Pronita Ganguly felt trapped. She was well-educated, with a BS in Computer Applications, but she didn’t enjoy her work. She felt drawn to other fields, particularly finance, but wasn’t sure if she could commit to a Master’s Degree – until she discovered the Introduction to Finance Specialization from the University of Michigan on Coursera. Here’s her story:
After completing my Bachelor’s in Computer Application in 2012, I felt pigeonholed into a particular field of study. I was keen to pursue my Masters in Finance, but without any prior knowledge of that field, I didn’t feel able to make an informed decision – I was contemplating a decades-long career without knowing much about anything except computer science.
I decided to get a little more background knowledge by taking a finance course from the University of Michigan on Coursera. And surprisingly it was very rigorous. I found someone in my office who was taking the same course, and we discussed the topics after watching the video lectures.
That course ended up being a turning point in my life. I learned that finance isn’t just a set of tools, but a way of thinking – and I learned that I definitely wanted to pursue a career in this field. Today, I have worked a year in the largest commercial bank in India, and I am pursuing my Masters in Finance from Mumbai University.