Sustancialismo y procesalismo en la provincia de Buenos Aires

As noted, there is a range of proposed postgraduate programmes within which to conduct the research, all incorporating management education. The cohorts comprise students from a range of disciplines and levels of experience. The original MSLQ, from which parts of this survey have been adapted, is based is paper-based. Advances in IT make on-line surveys easy to create and electronic data can be interrogated easily, however, electronically administered questionnaires are prone to low response rates (Flick, 2011; Saunders, 2009) thus, the decision was taken to conduct a physical survey in order to encourage greater participation.

95 3.6.5 The Research Population

The postgraduate level has been chosen for the context for this study for a number of reasons, discussed in detail earlier in this work. As noted, much of the research around employability has been undertaken within the undergraduate population (Maxwell et al, 2009; Morgan, 2014) and calls for more research into postgraduates and their employability from the 2009 Universities UK report, and echoed in the 2012 Wilson Review.

Postgraduate education forms a considerable part of the UK Higher Education provision. With postgraduate education having considerable economic significance (HESA, 2013) there is benefit in this study, from the organizational perspective, to explore ways to enhance programmes and maintain (retain) growth. In addition, employability rates are of importance to universities, and research into ways to maintain and enhance this is of benefit to HEIs.

Management education has been selected since managerial competence transcends sectors, hence the findings may be generalised across disciplines. The research population is drawn from a range of postgraduate programmes, all with a management component, delivered at two university business schools. The full breakdown of student numbers by programme is detailed in the following chapter.

The sample of students from whom data was to be collected was determined by convenience, primarily accessibility. Though convenience sampling may be criticised as lacking in rigour (Creswell, 2003; Anderson, 2009) considerable forethought was given to the sample composition. Students were drawn from two institutions, similar in some ways, for example in the level of entry requirements onto postgraduate study, but occupying different places in University league tables. The programmes from which the students were drawn were scrutinised to determine similarity (Appendices 2 and 5), to ensure the students were experiencing sufficiently similar programme aims. A range of postgraduate masters’ programmes, all with themes of management was thus

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included, and all students enrolled on those programmes were invited to participate. In total 450 students took part in the survey.

There is a range of 14 programmes included in the sample, across both institutions. What is evident is the overlap between programmes, for example, of the 14 listed, 10 include Business, and/or Management in the title. Where functions do stand alone, for example Marketing and Finance, the programme specifications (Appendices 1 and 3) indicate the extent to which business and /or management informs the content. Further, Organisational Behaviour is similar in content to Organisational Psychology and Business. What this does suggest is the overlap across postgraduate management programmes. This is not uncommon within Business Schools, and could be argued to be a deliberate strategy to harmonise curriculum where possible, while still giving different programmes a flavour of some specialism. There are advantages in this in terms of effective deployment of resources.

Post Graduate Programmes included in the Study

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS 126

ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND BUSINESS 5

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 14

WORK PSYCHOLOGY & BUSINESS 22

MANAGEMENT 39

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 31

MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE 39

FINANCE 5

MANAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 62

MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING 17

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT 30

MARKETING 4

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 17

MBA (37)

All students surveyed were undertaking the full time variant of their programmes. In addition the surveyed captured small number (13) of part time students. The reasons for this are detailed later.

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On examination of the descriptive data it became apparent that a significant number of students work and study simultaneously, thus the definition of a part-time student becomes increasingly blurred. As such it was decided to include them within the data set. Analysis was undertaken into the responses of this group to determine whether this would have an impact on the overall findings, which did not prove to the case. Details are presented in the following chapter.

In addition the survey captured 37 full time MBA students, all studying at Institution Two, and engaged in full time study. The full time variant of the MBA at this institution shares many similarities with the full time MSc programme, including the same entry requirements (both in terms of classification of first degree (or equivalent) and level of English Language competence). In practice, this group share a number of modules (classes) with their MSc peers. As such, it has been decided to include this group in the analysis. Comparison of the MSc and MBA is included in Appendix 5.

As noted above, students from two Business Schools were invited to take part in the study. The research study was designed as such for a number of reasons. Firstly, gathering data from two institutions offers opportunity for comparison. An examination of the institutions, and their programmes, prior to the study identified similarities and differences. The entry requirements for these programmes at both institutions are very similar. The key requirements are that a candidate must have an honours degree, or equivalent, classified at a minimum as lower second, and secondly that for a candidate for whom English is not their first language must be able to demonstrate a level of competence in oral, written and spoken English. Initially, asking students to indicate their native/first language had been considered, however, given the entry requirements are based on internationally recognised standards, it was felt this would be unnecessary for the purpose of this study. The measures and required standard of language competence are the same at both institutions. These measures are determined via a language qualification, for example, that offered by the International English language Testing System (IELTS). Thus, given the consistency in

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entry requirement onto all of the programmes in the study the surveys may be viewed with confidence, as one data set, whereby the research population may be considered representative of the postgraduate management population of these Business Schools.

Where the schools differ is in the position in league tables with Institution One consistently occupying a higher position, than Institution Two (The Guardian University Guide 2013, The Complete University Guide, 2012). This suggests an opportunity for comparison in exploring whether differences exist between responses from students at the different institutions, and evaluation of that data. A second difference is in the mission and vision of each:

Institution 1:MISSION Our mission is to be the UK’s leading University for business, enterprise and the professions, where original research has a positive impact on the world around us.

Institution 2:MISSION "To transform the prospects of individuals, employers and society through excellence in practice-based education, research and knowledge exchange

."

Institution 1:VISION

Our vision is that in 2020 xxxxx will be a top research led international University renowned for developing future leaders of business and the professions.

Institution 2:VISION

"To be the leading university for creative and professional practice inspired by innovation and enquiry

While similar in aspiration, the only significant difference appears to be the emphasis on research in both the mission and vision in Institution One, though since by their nature statements such as these are self-publicising. Further, it is difficult to read too much into the statements and retain researcher independence, since observations may be drawn from personal knowledge.

99 3.6.6 Piloting the Questionnaire

The questionnaire was piloted to identify any potential issues which would impede the running of the survey. The purpose of piloting can be summarised thus:

• To determine whether the questions asked elicit the information sought

• To establish how long it takes to complete the survey

• To check whether any question is ambiguous, unclear or sensitive

• To check the layout of the survey is easy to follow

• To determine that any accompanying instructions are clear (adapted from Anderson, 2009; Horn, 2010; Burns, 2000).

The questionnaire was piloted among a small group of postgraduate students who would not be included in the final study. As a result of the pilot there were some minor modifications in phrasing and language to eliminate potential ambiguity. As noted earlier, part of the questionnaire was adapted from the MSLQ which had been designed for an American, undergraduate population. Thus minor modifications were made to eliminate language which may have been inconsistent with that expected for the postgraduate UK audience (for example lecturer replaced teacher). Timing was noted and there was a consistency in completion time of around 20/25 minutes. This proved useful in subsequently enabling a preamble when administering the survey giving an indication as to how long the survey would take, in order to manage expectations as to time commitment.