Katrina Hodgkinson

Can you tell us a little bit about the department you work for, your role, and what you do there?

I’ve been a member of parliament for the state parliament for the last 18 and a half years. During that time I’ve spent eight years as a shadow minister, four years in the public accounts committee, four years as Minister for Primary Industries including Lands and Water, three years as Minister for Small Business, and also a period as the Assistant Minister for Tourism and Major Events.

I’m currently Chair of the Investment Industry and Regional Development Committee. So, I represent about 35,000 km² in the Central West and the Riverina of New South Wales and about 55,000 constituents. I’ve recently established two new electorate offices in that area and I go to parliament in Sydney.

What are the greatest personal and professional benefits you’ve experienced from the MBA so far?

For me personally, not ever thinking that I would ever get through a postgraduate degree but doing so well and even getting a couple of distinctions along the way, the level of personal satisfaction that’s brought me and the great confidence that I’ve had now as a student has been absolutely incredible. And it makes me want to pursue other educational opportunities. So for me now, I’m going to be taking education as a lifelong journey and I look forward to learning as much as I can now that I’ve graduated from the AIB.

What advice would you give to someone looking to study online with AIB whilst still maintaining a work-life balance?

The great thing about the AIB MBA is that it relates directly back to your work. So, it’s a really practical master degree to do. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re working in, even for me as a member of parliament, I was able to reflect back into my workplace the things that I was learning through my MBA, whatever the subject was. So, it’s a really practical way of doing it.

Some degrees can be quite highbrow; this one’s a really normal, practical one that we can apply to our everyday lives.

Would you like to add any further reflections or thoughts about your MBA journey?

As a busy mother and a fulltime professional, doing an online MBA through the AIB is the way to go, and I would recommend it to anyone in my position.

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