.

The Smith-Tuck Bridge Program aims to provide undergraduate women with the business skills they need to succeed in their careers and as future MBA candidates, and is one more example of Tuck’s commitment to increasing the overall number of women pursuing careers in business leadership.

Women currently comprise nearly half of this summer’s Tuck Business Bridge Program participants, with a historic number of women expected to join the entering class of MBA students this fall. Tuck Executive Education offerings, such as Ascent: Leading Multicultural Women to the Top, further underscore the school’s efforts in this area.

When it comes to the Smith-Tuck Bridge Program in particular, the unique advantage that graduates receive—both in recruiting and on the job—comes from blending the expertise of both Smith College and the Tuck School of Business.

“This program represents a shared dream: to expand women’s opportunities for leadership through business education,” says Smith President Kathleen McCartney. “Tuck knows business; Smith knows women’s leadership. Together, we are unstoppable.”