Developmental contexts of nonprofit management education

Abstract

N ONPROFIT management education (NME), largely a phenomenon of the past two decades, has grown rapidly in the United States. The field was virtually nonexistent in 1980; by 2000 there were ninety-one master's degree programs with at least a concentration in NME (Mirabella and Wish, 2001), nearly one hundred undergraduate programs, and about fifty universitybased certificate programs (Ashcraft, 2001;O'Neill and Fletcher, 1998). Understandably, the literature on nonprofit management education has focused on key internal issues such as what the curriculum should be, what kinds of students to target, what mix of full-time and adjunct faculty to use, how satisfied alums and employers are, and in what departments or schools such programs should be housed (Block, 1987;Fletcher, 2002;Hall and others, 2001;O'Neill and Fletcher, 1998;O'Neill and Young, 1988;Renz, 2004;Young, 1999). However, viewing this phenomenon as part of a larger picture can deepen our understanding of the origin and development of nonprofit management education and suggest ideas about its future. Three contexts are presented here: professional education, management education, and the growth of the U.S. nonprofit sector following World War II.

International mappings of nonprofit management education: An analytical framework and the case of Sweden

“…The other comparison that hypothetically could be made is with surveys of nonprofit management education efforts in different parts of the world (Mirabella and others, 2007;O'Neill and Fletcher, 1999). Yet again, as the existing international surveys only cover credit-based nonprofit management education organized by academic institutions, a far-reaching comparison is difficult to make.…”

“…body of research studying the emerging opportunities and challenges for this specific type of education (Dolch, Ernst, McClusky, Mirabella, and Sadow, 2007;Donnelly-Cox and McGee, 2007;Mirabella, 2007;Pospíšilová, 2012;Wilson and Larson, 2002). However, despite earlier efforts to conduct comparisons between national contexts (Mirabella and others, 2007;O'Neill and Fletcher, 1999), proper comparisons among countries around the world have proved difficult due to methodological issues, conceptual developments, and empirical focus.…”

Leadership skills as construed by nonprofit chief executives

“…Nonetheless, we believe this study may contribute to provocative dialogue, and perhaps further research, particularly on the skills required of nonprofit CEOs and how to develop pre-service curricula and midcareer training to cultivate these skills (e.g., Heimovics and Herman, 1989;O'Neill and Young, 1988;Young, 1999;O'Neill, 2005).…”

Nonprofit Education: Course Offerings and Perceptions in Accredited U.S. Business Schools

“…Meanwhile, the number of nonprofit organizations continues to increase (Tierney, 2006;Andreasen, Goodstein, & Wilson, 2005;Dolan, 2002). The increasing number of nonprofit organizations competing for contributions, grants, volunteers, and publicity has increased the skill sets required for effective nonprofit managers (O'Neill, 2005). The need for professional training and skill development has been identified by academics (Schibrowsky, Peltier, & Boyt 2002), practitioners (Dolan, 2002), and students (Wilson & Larson, 2002).…”