Forces for change in property education and research in Australia

Hefferan, Michael J.; Ross, Stuart

doi:10.1108/02637471011086554

Cited by 13 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, the property discipline as an area of study is still relatively small-scale, and remarkably under-represented in public funding. Except for those closely involved in the relevant profession, property as a discipline also lacks recognition (Hefferan and Ross, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is no lack of research discussing the need for reform of property education in Australia in order to meet changing demands in the property sector (Boyd, 2007;Hefferan, 2011;Hefferan and Ross, 2010;Parker, 2012). Criticism of existing property courses centres around the fact that they may not meet the requirements of the broader property industry, or the senior management of universities seeking to implement federal government education policy (Parker, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Competency expectations for property professionals in Australia

Poon

Brownlow

2014

Journal of Property Investment &Amp; Finance

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Purpose-The aim of this paper is to identify the competency expectations for property professionals in Australia. It further discusses differences in competency expectations between property professionals who have different professional backgrounds, such as valuers or non-valuers, and property professionals who work in different sectors or different-sized companies and who have differing amounts of experience. The competencies identified in this paper include knowledge areas, skills and attributes. Design/methodology/approach-This paper presents the research findings of a questionnaire survey sent to Australian Property Institute members, which aimed to gather Australian property professionals' views on the knowledge, skills and attributes required to perform their roles effectively. The percentage of the respondents who provided different choices of given answers for each of the 31 knowledge areas, 20 skills and 21 attributes was identified and discussed. The professional backgrounds of the respondents were also identified to see whether these impact on competency expectations for property professionals. Content analysis was used to analyse written comments collected in the questionnaire. Findings-The most important categories of knowledge, skill and attribute for Australian property professionals are valuation, effective written communication and practical experience, respectively. The least important are international real estate, second language and creativity. Knowledge of rural valuation is very important in Australia, although this has not been mentioned in previous studies. Professional backgrounds have a large influence on Australian property professionals' views on knowledge requirements, but less so on skills and attributes. Practical implications-The findings of this paper can be used as guidance for property professionals in their professional development plan. In addition, property course providers can use the research findings of this paper to inform their curriculum development and redesign. Originality/value-This project is the first to identify the comprehensive competency expectations of property professionals as a whole in Australia. At the same time, it identifies differences in the competency expectations of property professionals who have different professional backgrounds. Similar types of study have been conducted in the UK, the USA, Hong Kong and New Zealand but not yet in Australia. An understanding of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for property professionals is important for continuing professional development, curriculum development and the redesign of relevant property courses in order to maintain performance and competitiveness in the property sector.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competency expectations for property professionals in Australia

Poon

Brownlow

2014

Journal of Property Investment &Amp; Finance

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“…Therefore, a good way to deliver commercial awareness is to provide students with simulated or real-life practical experience. The RICS-accredited course directors' emphasis on the incorporation 422 ET 57,4 of practical experience as part of the curriculum highlights the fact that academics are as concerned with the delivery mechanism as with the content of the curriculum, which in turn shows that the academic respondents of this study have implemented Yu's (2001), Baxter's (2007) and Hefferan and Ross's (2010) suggestions regarding the need to 'consider the delivery method, and the teaching and learning pedagogy in property course curriculums'. It is essential for universities to engage with employers and practitioners in order to create opportunities for students to gain practical experience through, for example, placements and internships.…”

Section: How Should Rics-accredited Property Courses Be Designed So Tmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Yu (2001) commented that real estate curricula should consider the inclusion of subjects outside their areas of specialisation in order to equip students to be better prepared for change. Hefferan and Ross (2010) and Hefferan (2011) reinforced Yu's (2001) comments and identified the forces, which drive the change in property education and research, and in the strategic directions of teaching and research. Hefferan (2011) concluded that the curricula of property and real estate education should encompass a wider base and extend beyond the traditional valuation and analysis field, but that certain universities tend to focus on specialist areas as a result of significant emerging changes in the tertiary education sector.…”

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confidence: 91%

Development of students’ commercial awareness within the curriculum of professionally accredited courses

Poon

Brownlow

2015

Education + Training

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of students' commercial awareness within the curriculum of professional accredited courses. The targeted area of study is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited property courses. This paper also discusses how the curriculum of RICS-accredited courses can be designed to successfully incorporate commercial awareness within them and suitable delivery methods for developing this within the curriculum. Commercial awareness is one of the most important employability skills, however, employers have expressed dissatisfaction with graduates' performance in this area. Design/methodology/approach -This paper presents the research findings of two sets of questionnaire surveys, as well as interviews and e-mail discussions with the course directors and current students of the RICS-accredited property courses in the UK. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data. Fisher's exact test was used to identify the statistical significance between academics' and students' views on the development of students' commercial awareness as part of the RICS-accredited property courses' curriculum. Content analysis was used to analyse the texts in the questionnaire survey, interviews and e-mail discussions. Findings -Academics and students involved with the UK RICS-accredited property courses agreed that commercial awareness is an important employability skill in the property sector and they mostly agreed on the definitions of commercial awareness, except in their "understanding of the wider business environment". They also agreed that commercial awareness has three components: strategic, financial and process. Academics and students agreed that the commercial awareness components and process subcomponents are largely incorporated into the curriculum of RICS-accredited property courses but they have divergent opinions on the level of incorporation of strategic and financial sub-components. A suitable way to deliver commercial awareness in RICS-accredited property courses is to incorporate it into the overall curriculum, ensuring that the components of commercial awareness are closely linked to the RICS APC and match relevant competency levels. They also commented that including practical experience in the curriculum is the most useful way to develop a student's commercial awareness. Originality/value -This paper is the first to discuss the development of commercial awareness in professional accredited courses such as RICS-accredited property courses and also identifies suitable methods to enhance students' commercial awareness as part of the curriculum. The research findings can also be applied to other professional accredited courses that have a strong vocational focus, such as nursing, engineering and accountancy. These courses are usually accredited by relevant professional organisations and students studying these courses usually plan to embark on a career in a relevant profession. The design of the course curriculum has a strong fo...

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“…However the fundamental valuation skills underpinning the profession will likely remain relevant, whilst the nature of the future work is anticipated to involve complex paradigms (Hefferan and Ross, 2010;Hefferan, 2011). Therefore it can be inferred that Valuers need to develop a broader, adaptable and flexible skill set, rather than one particular narrow skill set (Susskind and Susskind, 2015).…”

Section: Current Professional Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The future of the Australian valuation profession

Wilkinson

Antoniades

Halvitigala

2018

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Purpose Valuers face significant challenges as processes become automated and the role evolves to data handling and processing. To survive and thrive, valuers must respond to a changing market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues, threats and challenges facing the Australian profession, though the issues are global. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research sought a deeper understanding of the threats, challenges and new areas of practice that Australian valuers were experiencing. A focus group approach was designed to collect data from practitioners in Sydney and Melbourne. The research aimed to identify new knowledge and skills for the future and emerging trends and practices. Findings The key issues, threats and challenges faced included increasing use of automated valuation models for low-risk residential valuations, valuers being unable to protect themselves against the banks, loss of control of the data and valuations. In total, 12 knowledge domains and skills required in the future were established and ten emerging trends and practices were identified. Research limitations/implications The key limitations were that participants were from Melbourne and Sydney in Australia only and the focus is NSW and Victoria centric, although many participants have international work experience. There was an under representation of rural valuers, of small valuation firms, of young, recently joined or qualified valuers and females. Practical implications The findings inform a manifesto for the future which sets out the practical implications for valuers and the professional body. This action plan sets the new knowledge domains, practices and trends that can be adopted by the profession and its members. Originality/value This is the original research and highlights some real threats, issues and challenges facing the Australian valuers. It complements work undertaken by legal and accounting professional bodies, which sense change affecting their membership and services. A manifesto for action has been outlined to address the changes that are coming and those already here.

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Forces for change in property education and research in Australia

Cited by 13 publications

References 8 publications

Competency expectations for property professionals in Australia

Competency expectations for property professionals in Australia

Development of students’ commercial awareness within the curriculum of professionally accredited courses

The future of the Australian valuation profession

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