JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION THEORY AND PRACTICE

What Business Students Really Need to Learn: An Evidence-Based

Prescription for Curriculum Reform

Author(s): Rosemary Maellaro, J. Lee Whittington

Citation: Rosemary Maellaro, J. Lee Whittington, (2012) "What Business Students Really Need to Learn: An Evidence-Based Prescription for Curriculum Reform," Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, Vol.12, Iss. 4, pp. 66 - 80

Article Type: Research paper

Publisher: North American Business Press

Abstract:

The business community continues to criticize business schools for the gap between the skills students learn and those needed to be successful at work. Business managers cite the lack of attention that current curriculum places on the development of interpersonal skills. To narrow this gap, business schools should develop interpersonal skills that business managers find most desirable in business school graduates. A two part conjoint analysis study of hiring managers’ preferences identified the importance organizations placed on various combinations of interpersonal skills. The implications of these findings for the design of business school curricula are discussed along with prescriptive recommendations.