Engaging industry in curriculum design and delivery in public policy teaching: A strategic framework
| Author | Rob Manwaring,Brian Coffey,Josh Holloway |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0144739419851155 |
| Published By | Sage Publications, Inc. |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Engaging industry
in curriculum design
and delivery in public
policy teaching:
A strategic framework
Rob Manwaring
College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Australia
Josh Holloway
Flinders University, Australia
Brian Coffey
Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Australia
Abstract
Public policy is frequently characterised as a sub-discipline of political science which is
practically oriented and concerned with what government does and does not do.
Further, policy analysis can also be characterised as concerned with either the analysis
‘of policy’ or ‘for policy’. This clearly has implications for the design and delivery of
public policy courses. More broadly, higher education in Australia, like elsewhere, faces
callstoensurethatstudentsgraduatewitharangeofskillsandaptitudesthatmake
them ‘job ready’ and able to engage with ‘real world problems’. One of the ways in
which this can be pursued is through industry engagement. However, limited research
has been undertaken regarding what this might entail or how it can be pursued.
Accordingly, in this paper we explore these issues by: (a) situating engagement within
the field of public policy; (b) reviewing how the changing context of higher education,
with a particular focus on the drivers and rationale for greater engagement with
industry, intersects with the teaching of public policy; and (c) providing a framework
which helps to clarify the different modes, potential and risks associated with industry
engagement.
Corresponding author:
Rob Manwaring, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, PO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001,
Australia.
Email: rob.manwaring@flinders.edu.au; Telephone: +61 882017712
Teaching Public Administration
2020, Vol. 38(1) 46–62
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0144739419851155
journals.sagepub.com/home/tpa
Keywords
Public policy, teaching and learning, industry engagement, employability
Introduction
The teaching of public policy involves a range of challenges, some specific to the
discipline, and others common to the teaching of humanities and social science
fields. Within the context of the ongoing reform of the higher education sector,
this paper examines a key dilemma for the teaching of public policy – how best to
engage with ‘industry’ on curriculum design and delivery. In this article, we use
the term ‘industry engagement’ to refer to the relationship between universities
and key employers and external stakeholders, although we appreciate that both
higher education in general, and public policy in particular, also has a broader
public purpose.
This article is part of the wider special issue focussing on the teaching and pedagogy
of public policy in Australia. Using Australia as our case study, we explore the chal-
lenges, risks and benefits involved in undertaking industry engagement. Here we offer a
new strategic framework for exploring engagement with key stakeholders, with the
ultimate aim of improving and facilitating better links between teachers and practitioners
of public policy. Whilst our case is Australian-focussed, we argue that our framework
can be adapted to other settings, and that the insights generated have wider gen-
eralisability – albeit with some obvious country/regional specific differences that need to
be taken into account. In this section we set out the initial context for understanding the
drivers of industry engagement.
One of the primary goals of public policy instruction in higher education is to produce
graduates with the requisite skills, knowledge and abilities to undertake policy work (Di
Francesco, 2015). In this respect, it is assumed that many of the students who study
public policy at both undergraduate and graduate level wish to either work in policy-
focussed roles, or enhance their skills in order to seek more demanding roles. A key
employment destination for public policy students is inevitably the public sector, and the
wider network of statutory agencies. Further fields of employment include non-
governmental organisations and private sector organisations with relevant policy/proj-
ect roles. Within this context, an implicit understanding for students is that their degrees
and topics will enable them to find suitable employment (e.g. see Lehmann, 2009 for a
discussion of the expectations of working-class students).
In Australia, but also elsewhere, many universities develop a generic graduate profile
which outlines some of the core skills and knowledge expected to meet the minimum
standards at the tertiary level. These generic standards can be adapted to relevant dis-
cipline areas, including public policy. Relatedly, across the tertiary sector in Australia,
there is wider mapping of graduate employment outcomes. For example, Quality Indi-
cators for Learning and Teaching (QILT), run by the Australian National University’s
Centre for Social Research, conducts regular surveys on both graduate outcomes and
employer satisfaction. At the individual university level, most institutions also undertake
Manwaring et al. 47
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