Ignacio Puente

MIT Political Science Luksic Fellowship

Consultant at Bain & Company

Seeking to better understand the fundamental aspects of Argentine politics and with the hope of finding answers to the phenomena of political instability affecting his country as well as other neighboring Latin countries, Ignacio Puente was inspired to choose political science as his academic and professional path.

As a result, Ignacio received his Bachelor’s in Political Science and Government from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina, and upon graduating, he went on to complete a Master’s in Economics at the Universidad de San Andrés, also within the same country, to improve his quantitative skills. He then entered the private equity world but started to feel more drawn to academia. “Everyone I worked with was applying to the MIT MBA program, but I was more attracted to academia and wanted to do a PhD, so I made the decision to do it.”

Aspiring to combine both the private sector and academia in his career, Ignacio enrolled in MIT’s PhD in Political Science in 2014 to embark on this 12-semester program through which students explore the empirical phenomena that produce new scholarly insights, with classes in statistics, empirical research methods, and political philosophy, as well as field research.

Reflecting on his experience, Ignacio says, “MIT is a wonderful program. I was able to do a lot of field research, traveling to many different cities in Latin America, such as Argentina, my home country, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, over a two-year period. I was also able to meet and collaborate with other international students within the program who were not only from Latin America but also from other parts of the world. Our cohort was between 10 and 12 people and approximately half of them were international.”

Ignacio attributes MIT’s PhD in Political Science program to providing him with a unique international perspective on political science and political economy, as well as helping him understand how to fit business into this equation, as he is interested in combining both the private world and academia within his career. “Without this PhD, I would not have known about all these opportunities that are now available to me. The program changed me and gave me opportunities that I never would have thought of having in Argentina.”

His advice to others looking to complete a graduate program is to network and reach out to those who are currently studying or who have completed a graduate degree as you can learn a lot from their perspective. He also says it’s okay to try out non-traditional paths to see what works for you. “I tried out the private sector and then academia, and I’m glad I did so because then I was able to make the most informed decision regarding my career path – trying it out and having a bit of back-and-forth is okay.”