{ "issue_key": "vol05-no2-2017", "volume": 5, "number": 2, "season": "Winter 2017", "year": 2017, "sequence": 12, "type": "research-article", "section": "Research Article", "title": "Student Engagement: The Challenges Facing SMEs", "subtitle": null, "slug": "student-engagement-the-challenges-facing-smes", "corporate_author": null, "authors": [ { "given_name": "Isabel", "family_name": "Morrell", "credentials": null, "affiliation": "University of Birmingham", "email": "isabel.morrell@hotmail.co.uk", "orcid": null, "is_corresponding": true, "sequence": 1 }, { "given_name": "Nicola", "family_name": "Stavrinou", "credentials": null, "affiliation": "University of Birmingham", "email": null, "orcid": null, "is_corresponding": false, "sequence": 2 } ], "abstract": "The purpose of this study is to investigate student perceptions of small and medium-sized enterprises and subsequent barriers preventing student engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises. The study uses questionnaire responses from a Professional Development Module of final year students and recent graduates from the University of Birmingham. The study’s findings support previous studies that generally, students and graduates would prefer to work for larger firms than small and medium-sized enterprises. Further, respondents valued long-term career prospects, pay and skill development as the three most important job attributes. The results reveal a communication barrier resulting in low visibility of opportunities in small and medium-sized enterprises in student and graduate job searches. Implications of the results and future research directions are also presented.", "keywords": [ "small and medium-sized enterprises", "graduate and student careers", "firm-type preference" ], "first_page": 125, "last_page": 137, "pdf_start": 49, "pdf_end": 61, "references": [ { "ordinal": 1, "raw_text": "Arnold, J., Schalk, R. & Overbeek, S. V., (2002). Graduates experience of work in small organisations in the UK and The Netherlands: better than expected. International Small Business Journal, pp. 477-497.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Arnold, J., Schalk, R. & Overbeek, S. V., (2002). Graduates experience of work in small organisations in the UK and The Netherlands: better than expected. International Small Business Journal, pp. 477-497." }, { "ordinal": 2, "raw_text": "Borchardt, U. & Weidauer, K., (2013). The Value of E-Learning to the Lecturer. In: A. Kobylinski & A. Sobczak, eds. Perspectives in Business Informatics Research: 12th International Conference, BIR 2013, Warsaw, Poland, September 23-25, Proceedings. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 214-226.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Borchardt, U. & Weidauer, K., (2013). The Value of E-Learning to the Lecturer. In: A. Kobylinski & A. Sobczak, eds. Perspectives in Business Informatics Research: 12th International Conference, BIR 2013, Warsaw, Poland, September 23-25, Proceedings. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 214-226." }, { "ordinal": 3, "raw_text": "Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, (2016). National Statistics: Business Population Estimates 2016. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2016 [Accessed 11 July 2017].", "doi": null, "markdown": "Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, (2016). National Statistics: Business Population Estimates 2016. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2016 [Accessed 11 July 2017]." }, { "ordinal": 4, "raw_text": "Edwards, M., (2014). The Impact of Placements on Students' Self-Efficacy. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, 4(3), pp. 228-241.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Edwards, M., (2014). The Impact of Placements on Students' Self-Efficacy. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, 4(3), pp. 228-241." }, { "ordinal": 5, "raw_text": "European Commission, (2017). European Commission. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition_en", "doi": null, "markdown": "European Commission, (2017). European Commission. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition\\_en" }, { "ordinal": 6, "raw_text": "Grub, L. W., Harris, M. L. & MacKenzie, W. I. J., (2007). Business students perceptions of employment in small and medium sized enterprises versus multinational corporations: investigating the moderating effects of academic major, gender and personality. Journal of Small Business Strategy, pp. 27-35.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Grub, L. W., Harris, M. L. & MacKenzie, W. I. J., (2007). Business students perceptions of employment in small and medium sized enterprises versus multinational corporations: investigating the moderating effects of academic major, gender and personality. Journal of Small Business Strategy, pp. 27-35." }, { "ordinal": 7, "raw_text": "Mclarty, R., (1999). The skills development needs of SMEs and focus on graduate skills application. Journal of Applied Management Studies, pp. 103-111.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Mclarty, R., (1999). The skills development needs of SMEs and focus on graduate skills application. Journal of Applied Management Studies, pp. 103-111." }, { "ordinal": 8, "raw_text": "Sear, L., Scurry, T., Swail, J. & Down, S., (2012). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Graduate Recruitment to SMEs: Final Report, Durham: SFEDI.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Sear, L., Scurry, T., Swail, J. & Down, S., (2012). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Graduate Recruitment to SMEs: Final Report, Durham: SFEDI." }, { "ordinal": 9, "raw_text": "Teo, H.A. and Poon, J.T.F., (1994). Career Choice of Undergraduates and SMEs in Singapore. International Journal of Career Management, pp. 20-26.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Teo, H.A. and Poon, J.T.F., (1994). Career Choice of Undergraduates and SMEs in Singapore. International Journal of Career Management, pp. 20-26." }, { "ordinal": 10, "raw_text": "Tibby, M., (2012). Employment and student perspectives on employability , s.l.: national co-ordinating centre for public engagement .", "doi": null, "markdown": "Tibby, M., (2012). Employment and student perspectives on employability , s.l.: national co-ordinating centre for public engagement ." }, { "ordinal": 11, "raw_text": "Universities UK, (2016). Patterns and Trends in UK Higher Education 2016. [Online] Available at: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/data-and-analysis/Documents/patterns-and-trends-2016.pdf [Accessed 11 July 2017].", "doi": null, "markdown": "Universities UK, (2016). Patterns and Trends in UK Higher Education 2016. [Online] Available at: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/data-and-analysis/Documents/patterns-and-trends-2016.pdf [Accessed 11 July 2017]." }, { "ordinal": 12, "raw_text": "Walmsley, A., Thomas, R. & Jameson, S., (2006). Surprise and sense making: undergraduate placement experiences in SMEs. Education and Training, pp. 360-372.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Walmsley, A., Thomas, R. & Jameson, S., (2006). Surprise and sense making: undergraduate placement experiences in SMEs. Education and Training, pp. 360-372." }, { "ordinal": 13, "raw_text": "Walmsley, A., Thomas, R. & Jameson, S., (2012). Internships in SMEs and career intentions. Journal of Education and Work, pp. 185-204.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Walmsley, A., Thomas, R. & Jameson, S., (2012). Internships in SMEs and career intentions. Journal of Education and Work, pp. 185-204." }, { "ordinal": 14, "raw_text": "Williams, H. & Owen, G., (1997). Recruitment and utilisation of graduates by small and medium sized enterprises, Sheffield: Policy Research Centre, Sheffeld Hallam University .", "doi": null, "markdown": "Williams, H. & Owen, G., (1997). Recruitment and utilisation of graduates by small and medium sized enterprises, Sheffield: Policy Research Centre, Sheffeld Hallam University ." }, { "ordinal": 15, "raw_text": "Woods, A. & Dennis, C., (2009). What do UK small and medium sized enterprises think about employing graduates? Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, pp. 642-659.", "doi": null, "markdown": "Woods, A. & Dennis, C., (2009). What do UK small and medium sized enterprises think about employing graduates? Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, pp. 642-659." } ], "notes": [ "23\\. Main author, correspondence to: isabel.morrell@hotmail.co.uk. Both authors are students at the University of Birmingham", "24\\. Multinational Corporation", "25\\. Higher Education Institution", "26\\. Professional Development Module", "27\\. Business Management/International Business", "28\\. Economics/Money, Banking & Finance/Mathematical Economics & Statistics", "29\\. Accounting & Finance", "30\\. International Relations/Political Science/Political Economy", "31\\. PPE/Sociology", "32\\. As Question 7 is a sliding scale bar that can be dragged and dropped anywhere between 0-100 with 0 representing ‘I have no knowledge’, 50 ‘I have some knowledge’ and 100 ‘I have a lot of knowledge’ on SMEs, for analytical purposes we broke up the data into the following categories: 0-25, 26-50, 51-75, and 76-100. These appear on Figure 26." ], "figures": [ { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-18-p54.png", "caption": "Fig. 18: Impact of Degree Programme on Firm Preference", "pdf_page": 54, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-14-p54.png", "caption": "Fig. 14: The Impact of Gender on Firm-Type Preference", "pdf_page": 54, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-16-p54.png", "caption": "Fig. 16: Graduate Status Compared to Firm-Type Preference", "pdf_page": 54, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-05-p55.png", "caption": "Fig. 5: Preferred Job Attributes Compared to Degree Programmes", "pdf_page": 55, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-02-p55.png", "caption": "Fig. 2: Preferred Job Attributes", "pdf_page": 55, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-26-p56.png", "caption": "Figure 26: Impact of Graduation Status on Perceived Knowledge of SMEs", "pdf_page": 56, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-20-p57.png", "caption": "Fig. 20: Impact of Level of SME Knowledge on Firm Preference", "pdf_page": 57, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-11-p57.png", "caption": "Fig. 11: SME Job Attributes Compared to Percentage of Knowledge on SMEs", "pdf_page": 57, "text_in_image": null }, { "kind": "figure", "file": "figures/fig-24-p58.png", "caption": "Fig. 24: Visibility of SME Opportunities in Students' Job Searches", "pdf_page": 58, "text_in_image": null } ], "files": { "html": "index.html", "body_markdown": "body.md", "pdf": "article.pdf" }, "word_count": 7532, "conversion_warnings": [ "Figures 18, 14, 16, 5, 2, 26, 20, 11, 24 are Excel charts re-rasterised from the PDF (one crop per chart, caption printed inside the image); figure numbers are non-sequential in the source and kept as printed.", "Figure 9 is cited in the text (section \"Most Important Job Attributes and Association with SMEs and Larger Firms\") but is not printed in the source PDF.", "Text says \"hypothesis four and five were not supported\" but only Hypotheses 1-4 are stated; kept as printed.", "Fig. 2 x-axis label \"SK\" (presumably Skill Development, \"SD\" elsewhere) is as printed in the chart image.", "Reference list rebuilt by hand from PDF p.137 (heading printed as plain 9pt text); no DOIs printed." ], "manifest_notes": "Footnote 23: 'Main author, correspondence to: isabel.morrell@hotmail.co.uk. Both authors are students at the University of Birmingham' — affiliation recorded as University of Birmingham (students). Keywords label not bold. 'Introduction' heading is Times New Roman BoldItalic 11pt (unlike every other heading). 'References' heading on PDF 61 is plain 9pt, not bold. Charts (Excel, fragmented images + vector) on PDF 54 (Figs 18, 16, 14), 55 (Figs 5, 2), 56 (Fig 26), 57 (Figs 11, 20), 58 (Fig 24); numbering non-sequential and Fig 9 is referenced (PDF 56) but absent. Many short abbreviation footnotes (24-32).", "source": { "pdf": "vol05-no2-2017.pdf", "ocr": false }, "reviewed": true }