The Indian technical education has experienced an exponential growth since 1995. However, the technical education system was not able to sustain it and the enrollments…
Abstract
Purpose
The Indian technical education has experienced an exponential growth since 1995. However, the technical education system was not able to sustain it and the enrollments, particularly in engineering, fell down considerably. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the growth of Indian technical education from system dynamics (SD) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Technical education is a complex system in which the outcome of a decision comes with a third order delay. SD is an appropriate tool to analyze the causal structure and behavior of complex systems. This study developed an analogy from the physics of a boomerang to do the comparative assessment of “sudden overshoot and collapse” phase in the growth of Indian technical education. Further, it compared the technical education growth with the Gartner hype cycle. The growth model of Indian technical education was developed using SD software STELLA (version 10.0).
Findings
The model was simulated for five different policy scenarios. The outcome of the SD analysis shows that the “goal-seeking behaviour,” which produces stable growth without hampering quality, is the best proposition amongst all scenarios considered in the study. It identifies policies which will enable long-term stability in the Indian technical education system as well as policies which will lead to perpetual instability in the system.
Research limitations/implications
The study conducted will encourage researchers to use SD in analyzing complex systems for sustainability and in the selection of appropriate policies.
Originality/value
The paper uses boomerang analogy for analyzing the growth in engineering enrollments and highlights the presence of “the boomerang effect,” a term coined by the authors for sudden overshoot and collapse behavior, in the causal structure which is injurious to the education system.
Details
Keywords
The performance of technical institutions in India is reflected through the level of campus placements. It is vital for them to have efficient, effective and robust placement…
Abstract
Purpose
The performance of technical institutions in India is reflected through the level of campus placements. It is vital for them to have efficient, effective and robust placement policies. Selective assembly is a technique used in manufacturing industry in improving the quality of assemblies from relatively low-quality components. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology using selective assembly approach to improve the quality of placements of technical institutions in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a conceptual model for campus placement process by integrating Selective Assembly, Taguchi’s quality loss function (QLF) and analytic network process (ANP). The data used in the study was taken through surveys and expert opinions. In this paper, for “Selective Assembly” the terminology, “Selective Recruitment” has been used at appropriate places in the context of technical education.
Findings
Selective matching of students’ skills done through ANP minimizes the total loss in terms of opportunity cost. Taguchi’s QLF concept was used to evaluate the total loss, in terms of opportunity cost, and to validate the superiority of selective assembly technique over the conventional selection process.
Practical implications
The paper outlines measures that can help policy makers to successfully implement the suggested methodology to improve the quality of placements.
Originality/value
The application of selective recruitment in the campus placement process is a unique feature in the area of technical education in India. The role of ANP in selective recruitment and assessment of the process through Taguchi’s QLF, illustrate the importance of integrated approach adopted in the selection process.