With the aim to enhance student diversity and select students with varying, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has introduced some new changes to the recruitment and admissions process for the 2014-2016 batch of Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management students.

The institute's admissions process has two stages: the Common Admission Test (CAT), followed by Written Analysis and Personal Interview (WA-PI) of shortlisted candidates. Minimum cut-offs for CAT-scores are applied to generate the list of candidates eligible for the WA-PI.

Typically, a weighted average of CAT scores and prior academic performance has been used to generate a merit list of candidates invited for WA-PI. However this year, the list was supplemented with CAT toppers (top 50 or 1 per cent of candidates from the academic stream, whichever was lower) from five broad academic classifications to arrive at the final set of candidates invited for WA-PI. Additionally WA-PI scores were based not only on academic performance and written analysis but also quality of interview, extra-curricular activities, awards, and work experience.

As a result of these changes, the new batch of students at IIM-A this year reflect a diversity of backgrounds not present before at the institute. This year non-engineers constitute 11 per cent of the students to whom offers have been made, compared to a mere 5 per cent or less in the last three years. 28 per cent of the offers, a record high, have been made to women applicants, compared to women constituting only 11 to 22 per cent in the previous years.

"Diversity of perspectives contributes greatly to the discussion-based learning that we employ at IIM-A. Having a broader mix of participants without compromising on quality will enrich the academic experience of IIM-A students even further," says Ashish Nanda, director, IIM-A.