Can Business Schools Increase Student Employability by Embedding Action Learning into Undergraduate Management Education? An Account of Practice

Groves, Catherine J.; Orbaek White, Gabrielle D.; Panya, Fuangfa; Stewart, Jim

Action Learning: Research and Practice, v15 n3 p258-266 2018

Management education is at a pivotal crossroads. In an increasingly globalized world, where change is the only constant, business school graduates leaving university are faced with ever intensifying competition and complexity. Universities have responded by increasing their emphasis on teaching 'employability skills' to graduates. However, undergraduate management curricula still often focus on Programmed Knowledge, which does not adequately prepare graduates for the labour market to which they will inevitably graduate. A Future Search exercise was implemented to help conceptualize new visions of the future of management education, considering the question 'to what extent does management education impact on management practice?' This paper asserts that integrating Questioning Insight and a scholarly practice approach into management education will better equip graduates for the world of work. The authors utilize Kotter's 8-stage model of change to outline a pathway for change and action for business schools to adapt a scholarly practice approach to education into their curricula.

Descriptors: Business Schools, Employment Potential, Experiential Learning, Undergraduate Students, Administrator Education, Business Administration Education, Education Work Relationship, Foreign Countries, Models, Job Training, Educational Strategies, Educational Change, Change Strategies