Doubting the connection: millennials’ perceptions of the link between higher education and workplace readiness

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah M. Omilion-Hodges ◽  
Scott E. Shank ◽  
Christine M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Anticipatory Socialization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Workplace Interactions ◽  
Workplace Readiness ◽  
Vocational Anticipatory Socialization ◽  
Workplace Behaviors ◽  
Perceived Relevance ◽  
The Impact

Purpose While Millennials are the most educated generation to date, the unique contributions of higher education as a source of vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) for organizational success remains unknown. Thus, this paper aims to establish a formative understanding from the student perspective of how faculty help ready the youngest of the Millennial generation for industry. This also allows for a comparison to their older counterparts. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online mixed-methods survey with nearly 400 Millennials (n = 353). Findings Two prominent themes emerged including the professor as a socialization agent, where Millennials report learning from faculty as they are “managers of the classroom.” Additionally, the data indicate that many Millennials doubt the strength of the connection between higher education and career socialization, though a smaller cohort reported using the university environment, and more specifically, their interactions with faculty to practice and refine future workplace behaviors. In contrast to parents and peers, faculty nearly always ranked as the lowest source of VAS information. Research limitations/implications Some Millennials demonstrate a keen awareness of the importance of relational communication, boding especially well for their relationships with future managers and for their leadership skills as they transition into positions of management. Practical implications Faculty should consider how to address three concerns: a potential lack of perceived relevance, workplace inferences based on college experiences and leveraging interactions to strengthen student practice of professional communication. Managers would be well served to anticipate how to address newcomers’ expectations that stem from interpreting communicative experiences in the college classroom as analogous to workplace interactions. Originality/value The data indicate that traditional ideas about the impact of vocational anticipatory socialization sources and messaging need to be rethought, and instead, it appears some of the most fruitful socialization experiences faculty can provide is in giving students space and opportunity to practice and refine future workplace behaviors.

Embedding employability within higher education for the profession of policing

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-328
Author(s):  
Ian Pepper ◽  
Ruth McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Provision ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of an employability module, the College of Policing Certificate in Knowledge of Policing (CKP), on students’ career aspirations, their confidence and wish to join the police along with the appropriateness of the module. This will inform the implementation of employability as part of the College of Policing-managed Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF). Design/methodology/approach A three-year longitudinal research study used mixed methods across four points in time to evaluate the impact on students studying the employability module. Findings The research suggests that the employability-focussed CKP was useful as an introduction to policing, it developed interest in the police and enhanced the confidence of learners applying to join. Lessons learnt from the CKP should be considered during the implementation of the PEQF. Research limitations/implications The ability to generalise findings across different groups is limited as other influences may impact on a learner’s confidence and employability. However, the implications for the PEQF curriculum are worthy of consideration. Practical implications As the police service moves towards standardised higher educational provision and evolution of policing as a profession, lessons can be learnt from the CKP with regards to the future employability of graduates. Originality/value Enhancing the employability evidence base, focussing on policing, the research identified aspects which may impact on graduates completing a degree mapped to the PEQF. The research is therefore of value to higher education and the professional body for policing.

The impact of self-development on the tendency toward organizational innovation in higher education institutions with the mediating role of human resource agility

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Narenji Thani ◽  
Ebrahim Mazari ◽  
Somaye Asadi ◽  
Maryam Mashayekhikhi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nonacademic Staff ◽  
Self Development ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeConsidering innovation and its improvement as an essential strategy to enable organizations to continue their lives in the new competitive environment leads to a focus on employees' self-development as a factor that affects human resource agility (HRA) and the tendency toward organizational innovation. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to explain the impact of self-development on the tendency toward organizational innovation with the role of the mediator, HRA in higher education institutions as one of the most important and vital organizations in any society.Design/methodology/approachThe study was an applicable one with the quantitative approach using the descriptive–correlative method. The population consisted of 477 nonacademic employees of Kharazmi University among whom 214 ones were selected as the sample group, using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through the self-development, HRA and the tendency toward organizational innovation questionnaires and then analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach.FindingsThe study findings revealed a positive impact of self-development on the HRA (γ = 0/79) and HRA on the tendency toward organizational innovation (β = 0/6). Also, self-development with mediating HRA impacts the tendency toward organizational innovation (β = 0/58). Finally, self-development had no direct impact on the tendency toward organizational innovation.Research limitations/implicationsTaking the circumstances of doing this research into consideration, if there were the opportunity to do the research on the staffs of more than one university simultaneously and categorize the university staff into executives, managers and experts, more favorable results could be achieved. Also, considering group and organizational factors with the attention to the self-development approach and its factors would provide more awareness-training information on the higher education system in Iran. For future researches, both the individual and group factors are suggested to be surveyed and compared, to assess the weight and impact of these factors all together and to provide an adequate clarification of the role of the group and the organization. Finally, in future studies, it is also recommended that a qualitative approach be used to reach deeper clarifications on the aspects of these variables in the context of higher education.Practical implicationsThese findings have major practical implications concerning the higher educational settings. The findings of this study must give significant and practical insights for policymakers of universities and other higher education stakeholders, as well as recommendations to the academic community for further research in this area. First, they should recognize that nonacademic staff members are professional employees who contribute to improving organizational innovation. Higher education must focus on designing and implementing successful mechanisms and a well-planned self-development program that can help and promote the self-development approach among all staff. If the above-mentioned programs are designed based on the employees' needs analysis, they will get trained in a way to enhance mental and behavioral flexibility. The programs with such an approach can result in the proactive, adaptive, resilient behavior and agility of HR.Originality/valueThe model for this study has integrated and prioritized the key innovation drivers that would help universities design, adopt and implement policies and practices that facilitate and encourage improvements and adaptation to a fast-paced environment. Furthermore, the convincing reason for the significance of the current research is that although several types of research have been carried out on each of these three variables in different contexts separately, very few studies, like this, have directly examined the correlation between these three variables among the non-academic staff in higher education institutes. So, given the importance of the issue and rare availability of evidence in this regard, the authors were intrigued to discover whether the self-development through the mediation of HRA could reinforce and strengthen the tendency toward organizational innovation and whether HRA could be an appropriate mediator of the relationship between self-development and the tendency toward organizational innovation among the nonacademic staff of Kharazmi University as one of the most prestigious and celebrated universities in Iran.

Student entrepreneurship ecosystems at Australian higher education institutions

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Maritz ◽  
Quan Nguyen ◽  
Sergey Ivanov
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
University Student ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Student Entrepreneurship ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Entrepreneurship Ecosystems ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
The Impact

PurposeDespite the significance, university student start-ups and student entrepreneurship ecosystems (SEEs) have been subject to little research. This study aims to apply a qualitative emergent enquiry approach to explore best practice SEEs in Australia, complimented by narratives from leading scholars in higher education institutions with the aim of delineating the integrative components of SEEs.Design/methodology/approachAdopting the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework and aligned to the social cognitive theory, this paper explores the components and dynamics of SEEs, contributing to an understanding of how such components can better support the growth, sustainability and success of student start-ups. The authors extend entrepreneurship research on social construction using narrative research.FindingsThe findings provide guidelines for researchers, entrepreneurship scholars and educators, entrepreneurship students, policymakers and practitioners to enhance the impact and success of university student start-ups by adopting a student ecosystem approach.Research limitations/implicationsThe narratives represent a limited number of universities with an opportunity for further research to empirically measure the impact and outcomes of SEEs. The research is exploratory, inherently conceptual and emergent, providing an opportunity for validation of narrative frameworks in future studies.Practical implicationsThe findings may assist university managers to be more aware of their own subconscious preferences to student entrepreneurship and start-up initiatives, which may be useful in refining their impact and offerings regarding a quest toward the entrepreneurial university.Social implicationsFrom social perspectives, the alignment of the components of SEE has the ability to enhance and shift the entrepreneurial mindset of entrepreneurship students, notwithstanding enhancement of intentionality and self-efficacy.Originality/valueThis is the first study of SEEs in Australia, highlighting the importance of the integration of entrepreneurship education programs, entrepreneurship education ecosystems, the entrepreneurial university and specific start-up initiatives such as university accelerators. Furthermore, students may enhance their entrepreneurial mindset by actively engaging in such ecosystems.

Exploring the student perspectives on the barriers of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shikha Rana
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Student Teacher Relationship ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
The Government

PurposeThe present study aims to gauge the perspectives of students on the difficulties they faced during online learning during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique.Design/methodology/approachThe current study employed IPA, and it was conducted among the students enrolled for professional courses in the government, private and deemed-to-be universities in Uttarakhand, India, using semi-structured interviews for the purpose of data collection.FindingsThe findings have been grouped under five parts referred to as “superordinate themes” or “barriers” which comprises learning in an online class environment, online learning in the home environment, student–teacher relationship in online learning, technical hindrances in online learning and health issues in online learning. These superordinate themes were further grouped under sub-themes.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study focused on the students of various private, public and deemed-to-be universities of the Uttarakhand region and represents the higher education sector only and did not tap the primary, secondary and vocational education. The students of academic courses or degree courses like arts, commerce, basic sciences and humanities, etc. were not included in the research study. Hence, the study lacks generalizability.Practical implicationsThe research findings of the present study have implications for higher education institutions (HEIs), teachers, students and policymakers.Originality/valueThe present study addresses the methodological gap by offering a new line of research where IPA has been used as the methodology to determine the barriers of online learning in the COVID-19 situation, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the studies have used it so far to ascertain the barriers to online learning from the student perspective.

scholarly journals Teacher Fellow accreditation – a madrigal of voices! But is it the right tune? Tensions of standardisation, engagement and neoliberalism

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel Kershaw-Solomon ◽  
Nick Beech ◽  
Jeff Gold ◽  
Julia Claxton ◽  
Tricia Auty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Competency Frameworks ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact competency frameworks as standardisation can have on the employee engagement of academic staff within higher education (HE) through their employment as managerial tools. Design/methodology/approach A literature review is conducted from which the conditions for effective competency frameworks are evaluated and the influence of changes in the HE environment in the form of political agendas and tight resources are explored. Findings This paper provides insights into the dynamics of public service modernisation and the tensions between the dominant discourse of managerialism and the degree of agency afforded to professional academics. It highlights the relevance of informal peer relationships in setting the climate to generate collegial bonding and professional engagement that underpin successful teacher fellowship accreditations. It further highlights the key role managers play in this process and provides a conceptual framework highlighting the dynamics and combined effect of employee engagement and competency frameworks set within complex HE environment. Practical implications This paper brings together the prerequisites for effective implementation of competency frameworks to implement successful employee engagement strategies set within the complexities of the HE context, which has not been studied to date. Armed with such insights, Human Resource Development (HRD) departments and universities can implement competency assessments that generate greater staff engagement. Originality/value The paper provides a critical approach in reviewing the impact of Continued Professional Development and its link to professional status and thus helps British Universities and others to understand how the mechanisms at work affect engagement levels of academic staff. Armed with this depth of understanding of how the change initiative works, with whom and under what circumstances, universities will be better able to meet target UK Professional Standards Framework membership levels required by the higher education academy (HEA) and, subsequently, the HEA to meet their targets for the government.

scholarly journals Impact of first-year seminar on student engagement, awareness, and general attitudes toward higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothaina A. Al-Sheeb ◽  
Mahmoud Samir Abdulwahed ◽  
Abdel Magid Hamouda
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
College Of Law ◽  
First Year Seminars ◽  
Campus Resources ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Year Seminar

Purpose This study intends to add to the existing body of literature on the impact of a newly implemented first year seminar in the College of Law and Business. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects the course have on students in regard to three aspects: student awareness and utilization of resources, interaction patterns, as well as, general interests and attitudes toward higher education. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of the assessment included analysis of a survey that has been conducted by the end of Spring 2014 semester. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to measure the impact of the intervention on students’ awareness and utilization of resources, interactions, general interests, and attitudes toward higher education. Through the SPSS application, the Mann Whitney U Test, and χ2 tests were used to check for significant differences while comparing the means or frequencies for both groups. For the three questions, the authors have used the 90 percent confidence level and the standard significance level p-value of 0.05 or less for statistical analysis. Findings The results indicated that the course had a highly significant positive impact on student attitudes and awareness of campus resources but had less significant impact on student interactions and utilization of resources. The results in this study reveal a positive impact for the first-year seminar course on student satisfaction and attitudes toward higher education as well as their awareness of campus resources. However, in terms of the course impact on student interaction, results conveyed that students who have participated in the first-year seminar course show a slightly better interaction rate with instructors, academic advisors, and close friends than those in the control group. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study was that the sample was small. Nonetheless, it has provided valuable insights into the understanding of the social and academic impact of first-year seminars on student engagement; through the use of comparison groups, this study increased the validity of prior research. Practical implications The first-year seminar course evaluated in this study demonstrated the potential to support and enhance student social and academic engagement during the first year of college. Based on the results in this study, the study team recommended some revisions to the current first-year seminar model (UNIV P100 Skills for University Success). The team proposed three models for subsequent first-year seminars at this university. Originality/value This study adds to the existing literature by examining the impact of a newly implemented first-year seminar course at the College of Law and Business at this university on both academic and non-academic aspects from the students’ perspective. These aspects were selected as retention and GPA effects have been widely explored; therefore, the focus is on the less studied emotional and social factors associated with student success and retention. The results from this study can act as a guide for universities intending to introduce a first-year seminar course as it gives clear guidelines on design, content, and course implementation, which can be useful in enhancing general student motivation and attitudes toward academic study and higher education in general.

Higher education institutions, PRME and partnerships for the goals: retrofit labeling or driving force for change?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hauser ◽  
Annmarie Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Current Mode ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Important Variation ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to propose a framework to map partnerships as practiced in higher education institutions (HEIs) and trace the current mode of engagement between HEIs and their partners. This paper reflects on the alignment between current practices and what is understood in the literature as “true” partnerships. We are interested in the different modes of engagement that are labeled by the HEIs as partnerships and consider the plasticity of the term. The interest is in how the term is operationalized by HEIs and how variations in approach can be accounted for while still maintaining some stability and common understanding of the term partnership. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on extant literature in the field of cross-sector partnerships, a three-dimensional framework is proposed to map partnerships as practiced in HEIs. Furthermore, this paper draws on insights gained from the partnership stories of 13 leading principles of responsible management education (PRME) signatories to evidence examples of how this framework can help us to categorize the different types of engagement that the HEIs call partnerships. These case stories were gathered in the fall of 2019, based on a brief inquiry form sent to the 39 PRME signatories who were part of the PRME Champions Cycle 2018–2019. Findings This paper sees cases where faculty drive interaction on sustainable development goal-related issues with external stakeholders, but where the impact of these interactions seems to reside within the main business of the HEI (teaching and research). In contrast, much partnering work addresses broader social impacts. Of particular, interest in partnerships that seek to address a specific local issue, first and foremost and doing so in such a way as to apply the unique resources of the HEI working in multi-stakeholder networks. This paper also notes important variation between individual faculty-driven initiatives and initiatives where the school provides a strategic framework to support these efforts. Research limitations/implications By focusing on the academic sector and its stakeholder partnerships, this paper contributes to the literature on cross-sector partnerships. In particular, the specifics of this context and the importance of, for example, academic freedom have been under-researched in this field. Furthermore, the framework presented is novel in that it helps us to grasp the nuances of external university partnerships that can form out of individual, programmatic and other institutional levels. Practical implications From a practice perspective, the framework offers a useable tool for HEI partnership managers to position themselves and their activities and reflect more on how they organize external partnerships. Further, this tool offers a more precise framework for the discussion on partnerships within the PRME to sharpen the partnership instrument and bring more clarity about what is meant by the partnership for the goals. Originality/value The paper offers a novel partnership portfolio framework that contributes both to theory and practice. The framework aids in mapping the locus of benefits/outcomes and the material and affective commitments made by the HEI to bring these collaborations about. In dimensionalizing partnerships in this way, this paper can conceptualize a balanced portfolio in an HEI’s partnerships for the goals.

Decision-making system for higher education university selection: comparison of priorities pre- and post-COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishnadas Nanath ◽  
Ali Sajjad ◽  
Supriya Kaitheri
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Selection ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

PurposeUniversity selection in higher education is a complex task for aspirants from a decision-making perspective. This study first aims to understand the essential parameters that affect potential students' choice of higher education institutions. It then aims to explore how these parameters or priorities have changed given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning about the differences in priorities for university selection pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic might help higher education institutions focus on relevant parameters in the post-pandemic era.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a mixed-method approach, with primary and secondary data (university parameters from the website and LinkedIn Insights). We developed a university selector system by scraping LinkedIn education data of various universities and their alumni records. The final decision-making tool was hosted on the web to collect potential students' responses (primary data). Response data were analyzed via a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) model. Portal-based data collection was conducted twice to understand the differences in university selection priorities pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic. A one-way MANOVA was performed to find the differences in priorities related to the university decision-making process pre- and post-COVID-19.FindingsThis study considered eight parameters of the university selection process. MANOVA demonstrated a significant change in decision-making priorities of potential students between the pre- and post-COVID-19 phases. Four out of eight parameters showed significant differences in ranking and priority. Respondents made significant changes in their selection criteria on four parameters: cost (went high), ranking (went low), presence of e-learning mode (went high) and student life (went low).Originality/valueThe current COVID-19 pandemic poses many uncertainties for educational institutions in terms of mode of delivery, student experience, campus life and others. The study sheds light on the differences in priorities resulting from the pandemic. It attempts to show how social priorities change over time and influence the choices students make.

Communicating science in higher education and research institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
Thorsten Schwetje ◽  
Christiane Hauser ◽  
Stefan Böschen ◽  
Annette Leßmöllmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Internal Stakeholders ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Executive Boards ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe paper reports on a research project exploring the change in the organizational context of communicators and communication units in higher education and research institutions (HERIs), the importance of informal processes within their daily work and the great diversity of expectations communicators have to tackle.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review, a mixed-methods study combining expert interviews with 54 German HERI heads of communication units, an online-survey and a document analysis of organizational characteristics was conducted. Findings were validated in four focus groups.FindingsThe study illuminates the impact of organizational and operational structures of HERIs on communicators and their boundary spanning activities. Due to varying expectations of stakeholders, communicators constantly have to switch roles. Members of HERIs' executive boards affect status and working conditions for communicators in the organization.Research limitations/implicationsInterviews with other HERI actors, especially members of the executive board, are proposed to get more thorough insights into the organizational context of HERIs and the mutual expectations of different internal stakeholders.Practical implicationsInsights from the project may help HERI actors to reflect their organizational context and to identify potentially contentious structures or processes.Originality/valueCommunicating science sometimes clashes with complex organizational and operational structures. Despite the “organizational turn” in HERI research, there is a lack of data on the relation between communicators, their communication units and the larger organizational context. The exploratory study addresses this gap.

Recognition of prior learning as an access tool

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-570
Author(s):  
Ike Hlongwane
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Alternative Route ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Recognition Of Prior Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Training

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of recognition of prior learning (RPL) as an alternative tool for access into learning programmes in South African Library and Information Science (LIS) schools. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted quantitative methods, and utilised questionnaires and document analysis to collect data. Findings The study found that despite an institutional “will” among the LIS schools to open up access to learners who come from diverse backgrounds; there are still aspects that inhibit the use of RPL as an alternative route of access into higher education and training. Research limitations/implications In-depth interviews were not conducted to ascertain the veracity of the findings. Practical implications This study was valuable for institutions, policy makers, government and other stakeholders to assess the impact of RPL implementation in higher education and training. Originality/value Despite there been very little published concerning RPL implementation in higher education and training, use of RPL, as an alternative route to access into higher education and training is generally low. The paper seeks to highlight and promote RPL as an alternative route of access into higher education and training especially for non-matriculants from diverse backgrounds.

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