Re-shaping Marketing Education in Partnership with Employers, Students and Alumni

Pedagogical practice in marketing education has frequently relied upon ‘authentic’ learning approaches and assessments as a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice (Ferrell and Ferrell, 2020; Duffy and Ney, 2015). Authentic learning is an educational approach that emphasises the use of real-world scenarios and tasks to engage students and provide them with relevant and meaningful learning experiences (Herrington, Reeves and Oliver, 2014). This approach is rooted in constructivism, a learning theory that according to Bruner (1966), suggests that knowledge is constructed through the experiences and interactions that people have within their environment. It is also founded on the notion that students are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their studies when the material they are learning is directly related to their interests and aspirations, and when they are given the opportunity to apply what they have learned to real-world problems (Barab & Duffy, 2000). Active participation from the students is also a positive consequence; where they are offered encouragement to take a more self-directed role in their learning (Herrington & Kervin, 2007). This self-directed approach has been found to lead to higher levels of student engagement and motivation (Felder & Silverman, 1988), and to improved learning outcomes (Kolb, 1984). This may help to explain why the emphasis within existing literature focuses primarily on the need for ‘authentic’ assessments (Johinke, 2020; James and Casidy, 2018). Given the increasing demands on universities from employers to produce work ready marketing graduates with digitalised, multidisciplinary soft skills and competencies, authenticity has arguably never been more necessary or highly sought (Harrigan, Dolan and Lee, 2022; Stolk and Hanley, 2015; Albrecht & Yeoman, 2012; Wang, Ayres, & Huyton, 2009). However, an over-reliance on theoretical underpinnings rather than practical skills in university teaching practices has led to many marketing educators calling for ever-closer partnerships with employers to help bridge this skills’ divide.