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Valuing flexibility in career training decisions

September 3, 2014
Noel Yahanpath School of Business  e  nyahanpath@eit.ac.nz

Noel Yahanpath
School of Business
e nyahanpath@eit.ac.nz

A recent research article written by Noel Yahanpath and Shane McCormack from EIT’s School of Business, in association with Mark Neal, from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (a past Research Professor at EIT), was selected as the 2014 Outstanding Paper winner for the journal Education + Training.  These ‘Outstanding Paper’ selections form part of the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, presented by the Emerald Group Publishing to acknowledge excellence in contributions made by authors to their journals.

The paper, titled “Valuing flexibility in career training decisions”, explores the nature and significance of flexibility in decisions about tertiary education and training options.  It does this by examining the relevance of real options valuation (ROV) in understanding tertiary educational and training choices. It is the first study to apply the principles of ROV to this field and aimed to contribute to the debate about how to better advise and support people making education and training decisions.

The research involved three overlapping stages: a critical examination of the theoretical work on flexibility in decision making; a review of the literature on the role and significance of flexibility in education and training decisions; and an application of the lessons of ROV to the analysis of decisions tertiary students make about education, training and careers.

The researchers found there was little in the way of theories of flexibility applied to education and training decision-making. They demonstrated that ROV held significant lessons for the analysis of these decisions, and could have important practical implications for the support and guidance of people making education and career choices.

Noel and his colleagues advocate for encouraging an appreciation of the importance of flexibility among career advisers and potential students. This can be done through disseminating the ideas behind the ROV approach and sensitising professionals and students to the tensions between specialisation and flexibility.  Although the formal consideration of ROV is not yet widely pursued, an awareness of its principles enhances knowledge of the decision-making process and can thus facilitate better-informed decisions.

Noel, Mark and Shane conclude that students entering any higher education or post-secondary programme should enter circumstances wherein transferable skills and critical thinking are developed to levels greater than they are now, so that those in even the most specialised programmes of study are able to adapt their knowledge and skills to multifarious situations and careers. Hence, as flexibility becomes increasingly recognised as being important, transferring between educational programmes, occupations and professions becomes easier than it is today.

The paper outlines the complexities and challenges this stance poses to researchers, career advisers, educational and training institutions and professional bodies.