Education Commons^™

Gender, Role Models, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy And Career Intentions: Implications For Entrepreneurial Education, Ciara Marie Lavelle - O Brien

Theses

This thesis explores gender, role models, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and career intentions of secondary school students in Ireland. Most prior research includes entrepreneurial education as an important factor in the decision to start a business. Few studies include the importance of entrepreneurial perceptions, role models, self-efficacy, and career intentions combined and what implications this may have for entrepreneurial education. Previous studies cite the importance of role models for potential entrepreneurs but ignore how the role model is perceived or who the role models of this generation (Gen Z) are. This study used a semistructured questionnaire and the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) …

Smart Ageing And Renewal Through Entrepreneurial Skills Training, Sarah Davis

Theses

Globally, while the population is ageing, only 3% of older (≥65 years) adults are engaged in entrepreneurship. The Healthy Ageing agenda is responding to the population trends by increasing its focus on elements of active or productive ageing (incorporating older working) with quality of life as a primary outcome. Alignment and exploitation of the synergies between healthy ageing and older entrepreneurial engagement are lacking. Entrepreneurship education is broadening its focus and targeting inclusivity, albeit with as yet little focus on the older population. Older entrepreneurship, while tentatively linked with increased quality of life, has yet to receive direct attention in …

Value Of Exemption From Professional Examinations: Opinion Of Third-Level Accounting Students And Graduates, Lorraine Cashman Rahilly

Masters

In Ireland (and the UK) becoming an accountant usually involves a dual qualification system: a third-level degree followed by training and professional examination. This is commonly conceptualised as learning through knowing followed by learning through doing (Wilson, 2011; Apostolou & Gammie, 2014). Much debate exists about where the responsibility for the development of knowledge and skills lies. Third-level accounting degrees have been criticised for focusing too much on gaining exemptions from professional examinations, with employers feeling that graduates are not work ready (Albrecht & Sack, 2000; Jackling & De Lange, 2008; Pan & Perera, 2012; Bayerlein & Timpson, 2017). However, …

The Impact Of Entrepreneurship Education On Graduate Employability: A Cross Country Comparison, Rebecca Victoria Robinson

Masters

This thesis identifies and addresses a major gap in Entrepreneurship Education (EE) research. Specifically, it focuses on the entrepreneurial skills and attitudes embedded in employability skills. It tests the widely accepted assertion that employers desire more well-rounded graduates who possess entrepreneurial skills. Pittaway and Cope (2007) highlight an absence of evidence in the literature establishing a link between EE and employability skills.

It is the intersection of EE and graduate employability that provides the context for this study. This study examines the knowledge, skills and attitudes resulting from education and, in particular, from EE and ascertains the extent to which …

Examining The Potential Of Design Thinking For Marketing Students In The Context Of Workplace Learning And Performance Challenges, Christina Pinkaow

Masters

Design thinking, which initially emerged in the 1980s, has notably been recently receiving increased attention, particularly in business communities, as a process that enables rapid, innovative, and user-centric problem solving (Lockwood, 2010). As the forthcoming generations of marketing graduates enter this ‘Consumer Age’, they will be forced to think innovatively and empathetically in order to adjust to constant and rapid changes in our environment (Hanttu, 2013). Design thinking equips modern marketers with the opportunity to become consumercentric and effectively generate innovative solutions on a constant basis to complex challenges that exists (Mohr, 2015).

While the concept is gaining increasing hold …

An Examination Of The Factors That Influence The Strategic Priorities Of Ireland's Public And Private Higher Education Senior Managers, Ruth O'Donnell

PhDs

Globally, higher education is experiencing transformative changes, and higher education institutions now operate in highly competitive and dynamic environments. Funders of higher education, including governments, subsequently, require the strategic spending of funding, and expect higher education institutions to deliver a satisfactory return on investment. In this landscape, and in the context of Ireland’s challenging economic environment in recent years, this research seeks to understand precisely what factors influence the strategic priorities of Ireland’s higher education senior managers. Research on strategic planning in Irish HE is limited, particularly in the context of Ireland’s volatile economic environment, in recent years, and global …

The Impact Of Relevant Work Experience On Third Level Accounting Students' View Of Learning, Terese Deehan

Theses

The benefits of work experience in accounting education have been examined extensively in the academic literature. Extant literature cites skills development, putting knowledge into action, improved academic results, increased focus on study and career path and enhanced employability as the main benefits to students. Other than research on the impact on academic results, there is a dearth of research on the impact of work experience on students’ view of learning. In research conducted in Ireland, Byrne and Flood (2004) concluded that the majority of third-level accounting students only have a surface-level view of learning and that this will not be …

Generation Y Perceptions Of The Traditional Career Model, Aoife Kelliher

Masters

Generation Y will be expected to play the most significant role in the work place as their careers develop and older generations retire. Much of the research carried out on their work related values and career progression to date has relied on the viewpoints of Generation Y as undergraduates, prior to gaining substantial experience in the work place. This study responds to Ng and Gossett’s (2013) call for further research into the values, attitudes and expectations of young people as they will emerge as leaders of tomorrow. The purpose of the study is to examine if the traditional career model …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Development Of Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) Systems Education For Third-Level Business Students, Maurice O'Brien

Masters

This study is an empirical investigation of the development of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) education for Business students. It uses Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) as its case study to determine the benefits of practical ERP education, the challenges faced by third-level institutions and how ERP education should be provided to Business students. The researcher used observation, review of documentation, and semi-structured interviews of fifteen academics as the research techniques.

As well as being beneficial for students, employers and ERP vendors, this study finds that the provision of practical ERP education has reciprocal benefits for the third-level institution. By …

The Impact Of The Implementation Of Modularisation And Semesterisation On Academic Staff In Cork Institute Of Technology: A Qualitative Study, Regina O'Flynn

Theses

This study investigates the perceptions of academic staff in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) on the implementation of modularisation and semesterisation in CIT. The study was undertaken when the institute was at the initial stages of changing to a modularised and semesterised system of education delivery. The study investigated the reasons for such fundamental changes. The findings contribute new knowledge to the literature on change management, while specifically adding to an understanding of managing change in a higher educational institute in Ireland. Forty-five academic staff and five members of senior management were interviewed.

The study revealed overall reluctance among academics …

Viral Marketing In Tertiary Level Educational Establishments, Vicky O'Sullivan

Theses

Technological evolutions, principally developments in electronic and digital social media, have introduced new marketing paradigms, such as viral marketing. Viral marketing is a relatively new phenomenon which offers marketing practitioners significant opportunities to reach target audiences in a credible and attention grabbing way.

Students have rapidly adopted new social technologies, and they use these media to enrich existing offline personal relationships that they have with friends within their tertiary level environment. Students have a predilection to forward messages to friends, and value messages they receive from friends. This is because students trust friends, and also believe that friends will know …

Towards A Best Practice Framework : The Case Of Institutes Of Technology Campus Incubators, Mary Fenton

Theses

Campus incubators catalyse campus enterprise development by encouraging Third Level “spin offs”, commercialisation of research and facilitating “spin-in” enterprises. They provide academic staff, graduates and “spin-in” entrepreneurs with a range of support services including space, advice, training, mentoring and networking opportunities. The real value of a campus incubator location for clients is their association with a reputable Third level Institute and access to the Institute’s resources namely academic staff, embedded knowledge, manager’s expertise and enterprise netvyorks. The researcher explored literature on campus and business incubators and identified a lacuna of research on campus incubation, particularly within Irish Higher Education Institutes. …