Meritocratic Epistemic Communities: An Alternative Policy Paradigm for Higher Education

This paper attempts to propose an alternative policy frame for higher education policy by demonstrating the inadequacy of the market approach adopted by the 2011 English higher education policy in addressing the economic and social agenda, and by reframing higher education as a mechanism that selects and distributes talents to vocational sectors in a way that achieves socially optimal outcomes. The paper shows why government control is more appropriate than market mechanism in managing higher education cost, how effective screening and distribution of talents can be achieved through deliberation among epistemic community members and how the alternative policy frame supports a social justice agenda. The idea of a meritocratic epistemic community for screening and educating talents is central to this new frame as it facilitates the creation of a common space where competing stakeholders of one vocational sector gather together to deliberate on the merits of the future workforce.     

MBA Students’ Quality Improvement: The Correlation Analysis of Students’ Personal Traits and Attitudes towards Teaching Methods at a Chinese University

MBA education has become the fastest growing segment of education in China in recent years and a segment that can now be considered indispensible. However, how best to teach it has long been a source of debate. One of the key issues is how to match student traits with teaching methods. While engaged as teachers of marketing management, the authors collected data by questionnaire, carried out empirical research and data comparison, and undertook contingency analysis. It was found that different personal traits in students lead to different attitudes towards teaching methods. A student’s major in college, gender, and sector of employment has little influence on attitudes towards teaching methods, while age, the most sensitive factor, plays the biggest role, followed by job and class. Therefore, these factors should be taken into consideration when arranging classes, developing the curriculum, and planning teaching methods.