Abstract
A topic of current interest in higher education is the development of professional dispositions (graduate attributes, generic skills). Much has been written about the development of such skills as numeracy and literacy, teamwork and the ability to communicate effectively, contemporary computer and information technology abilities. We have extended our projects to include investigation of students’ views of some harder or less-obvious dispositions: creativity, an ethical stance, awareness of issues of sustainability and cross-cultural sensitivity. Such dispositions are important to novice professionals in their move towards full professional participation. In this chapter we report on students’ views of such dispositions derived from specific studies with students in the area of business and economics, as well as from unprovoked comments from students in our other discipline-based studies. Our results shed light on the contemporary balance between generic skills or attributes and specific professional knowledge that is required by students making the transition from studies in higher education to professional work.
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Reid, A., Dahlgren, M.A., Petocz, P., Dahlgren, L.O. (2011). Professional Dispositions: How Are Professional Dispositions Developed in Higher Education ?. In: From Expert Student to Novice Professional. Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, vol 99. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0250-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0250-9_5
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