• English
    • Welsh
  • English 
    • English
    • Welsh
  • Login
Search DSpace:
  • Home
  • Research at Cardiff Met
  • Library Services
  • Contact Us
View item 
  • DSpace home
  • Theses
  • PhD theses \ Traethodau PhD
  • View item
  • DSpace home
  • Theses
  • PhD theses \ Traethodau PhD
  • View item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Are marketing degrees fit for purpose? : Re-shaping the undergraduate marketing curriculum to better equip early career marketing practitioners for employment and career progression

Thumbnail
View/open
Neil Wellman Final Thesis.pdf (6.640Mb)
Author
Wellman, Neil
Date
2017
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This thesis asks if, as literature and stakeholders suggest, the primary purpose of marketing degrees is to educate the next generation of marketing professionals, are they ‘fit for purpose?’ A wide-ranging literature review suggests not, with substantial gaps between academic theory and tools and those used in practice, but that vocational degrees can develop both relevant marketing competences and the graduate and employability skills valued in employment. The multi-dimensional Vocational Competence Profile (VCP) model is proposed, together with a Vocational Competence Curriculum (VCC) showing how HE’s theory driven paradigm may be adapted to more effectively prepare graduates for practice. Adopting a pragmatic and mixed-methods approach, primary research comprised analysis of job and person specifications for 375 early career marketing posts and semi-structured interviews with 45 practitioner, graduate and academic stakeholders. The job analysis identified that only 56% of suitable posts asked for a degree and of them only 25% for one in marketing, whilst 77% required prior experience. That marketing degrees hold little value and aren’t pre-requisites for marketing posts, together with the importance of experience and a variety of employability skills was confirmed by stakeholders. The research identifies that the curriculum’s focus on strategy above tactics, large consumer above business and services markets and ‘full-mix’ (4/7Ps) marketing as promulgated in standard textbooks and courses fail to reflect and prepare graduates for their early career jobroles, a majority of which focus on tactical marketing communications. It also identifies the importance attached to a range of employability skills, notably communications, teamworking, ITC, numeracy and organisational skills together with a variety of personal traits. Findings are used to populate the VCP, then, drawing on examples of good practice, suggest how the VCC may be reverse-engineered to focus on practice, employability and experiential learning, ‘teaching less, but better’ to better prepare graduates for their career.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10369/9256
Description
PhD Thesis - School of management
Rights
http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved
Collections
  • PhD theses \ Traethodau PhD [469]

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.

  • Thumbnail

    The employability attributes required of new marketing graduates 

    Wellman, Neil (Emerald Group Publishing LimitedCardiff School of Management, 2010)
    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to inform the development of vocationally focused marketing curricula by identifying the employability attributes required from new and early career marketing graduates. Design/ ...
  • Thumbnail

    Relating the curriculum to marketing competence: a conceptual framework 

    Wellman, Neil (Westburn Publishers LtdCardiff School of Management, 2010)
    The purpose of marketing degrees has often been debated. This paper summarises the arguments to conclude that preparation for employment as marketing practitioners must be seen as their primary aim. If this is so, educators ...
  • Thumbnail

    What Factors Determine Employment and Wage for Graduates and How They Can Influence one Another 

    BRYAN, SAMUEL (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2014)
    Abstract With the ever expanding higher education system allowing undergraduate and other higher educational study courses to increase more numbers the labour market is being flooded with skilled labour that the economy ...

Browse

DSpace at Cardiff MetCommunities & CollectionsBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis collectionBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
Contact us | Send feedback | Administrator