Instrumentalism amongst Students: A Cross-National Comparison of the Significance of Subject Choice

Autor/in	Muddiman, Esther
Titel	Instrumentalism amongst Students: A Cross-National Comparison of the Significance of Subject Choice
Quelle	In: British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39 (2018) 5, S.607-622 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Muddiman, Esther)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0142-5692
DOI	10.1080/01425692.2017.1375402
Schlagwörter	Higher Education; Undergraduate Students; Qualitative Research; Comparative Analysis; Business Administration Education; Sociology; Student Attitudes; Foreign Countries; Intellectual Disciplines; Student Characteristics; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Influences; Majors (Students); Semi Structured Interviews; Aspiration; Employment Qualifications; United Kingdom; Singapore + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Qualitative Forschung; Soziologie; Schülerverhalten; Ausland; Geisteswissenschaften; Cultural comparison; Kulturvergleich; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Streben; Employment qualification; Vocational qualification; Vocational qualifications; Berufliche Qualifikation; Großbritannien; Singapur
Abstract	Both educational policies and academic literature assume that students take an instrumental approach to their studies at university. However, despite wide-ranging discussions in the academic literature about contemporary arrangements and practices in higher education, empirical examinations of these conditions are notably scarce. This article reports on a comparative qualitative study into undergraduate students' accounts of studying business or sociology at universities in Britain and Singapore. Drawing on Eric Fromm's distinction between learning as 'having' and 'being,' the article demonstrates that--regardless of national context--those studying business displayed many elements of passive, instrumentalised, or 'having' orientations to learning, whilst those studying sociology showed clear signs of the more active and less instrumental 'being' mode of learning. By examining subject allegiance across national borders, this article underscores the importance of recognising subject choice, alongside other important contextual factors, in moving towards a nuanced understanding of student dispositions. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01