Effects of a holistic, experiential curriculum on business students' satisfaction and career confidence

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Arran Caza, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Students' satisfaction with their major curriculum and their perceptions of career readiness are important drivers of recruitment, retention and rankings. As a result, universities, and business schools in particular, are redesigning curricula to be responsive to marketplace demands. Curricula are increasingly using holistic and experiential learning tools to foster student satisfaction and career confidence. To connect these practices to the outcomes of satisfaction and confidence, we examined student responses to a newly designed, experiential undergraduate business curriculum. The results indicated that, compared to students who graduated from a traditional, functionally structured curriculum, students graduating from the holistic, experiential curriculum were significantly higher in their satisfaction and career self-efficacy (but not leader self-efficacy). These findings provide evidence that holistic, experiential curricular redesign is related to improved student attitudes and confidence. We conclude by discussing the implications for education and future research.

Additional Information

Publication
International Journal of Management Education, 13, 75– 83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2015.01.006
Language: English
Date: 2015
Keywords
Career preparedness, Curriculum redesign, Experiential learning, Management education, Self-efficacy, Student satisfaction

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