ERIC Number: EJ1309456
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-3297
EISSN: N/A
Exploring Students' Justifications for Studying a Master's Degree in Business through Problem-Based Learning
O'Brien, Ronan; McGarr, Oliver; Lynch, Ray
Innovations in Education and Teaching International, v58 n4 p398-407 2021
Many studies have espoused the pedagogical benefits of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) across multiple disciplines. With the increasing use of PBL within higher education there exists a need to consider its position not just as a pedagogical approach but as a functional instrument in the development and promotion of social capital and status. Drawing on social identity theory (SIT), this study explored Business Masters graduates' justification for undertaking a PBL-based programme. The findings suggest that students discursively elevated the status of the PBL programme they had completed over other alternatives, in an attempt to gain professional mobility. Two primary strategies of "individual mobility" and "social competition" were employed by participants to elevate their position. This paper concludes by problematising the utilisation of pedagogical approaches as a mechanism for differentiating programmes and graduates within an increasing competitive higher educational landscape.
Descriptors: Graduate Students, Problem Based Learning, Business Administration Education, Student Attitudes, Career Development, Occupational Mobility, Competition, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ireland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A