Karthik Rathinasabapathy

London Business School

“Passionate educator committed to addressing educational disadvantage.”

Hometown: London, UK

Fun Fact About Yourself: I enjoy photography and have had several photos published in the Sunday Times travel section!

Undergraduate School and Major: Imperial College – Mathematics with Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Harris Federation (the top performing large multi-academy trust in the United Kingdom) Job Title – Vice Principal, Harris Federation Post-16

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Playing a key role in addressing educational disadvantage by helping pupils from poor socio-economic backgrounds in the state sector gain places at top Russell group universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Their enthusiasm for starting an MBA at one of the most diverse and exciting schools in the world!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The incredibly diverse nature of the cohort provides fantastic learning opportunities, not just from an academic point of view but also a cultural one. My passion to addressing educational disadvantage extends to the global sector as well, especially in developing or under-developed nations. LBS provides me an opportunity to explore my ideas with an incredibly talented group of individuals and discuss with them sustainable ways in which the corporate world can work in partnership with schools and colleges.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m looking forward to going on the treks that are now embedded as part of the LBS culture.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Having spent 12 years in the state education sector, I believe that the MBA provides me the perfect opportunity to consolidate my ideas and help me combine my passion for education with my entrepreneurial ambitions.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I’ve had three siblings graduate from the LBS and I’ve seen first-hand how they thoroughly enjoyed their MBA experience. They were full of praise for the high quality of the programme – the faculty, alumni network, post-graduation careers support and of course their respective cohorts.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Cambridge, Yale, Columbia,

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I spoke to various alumni at the schools and also did my research on the incubator facilities. I also looked at the MBA ratings and read up on people’s experiences on blogs (including Poets & Quants). My sister, Prabha, has spent time in London, Berlin, Lisbon, New York and Portland setting up and growing her business after her graduation in 2015. She feels that the alumni network and careers service have provided for an incredibly supportive environment, one where you are encouraged to think outside the box and are provided with the right tools to facilitate your thinking.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Doing the Teach First programme – the first year of teaching in an inner-city London school was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I had to invest a significant amount of energy and time into building good working relationships with the pupils, the majority of whom were from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The teaching experience helped me experience me the power of education in bringing about change in students’ lives by providing them with a wide range of options. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and stayed on for sixth years in total in my Teach First school (usually a two year programme)

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I would like to stay involved in education long term and perhaps set up my own educational consultancy.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Running an educational consultancy that has a meaningful positive impact on the education system.