Better to be rough and relevant than to be precise and irrelevant. Reddaway's Legacy to Economics

W.B. Reddaway has been a highly influential figure in Cambridge economics during the second half of the 20th Century. His method and style of doing economics - called the Reddaway-type economics - were quite distinct. The present paper explains Reddaway's methodology by examining his most important research contributions. The title of this essay conveys his distance from mainstream economists. His essential substantive difference with the latter concerned inferential econometrics. He subscribed to Keynes' critique of Timburgen's methodology. In summary, Reddaway regarded economics as an empirical, evidence-based subject which, through economic policy, should help improve the world. In his view mathematics could sometimes help, but, more often than not, it obfuscated economic reality. Currently the academic economics profession is dominated by a priori theorising and deductive modelling. Greater attention to Reddaway's legacy to economics, to its research methods and to teaching, would very much help to rebalance the subject.Method and style of doing economics, Reddaway-type economics, inferential econometrics

The “New Spirit of Academic Capitalism”: Can Scientists Create Generative Critique From Within?

The 21st-century university is a contested site of neoliberal transformation. Its role is moving away from that of a hub of culture, knowledge and critique to that of a provider of skills and employability for the market. The move towards a lean business model in the management of knowledge production is not an isolated phenomenon, but integral to the shifting economic, political and moral landscapes of global capitalism and the knowledge society. The literature discussing the changes in higher education, which could be collectively termed "critical studies of academia", remains fragmented and is yet to yield tangible resistance or envision viable alternative models of academic governance. This article discusses the possibility of generating constructive critique of "the new spirit of academic capitalism" from within. French Convention Theory is employed as a conceptual toolbox for unpacking the worlds of worth, conventions and justifications which operate beneath the surface of the marketisation, acceleration and casualisation of scientific labour - and suggested as a potential tool for building a generative sociology of critique

Curricular orientations to real-world contexts in mathematics

A common claim about mathematics education is that it should equip students to use mathematics in the ‘real world’. In this paper, we examine how relationships between mathematics education and the real world are materialised in the curriculum across a sample of eleven jurisdictions. In particular, we address the orientation of the curriculum towards application of mathematics, the ways that real-world contexts are positioned within the curriculum content, the ways in which different groups of students are expected to engage with real-world contexts, and the extent to which high-stakes assessments include real-world problem solving. The analysis reveals variation across jurisdictions and some lack of coherence between official orientations towards use of mathematics in the real world and the ways that this is materialised in the organisation of the content for students

Embedding employability skills in UK Higher Education: between digitalization and marketization

This article contributes to the debate on employability skills in UK higher education. It starts by discussing the concept of employability and places the debate in the context of mega-trends affecting UK higher education and the broader UK labour market. It distinguishes between different types of employability skills, as identified by employers’ surveys, and matches them with specific small-group teaching activities, drawing on pedagogic theory and practice. The article concludes that, beyond work-integrated learning, traditional small-group teaching activities can go a long way towards bridging the gap between graduates’ skills and labour market needs

Lost, Dysfunctional or Evolving? A View of Business Schools from Silicon Valley

Recent articles have rekindled discussions around the direction and relevance of US business schools. The two main viewpoints are distinct but equally critical. On one hand, business schools are considered overly focused on “scientific research” and having lost their connection to “real world” and management issues. On the other hand, schools are considered “dysfunctionally” focused on media rankings and short-term superficial marketing fixes. Our study of educational opportunities and workforce development in Silicon Valley suggests a different viewpoint. We agree that both approaches correctly identify the challenge of preparing managers in globalized world. However, we believe they misdiagnose the cause of the failure. Rather than being lost or dysfunctional, we believe business programs — like the firms and students they serve — are in the process of evolving to meet a shifting global and local environment. Our findings indicate that business schools face structural, content, and program shifts. Educationally, business programs continue to be seen as doing a good job of educating their students in core functional areas and processes. However, they do less well in teaching their graduates interpersonal skills, real-time decision-making, recognition of contexts, and integration across functional areas. These are increasingly the skills demanded by the global business environment. Even more challenging is meeting the demand for both sets of skills within very specialized fields like technology management. Structurally, new types of students and learning demands are placing stresses on traditional full-time two-year programs and their business models. Women and minority groups increasingly form the majority of the future student population, with distinct needs and demands for part-time and executive education. This shift is also evident in demands for life-long learning and engagement as opposed to a fixed, one-shot program experiences. These challenges require business schools to build upon what they do well, while innovating to serve new business and student needs.management education; Silicon Valley; globalization; technology

Multinational perspectives on information technology from academia and industry

As the term \u27information technology\u27 has many meanings for various stakeholders and continues to evolve, this work presents a comprehensive approach for developing curriculum guidelines for rigorous, high quality, bachelor\u27s degree programs in information technology (IT) to prepare successful graduates for a future global technological society. The aim is to address three research questions in the context of IT concerning (1) the educational frameworks relevant for academics and students of IT, (2) the pathways into IT programs, and (3) graduates\u27 preparation for meeting future technologies. The analysis of current trends comes from survey data of IT faculty members and professional IT industry leaders. With these analyses, the IT Model Curricula of CC2005, IT2008, IT2017, extensive literature review, and the multinational insights of the authors into the status of IT, this paper presents a comprehensive overview and discussion of future directions of global IT education toward 2025

MAJOR IDEAS IN THE HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND FARM MANAGEMENT

This paper contains two articles that discuss major ideas from the history of agricultural finance and farm management. The agricultural finance article focuses on ideas that emerged prior to 1960. These ideas are classified into those emerging from action and scientific-framing eras. The second article characterizes the evolution of farm management and production economics from its beginnings in about 1900 to the start of the 21st century. Emphasis is placed on the melding of ideas from agriculturalists and economists.Agricultural finance, farm management, production economics, Agricultural Finance,

Pilot Evaluation of the Mexican Model of Dual TVET in the State of Mexico

Since the first public announcement of the Mexican Model of Dual TVET (MMFD) in June 2013, more than 5,000 apprentices have enrolled in the programme and around 2,000 already graduated. The Ministry of Education (SEP and CONALEP), the Chambers of Commerce (i.e. COPARMEX) and the German Cooperation Agencies (i.e. CAMEXA) have been collaborating with state authorities, families, schools and companies to turn this initial idea into a significant and sustainable initiative. Although the numbers are still small, it seemed necessary to undertake a pilot evaluation study of the implementation and impact of this program on its participants to inform those responsible for this policy. We decided to focus our study on the State of Mexico because of the higher number of apprentices in this state and because of the access that the CONALEP authorities gave us to the informants. The report that you are about to read is structured in four main sections. In the first one we reviewed the international evidence on the experiences of policy transfer of Dual TVET. Transferring international good practice sin TVET is always a complex process that requires careful attention to the experiences and lessons from those that tried to do it before. In the second section, we present the main characteristics of the Mexican Model of Dual TVET and the specificities of its implementation in the State of Mexico. In a federal country like Mexico, it is important to understand that national policies may largely vary across states in terms of design and implementation. The third section outlines the methodology of the study, which is inspired by the realist evaluation principles. Realist evaluation, not only tries to measure the impact of interventions on beneficiaries, but also to understand the causal mechanisms that explain why this policy is more effective in certain contexts and with certain beneficiary populations than in others. In the final section, the results of the interviews and the survey with 25 apprentices that completed their studies under the MMFD in the State of Mexico are presented. Obviously, the reduced sample of the study limits the representativeness of our findings but it will offer some expected and unexpected results that should not be ignored by those involved in this policy in the State of Mexico and nationally