Kelly Smith, Dina Williams, Naveed Yasin and Ian Pitchford
The purpose of this paper is to present a survey of postgraduate research (PGRs) students studying at the University of Huddersfield, concentrating on entrepreneurial attributes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a survey of postgraduate research (PGRs) students studying at the University of Huddersfield, concentrating on entrepreneurial attributes and the importance of enterprise-related skills future career intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Electronic survey questions asked respondents to rate their confidence in a series of enterprise-related skills, and each skill's importance in their career development. Identification with attributes relating to independence, risk taking, self-efficacy, tolerance of ambiguity, and innovativeness were explored. Further questions probed the importance of enterprise skills development, research impact, and career aspirations including business start-up potential.
Findings
Respondents identified with entrepreneurial attributes and were positive towards enterprise skills development. The majority felt that their research could have commercial impact, and over a third reported that starting a business appealed to them. Comparisons of importance and confidence ratings identified skills areas where confidence was relatively low and needed to be improved, where there is a large gap between confidence and importance, and where a skill was rated as having lower importance than is optimal from an institutional perspective. Interestingly, different groups of students considered “self-employment” compared with “business start-up” as a career option.
Research limitations/implications
These single-institution results suggest that PGRs are more entrepreneurial than might be expected. Is the higher education (HE) sector underestimating the entrepreneurial potential of the PGR population, their appetite for engaging in enterprise, and their enterprise and commercialisation training needs?
Originality/value
The results have relevance for the HE community in terms of understanding PGR entrepreneurial attributes, and training needs for enterprise and commercialisation of research output.
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Dina Williams, Kelly Smith, Naveed Yasin and Ian Pitchford
– The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the state of enterprise education and skills training at postgraduate level at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the state of enterprise education and skills training at postgraduate level at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).
Design/methodology/approach
A case-study research strategy was used to address the lack of existing research on enterprise training for postgraduate researchers (PGRs). The initial task was to identify those UK universities which provide enterprise and entrepreneurship training for their PGRs. Based on this desk exercise, five universities were selected according to the nature and structure of their training programmes and geographical spread such that one university was included from Wales, Scotland, South of England, Midlands and North of England. The next stage of the research focused on gaining in-depth understanding of the enterprise training available to PRGs at selected universities through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with key personnel responsible for the design and management of PGR enterprise education programmes. The data collected were analysed using the Rugby Team Impact Framework to explore the training and development provision and structure, internal and external profile raising and awareness, staff and skills required, research-based practices, the reaction of participants, behaviour and outcomes, stakeholder engagement and on-going strategy.
Findings
The paper highlights the current best practices in enterprise education for PGRs. It identified key factors contributing to the success of selected programmes including the development of objectives, the modes and pedagogy of delivery and the involvement of stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the research enable universities across the UK to drive the development of a suite of learning opportunities tailored to the needs of the PGR population in order to overcome barriers to engagement and best promote entrepreneurial activity – both within employment and as new venture creation – as appropriate career options.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the limited literature concerning the state of enterprise training for PGRs which provides a detail analysis of current provisions useful for benchmarking and planning purposes and which can be useful to researchers and enterprise education providers.
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Johanna Kingsman and Ian Davis
This paper examines the impact of lived experiences and attitudinal blueprints on researchers within the context of masculinities research. It explores the negotiation of gendered…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the impact of lived experiences and attitudinal blueprints on researchers within the context of masculinities research. It explores the negotiation of gendered roles, exploring how personal narratives shape our engagement in gender research and the collaborative process of meaning-making. It discusses the methodological tensions surrounding narrative research and naturalistic inquiry when investigating masculinities.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a feminist post-structuralist lens, this paper analyses the discursive nature of masculinities and its theoretical and historical construction, alongside the use of narrative research methodologies in research practices.
Findings
The paper reinforces the importance of feminist frameworks in deconstructing gender norms and challenging implicit assumptions. The role of reflexivity in the research process and the potential for researcher subjectivity as a resource is emphasised. Drawing on existing scholarship and the authors' empirical research experiences, the importance of researcher reflexivity in recognising the potential for gender performativity in the research setting is emphasised, especially in gendered research spaces and when engaging with methodologies tacitly understood through gendered ideological lenses.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions exploring the intersection of gender, theory and practice.
Originality/value
The paper's theoretical exploration contributes to understandings of gender dynamics in research and offers insights into the complexities of conducting masculinities research from a critical perspective. The paper contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions exploring the intersection of gender, theory and practice.
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The theory of macroeconomic policy that has dominated thought and policy‐making since the later 1930s is essentially one‐dimensional in the closed economy (and two dimensional in…
Abstract
The theory of macroeconomic policy that has dominated thought and policy‐making since the later 1930s is essentially one‐dimensional in the closed economy (and two dimensional in the open economy). That is to say, in a closed economy we have been taught to operate on the level of demand ‐ with any or every macroeconomic instrument. When inflation is too rapid the aim has been to use (some or all of) our policy instruments to reduce demand; and when unemployment is too high we have learned to raise it.
In a short survey of children’s literature from the eighteenth century onwards, major themes and areas for research are identified. The nature of children’s literature between…
Abstract
In a short survey of children’s literature from the eighteenth century onwards, major themes and areas for research are identified. The nature of children’s literature between 1900 and 1920 and the 1920s to the 1950s is then discussed in greater detail with reference to the children’s books of many types published during the periods. Again, themes are identified and many avenues for research in different fields of study are indicated.
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While some libraries have done their best over the years to inform the public as to what they are doing and can do as regards helping readers, others seem to move along without…
Abstract
While some libraries have done their best over the years to inform the public as to what they are doing and can do as regards helping readers, others seem to move along without making any special effort to publicise their facilities. In the old days modesty was a virtue, but now it is its own reward. Government departments, which used to shun the limelight, now employ public relations officers in large numbers, and professional bodies and big business houses constantly seek publicity. Times have changed, and the battle is to the strong; and it is unfortunately generally felt that the institution or service that does not speak for itself has little to speak about. It may frankly be said that if a service is in a position to enlarge its sphere of influence and esteem it should do so to the utmost of its endeavour. But it will be granted that if its publicity is not justified by performance, there will likely be an unhappy reaction.
IN an article in The Economist for February 17th, entitled “Facts about Fiction,” the writer refers to “this useful but unobtrusive social service” (the public libraries) and the…
Abstract
IN an article in The Economist for February 17th, entitled “Facts about Fiction,” the writer refers to “this useful but unobtrusive social service” (the public libraries) and the unaccustomed limelight in which they were bathed by the Centenary. The adjectives, congenial as they are and, indeed, as is the tone of the whole article, merit further examination; but the main subject discussed is the library which lends books for money profit. It may be that there will never be a condition of affairs in which the supply of fiction—however it is given—will not be called into question. It is, we are convinced, desirable that it should be reviewed from time to time by the public librarian. It is hoped that this number may be a useful instance. The writer, we notice, has memories of libraries which were “jolted” out of the cast‐iron system of the indicator method of issue by the increase of reading between the two wars. We know that this freedom was won before the first world war. The other point that concerns us is the assertion that a general opinion of light reading in public libraries is based on a wrong view. “In even the biggest and most liberally provided public libraries the addict of one class of novel—be it ‘typist‐marries‐boss’ or ‘riding the range’—can only find enough of them to whet his appetite”; he must soon turn to a circulating library. We think it is probable, on reflection, that most librarians would agree.
Begins by considering whether the economic theory of the supply, nature and demand for biographies developed by James M. Buchanan and Robert Tollison might apply to this…
Abstract
Begins by considering whether the economic theory of the supply, nature and demand for biographies developed by James M. Buchanan and Robert Tollison might apply to this autobiography. Outlines Tisdell’s experiences in his pre‐school years (1939‐1945), at school (1946‐1956) and as a university student (1957‐1963). Covers the period of his first appointment as a temporary lecturer at the Australian National University (1964) and of his postdoctoral travelling scholarship (1965) which took him to Princeton and Stanford and the period of his employment from 1966 onwards. His family and its history are given particular attention.
THE BBC's television services have a longer history than is generally realised. Experiments were going on in 1925 and 1926, broadcasts were being put out as early as 1933 or 1934…
Abstract
THE BBC's television services have a longer history than is generally realised. Experiments were going on in 1925 and 1926, broadcasts were being put out as early as 1933 or 1934, and on 2nd November, 1936 the BBC gave Great Britain the world's first regular television service, operating on the 405‐line standard in the Very High Frequency channels.