Can business schools increase student employability by embedding action learning into undergraduate management education? An account of practice

Abstract

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.

Lessons about action learning from undergraduate students in Budapest

“…The paper contributed to the AL literature on what the challenges of adapting AL in an undergraduate programme involving students with limited work experience are (Ogun, Braggs, and Gold 2020;Groves et al 2018) in three ways.…”

“…facilitation), and could undermine the efficiency of action-based learning. Having said that, students' reactions revealed also that AL was a unique and groundbreaking experience for them, thus, AL is a powerful method and philosophy to initiate the necessary 'cultural shift' (Groves et al 2018) in business schools. However, our experiences also warn that until an AL course remains a cultural island in the undergraduate programme, the cultural shift has its limits.…”

“…Brook and Pedler (2020, 9) conclude that AL 'flourishes in some parts and in some universities, especially in postgraduate and post-experience work, but elsewhere seems to have disappeared'. Groves et al (2018) suggest that AL could be useful at the undergraduate level as well: it helps to integrate the real-world experience of undergraduate students, rigorously-derived evidence and critical reflection and to ensure 'employability in its truest sense'. Based on their findings, Ogun, Braggs, and Gold (2020, 95) indicate that AL can enable undergraduate student engagement, as it 'promotes confidence, encourage social and emotional learning and enables students to voice their learning concerns'.…”

The Effectiveness and Impact of Action Learning on Business Graduates’ Professional Practice

“…However, despite being relevant, the aforementioned contributions were either (1) proposed at the conceptual level (e.g., Edmonstone, 2015; Marsick & O’Neil, 1999; Raelin & Coghlan, 2006; Yeo & Gold, 2011) or (2) based on interventions conducted in organizational settings having experienced managers as targets 1 (e.g., Leonard & Marquardt, 2010; Park et al, 2013). There are very few studies of AL that aim at undergraduates with no managerial experience (Groves et al, 2018).…”

“…Scott (2017) defined AL as a collaborative, experience-based approach to learning where participants solve complex, real-world problems by taking action and reflecting on the experience. It is argued that AL's capacity to combine collective action on real-world problems with careful reflection on the experience can better prepare learners to handle the problems they will meet in professional life (Groves et al, 2018;Lackéus, 2014;Rae, 2009;Yeo & Gold, 2011).…”