"I was always looking at like Vogue..[I'd} be really good in the ad. world" Student Choice And Vocational Degrees

In the context of an increasing marketisation of Higher Education, where students may come to see themselves as consumers, this paper examines the process that undergraduates go through in selecting universities and courses and examines an apparent focus on peripheral rather than core aspects of the Higher Education service offering and of students making ‘safe’ choices. The experience students go through is examined with reference to the literature on decision-making for services and using a qualitative phenomenological approach with students encouraged to focus on their actual experiences. Other key findings are: evidence of satisficing and of avoiding risks and choosing options which ‘feel right’ rather than following a more systematic decision-making process which might be expected for such an important decision. We also note a tendency to defer the decision to others. We then briefly consider the implications of these findings for universities and their marketing, as they may assume that a more considered process has taken place

The Uncomfortable mix of seduction and inexperience in Vocational Students' decision making

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the process that undergraduates go through in selecting universities and courses in the context of an increasingly marketisated higher education (HE) where students may see themselves as consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The process students go through is examined with reference to the services marketing literature and using a qualitative, phenomenological approach with students encouraged to focus on their lived experiences. Findings – Notable was the reported inexperience of students who suggest an apparent focus on peripheral rather than core aspects of the HE service offering and therefore aim to quickly make “safe” choices. Also there is evidence of “satisficing” and of avoiding risks and choosing options which “feel right” rather than following a more systematic decision-making process which might be expected for such an important decision. Also noted was a tendency to defer the decision to others, including the institutions themselves, and their increasingly seductive marketing approaches. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on a vocational university with a focus on subjects for the new professions (marketing, journalism and media production). Further studies might consider how far the findings hold true for other types of subjects and institutions. Practical implications – The paper considers the implications of these findings for universities and their marketing activities, and invites them to both re-evaluate assumptions that an informed and considered process has taken place, and to further consider the ethics of current practices. Originality/value – The paper's focus on the stories provided by students provides new insights into the complexities and contradictions of decision making for HE and for services in general

The Lack of Systematic Decision-Making by Chinese Students Applying to UK MA Programmes

This study explores how Chinese students chose a university to study a taught Masters programme. It includes an examination of the criteria they use and the process they go through, focusing on the ‘information search’, and ‘evaluation of alternatives’ stages of decision-making. Qualitative individual interviews were undertaken with 10 Chinese students. Findings suggest that decision-making was not as rigorous as might be expected for such an apparently complex, high involvement ‘service’. Reasons for this include: a lack of perceived risk; the amount and complexity of information to be processed, (particularly in a foreign language), and the use of agents and league tables as reassurance for the decision. There is also evidence of satisficing and evidence to support image-based processing. Tentative recommendations are made which focus on the need to achieve the right match between potential students and the chosen programme and institution by trying to increase student engagement with the decision-making process

The Utility of Deep Divergence in Applied Creativity

If applied creativity seeks the generation of novel and useful ideas for a real-world goal, wish, or challenge, then my concept of theoretical creativity can best be described as the generation of ideas that are novel and not yet useful. I assert that the employment of deep divergence is the best tool for producing ideas within a theoretical creativity framework. Deep divergence is defined as divergent thinking to its most extreme levels, far beyond what is probable, beyond what is possible, and into an unplumbed realm of what is currently impossible and unknowable. However, for this project, my aim was to determine if there is utility in exploring deep divergence in matters of applied creativity and, in particular, within the construct of a creative problem-solving ideation session. What follows is 1) a foundation of the considerations and precautions one must address prior to the implementation of deep divergence in an ideation session, and 2) a proposed methodology for exploring deep divergence, including tools, facilitation prompts, and suggestions for establishing a productive creative climate

Managing to play: the everday lives of adult videogame consumers.

Against a backdrop of videogame producers keen to promote themselves as a 'serious' adult entertainment industry, and persistent media reports on the 'dangers' of videogame play, this research examines the lived experiences of adult videogame players. I start with aconsideration of the nature of play and of consumption in order to assess the ways in whichour consumer society may be seen as becoming more playful, or experiential. I also consider the development of key discourses on videogame use and in particular the problematic waysin which we understand real, virtual and digital spaces. These theoretical contexts provide a background against which I consider a phenomenology of adult videogame consumption. Drawing from extended discussions with 24 adult videogame players I review: the biographical and domestic contexts in which adults play videogames; the various practices that they develop relating to buying, owning and using videogames, and; the nature of experiences produced through play. Adults may have started playing videogames as a result of an educational agenda, or peer pressure whilst as school, but may have continued playing intermittently into adulthood and now find that friends, and especially family influence how and what they play. As a result they have developed a variety of practices that I describe in detail including managing the amount of time and money spent on games and negotiating spaces to play. Within these contexts players aim for 'ideal' experiences of skill and achievement, of escape though the management of their imagination, and of social interaction with family and friends. However these largely positive experiences need to be carefully managed against a risk that their behaviour may be seen as childish, and against the potential for play to cause disruption to work or domestic life. Following these detailed first-person descriptions I consider the 'discourses in practice' during the use of videogames. I note the persistent framing of videogame play as frivolous, but also the way in which games are used to manage everyday life by providing a space that is an escape from routines of work and family life and in particular a space in which the imagination may be actualised. In doing so I also consider the transformatory potential of videogames, concluding that although they may be seen to serve a conservative role, and may be critiqued as part of an over-experienced, yet'futile' life, their ability to aid the management of everyday life is significant

The impact of the Lamosangu-Jri road on the life experience and reproductive behaviour of women of the Tamang community of Jetthul, Nepal.

This thesis examines the linkage between road construction, female development and fertility among women of two rural Tamang communities in Jetthul, Nepal. Completion of the all- weather road between Jetthul and Lamosangu in 1980 created a motorised link with Kathmandu. Taking an integrated approach, aspects of development and female life associated with fertility decline are examined within the limitations of a post hoc study Using a combination of ethnographic and quantitative survey techniques, links are traced between the advent of the road and changes in female employment, urban and media exposure, education, autonomy in marriage and reproductive behaviour. Investigation reveals women have not become frequent road users. In maintaining subsistence activities and childcare, they remain closely bound to family-based, agricultural production within the village sphere. Although female contact with urban centres has increased since the advent of the road, it remains low, relative to that of men, the majority of whom seek waged employment outside Jetthul. Although school attendance has commenced among girls since the inception of road construction, rates of completion of primary school and literacy are very poor. Contact with mass media is low in the village setting, but since the opening of the road, young women have gained access to cinema and video in Kathmandu. Although the incidence of forceful capture marriage has declined smce 1980, there is no detectable increase in female autonomy in the nuptial process. While female age at marriage has increased, since road provision, there has been a significant decrease in the time lapse between marriage and first birth. This suggests the road has stimulated social change relatmg to intimate behaviour. Since completion of the road, little attention has been forthcoming from other development projects. Although the communities have received modest government agricultural and health assistance and have been visited by a mobile sterilisation camp, in-depth investigation at the micro-level has identified the inappropriate approach and subsequent failure of these limited programmes in Jetthul. This thesis demonstrates that in the absence of female-centred project support, girls and women of poor rural communities are not necessarily advantaged during the early stages of development initiatives such as road building. Furthermore, in addressing high fertility among the majority rural population, a more integrated approach is required at the community level, to more fully incorporate women and girls into the national development process and support fertility decline