What does the student psychological contract mean? Evidence from a UK business school

Abstract

Much has been written about psychological contracts in organisational contexts but very little in educational settings, especially within higher education. Using an exploratory single case study this article provides qualitative empirical evidence about the ways in which the psychological contract is perceived by a group of postgraduate students and academics in one English business school. The study explores the concepts and relationships that students attach to the psychological contract. The findings show that the student psychological contract differs in important ways from the employment psychological contract. An amalgam of transactional, relational and ideological expectations was found to form the basis of the perceived reciprocal exchange between students, their tutors and their learning institution.

Keywords:

• students as customers
• students' expectations
• students' perceptions
• university students
• psychological contract