Redeveloping a business undergraduate honours research degree to improve educational outcomes: implications for PhD supervision

Abstract

There are many challenges that undergraduate students face when studying an honours research degree. Honours programmes though traditionally considered within the business discipline as a loss leader, nevertheless, form a direct entry requirement for PhD programmes. The honours degree can be considered a formative research programme for student development. This paper specifically provides an outline of the honours degree's redevelopment and improved learning outcomes that were achieved and discusses the proposed PhD supervisory framework. The student benefits identified from the honours programme's redevelopment include a more sophisticated understanding of research paradigms; a faster cycle of learning and development, which resulted in lower student stress levels and better grades; and increases in both peer-reviewed co-authored publications and students transitioning to PhD.

Keywords:

• undergraduate honours degree
• business students
• honours structure
• PhD supervision framework

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.