Examining student profiles for dealing with wickedness

Figures & data

Figure 1. Visualisation of the conceptual frame of the study in relation to the research questions.

Table 1. Students’ age, gender, prior education and relevant work experience (N = 264).

Gender	N	Age	N	Prior Education	N	Years of Relevant Work Experience	N
Male	55	17–18	68	Secondary education	125	0	189
Female	205	19–20	108	Vocational education	136	1	30
Other/Not specified	4	21–22	60	Other	3	2	18
		23–24	18			3	18
		≥25	10			4	3
						≥5	6

Figure 2. Bar chart representing the final clusters.

Table 2. Z scores for the attribute scales for the four extracted clusters, together with F values.

Scale	Cluster 1 n = 73 (27.7%)	Cluster 2 n = 85 (32.2%)	Cluster 3 n = 77 (29.2%)	Cluster 4 n = 29 (11.0%)	(df) F
Work Efficacy	−0.79150	0.43031	−0.23647	1.35899	(3) 71.99***
Proactivity	−0.81192	0.40010	−0.14138	1.24648	(3) 60.70***
Risk Tolerance	−0.81761	−0.07867	0.54356^a	0.84545^a	(3) 47.26***
Creativity	−1.05480	−0.15282	0.61411	1.47253	(3) 172.72***
Critical Thinking	−0.97054	−0.09437	0.51166	1.36111	(3) 103.92***
Initiative	−0.94194	−0.23907	0.65886	1.32243	(3) 122.00***

Superscripts indicate results of between-cluster pairwise comparisons across the row. All values differ significantly from each other at the p < 0.05 level, except the values marked by the same superscript. Bonferroni adjustment was applied.

***p < 0.001.

Table 3. Means and standard deviations for attributes and behavioural scale, per cluster.

	Cluster 1 n = 73 (27.7%)		Cluster 2 n = 85 (32.2%)		Cluster 3 n = 77 (29.2%)		Cluster 4 n = 29 (11.0%)
Scale	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Attribute scales
Work Efficacy	3.27	0.396	3.89	0.328	3.55	0.416	4.37	0.393
Proactivity	3.25	0.375	3.80	0.351	3.56	0.358	4.19	0.304
Risk Tolerance	2.95	0.615	3.45	0.551	3.87^a	0.511	4.07^a	0.402
Creativity	3.15	0.255	3.56	0.236	3.90	0.208	4.28	0.419
Critical Thinking	3.26	0.335	3.70	0.364	4.00	0.289	4.43	0.399
Initiative	3.06	0.365	3.43	0.288	3.90	0.320	4.25	0.458
Behavioural scale
Boundary-crossing Behaviour	2.56	0.359	2.84^a	0.325	2.86^a	0.331	3.06	0.390

Superscripts indicate results of between-cluster pairwise comparisons across the row. All values differ significantly from each other at the p < 0.05 level, except the values marked by the same superscript. Bonferroni adjustment was applied.

Table 4. Chi-square table for relevant work experience per cluster.

		Cluster 1 n = 73 (27.7%)	Cluster 2 n = 85 (32.2%)	Cluster 3 n = 77 (29.2%)	Cluster 4 n = 29 (11.0%)	Total
Relevant Work	No	59^a	66^a	44^b	20^a, b	189
Experience		(80.8%)	(77.6%)	(57.1%)	(69.0%)	(71.6%)
χ^2 = 12.593, df = 3,	Yes	14^a	19^a	33^b	9^a, b	75
P = 0.006		(19.2%)	(22.4%)	(42.9%)	(31.0%)	(28.4%)
	Total	73	85	77	29	264
		100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Superscripts indicate results of between-cluster pairwise comparisons across the row. All values differ significantly from each other at the p < 0.05 level, except the values marked by the same superscript. Bonferroni adjustment was applied.

Table 5. Characterisation of the student profiles based on students’ orientations and boundary-crossing behaviour.

	Profile 1	Profile 2	Profile 3	Profile 4
Learning Orientation	Low	Above average/High	Slightly below average	High
Problem-Solving Orientation	Low	Slightly below average	Above average/High	High
Risk Orientation	Low	Below average	High	High
Boundary-Crossing Behaviour	Low	Slightly above average	Slightly above average	High

Appendix A. Z Scores for the Constitutive Attribute Scales and Respective Items for the Four Extracted Clusters, Together with F Values (N = 264)

Scale	Cluster 1 n = 73(27.7%)	Cluster 2 n = 85(32.2%)	Cluster 3 n = 77(29.2%)	Cluster 4 n = 29(11.0%)	(df) F
Work Efficacy	−0.79150	0.43031	−0.23647	1.35899	(3) 71.99***
WE1: Someone who feels freedom to pick up new things as part of their job responsibilities	−0.59535055	0.19628145^a	−0.029424909^a	1.001461548	(3) 24.68***
WE2: Someone who clearly knows what is expected from themselves	−0.554132776^a	0.363353117	−0.22777804^a	0.934675405	(3) 27.28***
WE3: Someone who thinks they are good at their work	−0.664158495	0.362445722	−0.123712839	0.937985255	(3) 31.47***
WE4: Someone who can do their core tasks in a routine manner	−0.526690638^a	0.335806172	−0.293350457^a	1.120444038	(3) 33.22***
Proactivity	−0.81192	0.40010	−0.14138	1.24648	(3) 60.70***
P1: Someone who can improve themselves	−0.510184885^a	0.349030316	−0.266065909^a	0.967689475	(3) 26.712***
P2: Someone who is looking for ways to improve work processes	−0.541376246	0.274015515	−0.133726274	0.914692079	(3) 22.089***
P3: Someone who is trying to improve the products or services which they work with/on	−0.543790045	0.234225817^ab	0.007451975^a	0.662540577^b	(3) 15.082***
P4: Someone who regularly asks others for feedback on their own performance	−0.385804714^a	0.22347554	−0.171995303^a	0.772826261	(3) 13.177***
P5: Someone who regularly asks others for feedback on what they are involved in	−0.48942376	0.192486948^ab	−0.015900282^a	0.710029851^b	(3) 13.425***
P6: Someone who asks for the opinion of others when they invent something new	−0.526610726^a	0.39520631^b	−0.180923454^a	0.647625952^b	(3) 19.449***
P7: Someone who is aware of the developments in their discipline allowing themselves to identify new opportunities	−0.606889441	0.132139679^a	0.103849846^a	0.864642012	(3) 20.789***
P8: Someone who checks if news that relates to their discipline or work field, is interesting for their work	−0.559469873	0.272285598^a	−0.079985708^a	0.822618083	(3) 19.978***
Risk Tolerance	−0.81761	−0.07867	0.54356^a	0.84545^a	(3) 47.26***
RT1: Someone who is willing to take risks in their work	−0.635329544	−0.140820898	0.432958662^a	0.86244883^a	(3) 29.719***
RT2: Someone who likes to take a challenge, even if it’s a risk for the company/organisation	−0.700857175	−0.046300972	0.495781184^a	0.583551902^a	(3) 28.359***
RT3: Someone who takes risks in order to be innovative	−0.765969698	−0.019708162	0.465882296^a	0.7488981^a	(3) 35.119***
Creativity	−1.05480	−0.15282	0.61411	1.47253	(3) 172.72***
C1: Think differently and adopt different perspectives	−0.640487717	−0.113407701	0.402823271^a	0.87509883^a	(3) 28.884***
C2: Use intuition and own knowledge to start actions	−0.663530196	−0.082492665	0.459627784^a	0.6916635 ^a	(3) 27.220***
C3: Find new ways to implement ideas	−0.607205653	−0.183446414	0.452793826^a	0.863925285^a	(3) 29.749***
C4: Generate original solutions for problems or to opportunities	−0.804673952	−0.126021634	0.59125098^a	0.825059033^a	(3) 49.231***
C5: Make suggestions to improve current process products or services	−0.674238714	−0.105682325	0.397186336	0.952381926	(3) 33.038***
C6: Present novel ideas	−0.668924953	−0.07095082	0.314297779	1.057290079	(3) 33.372***
C7: Show inventiveness in using resources	−0.610056611	−0.117171937	0.260633416	1.187068077	(3) 34.208***
C8: Search for new working methods, techniques, or instruments	−0.657748026	−0.109637969	0.396206169	0.925067526	(3) 31.133***
C9: Refine ideas into a useful form	−0.672509617	0.048328658^a	0.221270556^a	0.963704595	(3) 27.825***
Critical Thinking	−0.97054	−0.09437	0.51166	1.36111	(3) 103.92***
CT2: Develop and experiment with new ways of problem solving	−0.798493501	−0.178534941	0.59519502^a	0.952947551^a	(3) 55.673***
CT3: Challenge the status quo	−0.666901132	−0.099483853	0.416485574^a	0.864500723^a	(3) 30.425***
CT4: Face the task from different points of view	−0.673018154	0.056763056^a	0.233927851^a	0.906655897	(3) 26.391***
CT5: Forecast impact on users	−0.668782458	−0.078699362	0.295465953	1.129644374	(3) 35.816***
CT6: Ask ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’ and ‘What if?’ with a purpose	−0.656145851	−0.034211574^a	0.278929057^a	1.011348054	(3) 29.733***
Initiative	−0.94194	−0.23907	0.65886	1.32243	(3) 122.00***
I1: Foster improvements in work organisation	−0.543936869^a	−0.214463788^a	0.425617777^b	0.867732569^b	(3) 26.335***
I2: Take an acceptable level of risk to support new ideas	−0.728592968	−0.271158449	0.598912418^a	1.038603403^a	(3) 56.601***
I3: Go beyond expectations in the assignment, task, or job description without being asked	−0.772854964	−0.056806674	0.375152654	1.115869839	(3) 45.717***
I4: Convince people to support an innovative idea	−0.698386559	−0.109448149	0.476266515^a	0.814234133^a	(3) 33.498***
I5: Systematically introduce new ideas into work practices	−0.692050082	−0.226943368	0.536686861^a	0.982239792^a	(3) 44.705***
I6: Act quickly and energetically	−0.678235282	−0.158971877	0.460007981	0.95183347	(3) 36.738***

Superscripts indicate results of per-item between-cluster pairwise comparisons. All values differ significantly from each other at the p < 0.05 level, except the values marked by the same superscript. For example, value^a is significantly different from value^b and values with no superscript in the same row. Bonferroni adjustment was applied.

***p < 0.001.

Table

Scale	Cluster 1 n = 73(27.7%)	Cluster 2 n = 85(32.2%)	Cluster 3 n = 77(29.2%)	Cluster 4 n = 29(11.0%)
Boundary-Crossing Behaviour	−0.6167748	0.1207237^a	0.1830129^a	0.7127950
BC1: Knowing your own expertise and boundaries	−0.354902491	0.066648552^a	0.179469055^a	0.221504747^a
BC2: Mapping stakeholders	−0.40478608^a	−0.030539137^ab	0.286290278^b	0.348305483^b
BC3: Approaching stakeholders	−0.273591843^b	−0.03320515^b	0.084153575^ab	0.562579896^a
BC4: Targeted collaboration	−0.231463456^a	0.1648924^ab	−0.097634821^ab	0.35858136^b
BC5: Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes	−0.147725899^a	0.004201009^a	−0.010202451^a	0.386637708^a
BC6: Learning from the other	−0.258480534^a	0.107008009^a	0.045860575^a	0.215245996^a
BC7: Encouraging others to learn	−0.338818477^a	0.02919784^ab	0.195361643^b	0.248589166^b
BC8: Intention to develop a sustainable, new practice	−0.343133591^a	0.13801993^b	0.020589144^ab	0.404541174^b
BC9: Vision on new practices	−0.410775419	0.000201016^a	0.222123004^a	0.443656823^a
BC10: Integration of interests and perspectives into a new practice	−0.474440992	0.13966563^a	0.065036039^a	0.61223582^a
BC11: Incentives towards a follow-up	−0.449417593	0.102358671^a	0.128009064^a	0.491389633^a

Superscripts indicate results of per-item between-cluster pairwise comparisons. All values differ significantly from each other at the p < 0.05 level, except the values marked by the same superscript. For example, value^a is significantly different from value^b and values with no superscript in the same row. Bonferroni adjustment was applied.