How market oriented are business studies degrees?

Abstract

When business courses are being reviewed and validated, academics will often claim that the course prepares students for their future careers in business and management. However, contacting graduates of long standing (who are well established in their profession and who would arguably be the best judges of the course's value) does not always happen. The objective of the research was to make contact with ex‐students, who graduated some time ago, with the aim of obtaining useful information on the following inter‐related topics: Their post‐university career pathway; The vocational relevance of their course; Their attitudes to and take‐up of postgraduate and professional qualifications; Their opinions of course structure and content; and An assessment of market needs in the development/ modification of courses. Graduates of the BA (HONS) Business Studies degree were contacted and the above objectives were achieved. The methodology used should be transferable to other institutions and disciplines.