Exploring Project Management Education

Abstract

The object of this paper is to explore the actual practice in project management education in the Netherlands and compare it to reference institutions and recent literature. A little over 40% of the Higher Education institutions in the Netherlands mentions PM education in programs and/or courses. A total of 264 courses, minors and programs in the Netherlands found. In reference institutions 33 courses and programs are found and 36 publications deal with actual teaching of project management in Higher Education. Comparing these sources finds traditional methods of teaching and testing, a roughly comparable focus on subjects and an unsupported high claim of learning level, while the number of credits assigned to project management is relatively small. There is a strong focus on planning without execution, which is critiqued as is the promoted Project Based Learning.

Tackling Project Management Competence Research

“…This article targets basic project management education: the student getting acquainted with project management. Here, there is no distinction between bachelor’s and master’s degrees, since research into the offerings of project management courses have revealed no real differences between intended learning levels, on average spending less than 10% of their curricula on project management education (Nijhuis, 2017a). The underlying assumption of this article, therefore, is that a uniform set of competences for higher education exists as project management certification systems seem to suggest, with uniform criteria for industries and countries.…”

Improving project management teaching in higher education: Towards a validated competence profile for the design of a profession specific learning line

“…This chapter makes no distinction between universities of applied sciences and universities. Overall, their offerings of PM modules are alike (Nijhuis, 2017).…”

“…It does not differentiate between bachelor's or master's levels, as research on PM courses has revealed no fundamental differences between the intended levels of learning in the courses at these levels. On average, less than 10% of the curriculum is spent on PM education (Nijhuis, 2017). Therefore, this chapter assumes that the set of competences for higher education is uniform, as suggested by the global PM certification systems like the ones from International Project Management Association (IPMA, 2015) and Project Management Institute (PMI, 2010).…”

“…Competences play an essential role in designing curricula (Crawley et al, 2008) as these are becoming increasingly competency-based (Schumacher & Risco, 2017). Project management (PM) is one of the competences regularly addressed in higher education; however, there is little agreement in the literature on PM education, higher education practices, and practitioner needs (Nijhuis, 2017), which could be caused by the needs of the context. Even the guidelines for curriculum design in PM (Task Force on PM Curricula, 2015) stressed that curricula should consider the context.…”

“…Even the guidelines for curriculum design in PM (Task Force on PM Curricula, 2015) stressed that curricula should consider the context. Whether competences needed for PM depend on the project context is highly relevant for the many curricula in higher education that incorporate PM skills (Nijhuis, 2017).…”