The objective of higher education institutions is to integrate reflective learning that contributes to the development of a greater awareness among individuals of the importance of facing the 21st century’s sustainability challenges. This paper analyzes the impact of an extracurricular volunteer activity in Tangier, Morocco in the development of student reflection at a Spanish university. To this end, two objectives were proposed: (1) to explore the students’ primary reflections of the experience, and (2) analyze the students’ perceptions of the importance of participating in the experience in order to develop reflective learning. In the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 students who participated in the volunteer activity. Data analysis was carried out using Iramuteq software to conduct a descending hierarchical classification (DHC), and MAXQDA software to conduct a constant comparison analysis. This research highlights the value of voluntary extracurricular activities in the development of reflections that guide change in the beliefs, attitudes, and daily behaviors of students that ultimately result in sustainability. Due to this, not only is it considered essential that students participate in social projects, but also that they undertake these projects with peers and instructors who can create environments of support and trust.
Recientemente se está desarrollando una línea de investigación en educación superior que muestra evidencia de que las actividades fuera de programa o extracurriculares estructuradas tienen un impacto positivo en la formación integral del alumnado (Ivanova & Logvinova, 2017). Los trabajos existentes son mayoritariamente empíricos e identifican algunas contribuciones relevantes, sin existir una revisión sistemática del conjunto de funciones y beneficios derivados de estas. Además, el término y tipología de actividad extracurricular (ECA) siguen siendo ambiguos y todavía no existe una definición ni una clasificación generalmente aceptada para este concepto (Greenbank, 2015).En este contexto, el trabajo que se presenta en este artículo tiene como objetivos: (a) describir el concepto y tipología de las actividades extracurriculares en educación superior; y (b) identificar las funciones y beneficios de estas en el desarrollo humano integral del alumnado universitario. La metodología llevada a cabo siguió la declaración PRISMA para las revisiones sistemáticas (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff & Altman, 2009). Los estudios se seleccionaron de las bases de datos WoS, Scopus y ERIC y se analizaron de acuerdo a los objetivos planteados.El análisis de los 50 trabajos de investigación seleccionados aporta luz a la literatura académica no solo en torno al concepto y tipología de actividad extracurricular sino también respecto a los efectos de esta en la empleabilidad, rendimiento académico, bienestar, adaptación a la vida universitaria y participación y transformación social. Asimismo, se exponen los beneficios que aportan dichas actividades en cuanto al desarrollo de habilidades personales, sociales y profesionales. Finalmente, se pone de relieve la necesidad de abordar investigaciones sobre lo que supone la formación extracurricular en el ámbito universitario, así como la importancia de potenciar dicha formación para promover el desarrollo humano integral del alumnado en educación superior.
Universities are increasingly paying more attention to developing academic entrepreneurship. This paper analyses the existing relationships between the relevant factors that contribute to the development of the entrepreneurial university. A previously validated questionnaire was administered to a sample of 84 deans of a number of faculties in Spain. The aim was to assess the universities’ development in terms of 13 influencing factors in encouraging entrepreneurship. The findings show that universities’ contextual factors had only minor influence on internal factors. Internal resources were found to be moderately or highly correlated with the processes put in place by universities to promote entrepreneurship. In particular, reference to entrepreneurship in a university’s mission, strategy, policies and procedures had a correlation with all the entrepreneurship factors analysed. Support from the management team and organisational design were not among the most important factors; however, they were positively associated with training and research processes, which, in turn, seemed to be strongly related to all factors in the development of the entrepreneurial university, especially with university mission and strategy. The findings show the relationships between the factors involved in the development of the entrepreneurial university. This will help universities to adopt measures that are better suited to promoting entrepreneurship.
Purpose The entrepreneurial university is being widely studied, given its importance as an agent in economic and social development. This paper presents the findings of a study that had a twofold objective. First, it sought to establish a model of maturity for the measurement of the level of academic entrepreneurship in universities. Second, it aimed to apply this maturity model to a sufficiently wide and varied sample of faculties to discover their current level of academic entrepreneurship, as well as their differences by area of knowledge, type of university and autonomous region in Spain. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was designed with items grouped into 14 blocks that defined the entrepreneurial university according to the model previously developed. The questionnaire was answered by 84 deans/directors belonging to different faculties/universities from six Spanish regions. Findings The findings showed that the Spanish universities stand out in four areas: internationalisation, use of active methodologies, mission and strategy and management team support. However, the legal and administrative context, the funds for entrepreneurship and the training of staff in entrepreneurship are not sufficiently developed. Significant differences were observed between regions but not by type of university or area of knowledge. Originality/value The results provide an innovative model that explains the factors that define the entrepreneurial university, as well as guidelines for universities to move forward in developing stages.
The relevance of participating in structured extracurricular activities (ECA from here onwords) in higher education is increasing. Involvement in these activities helps students develop personal and social skills that positively affect academic and professional training, well-being, and the development of attitudes toward community involvement. This study analyzes the role of social interactions in the perceived benefits of students, who have participated in an ECA in a developing country. Moreover, this research aspires to explore whether students perceive that these interactions positively impact academic training, professional development, and adjustment to the university context, psychological well-being, and development of community involvement attitudes. As a result, 46 in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 students who participated in the experience. 23 in-depth interviews were conducted before the experience and another 23 after it. Data analysis was carried out using the IRaMuTeQ software to conduct a descending hierarchical classification (DHC). This study highlights the value of social interactions in an ECA to increase the motivation of students to improve academic and professional performance, to build shared knowledge with others, and to develop personal and social skills that contribute to the integral development of participants. ECAs help students reflect on their actions and privileges and develop positive attitudes toward themselves and others. This fact is linked to the achievement of high levels of well-being that allow the enhancement of the students’ self-esteem. Finally, this experience has allowed volunteers to become aware of other sociocultural realities and to reflect on the possible ways of contributing to the development of a more sustainable society.
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