Mapping Generic Skills
Daniel Murphy & Dianne McGrath
Working Paper No. 08/07
September 2007
About the Authors
- Daniel Murphy
School of Business
Charles Sturt University
- Dianne McGrath
School of Business
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University – Faculty of Business Working Paper Series
Managing Editor: Associate Professor Jayne Bisman, School of Accounting, Bathurst
Editors: Dr P. Mathews, School of Commerce, Wagga Wagga
Associate Professor M. O'Mullane, School of Business, Albury
Dr R. Tierney, School of Marketing and Management, Bathurst
Dr D Ardagh, School of Commerce, Wagga Wagga
Ms K Mather, School of Computing and Mathematics, Wagga Wagga
The Faculty of Business Working Paper Series is intended to provide staff and students with a means of communicating new and evolving ideas in order to encourage academic debate. Working papers, as the title suggests, should not necessarily be taken as completed works or final expressions of opinion. All working papers are subject to review prior to publication by one or more editors or referees familiar with the discipline area. Normally, working papers may be freely quoted and/or reproduced provided proper reference to the author and source is given. When a working paper is published on a restricted basis, notice of such restriction will appear on this page.
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Generic skills and attributes literature
- Generic skills in the Australian HEI context
- Key generic skills
- Model of generic skill development
- Mapping and proposed prescription of generic skill development
- Limitations
- Conclusion and recommendations
- References
Abstract
Increasing calls for the integration of generic skills development into the accounting course curriculum has created the imperative to both understand the developmental process and map the delivery of such skill development within Higher Education Institutions (HEI).
Prior attempts in the literature to map the delivery of generic skills and attributes within commerce degrees (Sumsion & Goodfellow 2004; de la Harpe, Radloff, & Wyber 2000), have generally failed to go beyond a cross sectional snapshot of generic skill delivery. These studies provided little or no guidance to the laddered development of generic skills and expected skill outcome at each level of a degree. The Hierarchical Generic Skills Relationship model presented in this report maps and prescribes the delivery of generic skills to ensure their tiered development in the accounting degree specialisation.
The proposed model draws on individual generic skill constructs which were developed for the identified key generic skills: oral and written communication; ethical understanding; problem solving and critical thinking; personal and interpersonal skills; and business IT skills. The individual generic skill constructs demonstrate the laddered acquisition of each generic skill and also highlight the interrelated nature of the identified key generic skills.
The Hierarchical Generic Skills Relationship model presented in this report effectively highlights the gaps in the delivery of generic skills in the current accounting curriculum at CSU. The report presents a prescriptive approach to the delivery of generic skills which it is hoped will enhance the level of debate and discussion regarding the teaching of generic skills amongst academic staff.
The Hierarchical Generic Skills Relationship model developed also has application across disciplines and it is recommended that similar analysis based on the developed construct models be undertaken in the other degree programs offered within the Faculty of Business. The researchers anticipated that this report and the model of tiered generic skill development proposed will inform and advance discussion within the Faculty of Business and the broader University about the important issue of generic skill development for CSU graduates.