Stella Dobbs

Since earning her Master of Digital Business degree with first-class honours, Katikati-born Stella Dobbs has embarked on a rewarding career as a corporate banking analyst at Westpac in Wellington.

This achievement marks her third qualification from the University of Waikato, but the first time she had juggling studying an online master's degree with a full-time job.

“The excellent experience I had studying at the Waikato Management School the first time around made it an easy decision to come back and complete my master’s degree," says Stella.

Coming home after a long day's work to spend the evening doing coursework was a challenge, she admits. But this immersive experience also confirmed that she was studying something she enjoyed.

It helped that Stella’s master’s programme was fully online, allowing her to study from her home in Wellington. “I had to become very disciplined to ensure I was able to meet my commitments from both sides,” she says.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Stella had become increasingly curious about how technology was reshaping the business landscape.

“I was already seeing significant changes in my workplace at the time, and was really interested to delve into this topic. The Master of Digital Business at Waikato looked to be a great way to do this, and the papers were directly relevant to what I was seeing in the workplace."

Stella’s favourite paper was DIGIB558 Contemporary Issues in Digital Business, which not only discussed different technologies, but also encouraged students to use them to enhance the way they presented seminars in class.

“It was normally very easy for me to relate classroom discussions or concepts with real-world examples, which I think is a good sign of a highly applicable qualification."

Stella grew up on an orchard in the Bay of Plenty and attended Katikati College, before heading to Hamilton to study a Bachelor of Electronic Commerce at the University of Waikato, majoring in Strategic Management and Human Resource Management). She also later completed a Graduate Diploma in Finance.

“I loved my time at university and really value the exposure I got to a range of topics and viewpoints. I think the small class sizes helped, where lectures would often turn into discussions. This helped me develop critical thinking skills, and the opportunity to work with different people in group projects is experience I value.”