Sandra Blumberg – Nordakademie University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Keywords
cultural identities, duales Studium, university, business, Germany
Abstract
Between 2006 and 2016, the duales Studium in Germany has experienced exponential growth. 1,592 study programmes (compared to 608 in 2006), 100,739 students (compared to 43,536 in 2006) and 47,458 employing business organisations (compared to 22,003 in 2006) shape one of Germany’s success stories (Hofmann & König, 2017; Mittelstraß, 2015). The concept is simple. Students maintain two learning locations throughout their Bachelor’s degree programme: the university campus and the employing business organisation. Such programmes attract young people as it allows them to apply theoretical knowledge either throughout or after each semester, and to prove their abilities to a future employer before even graduating. It is also an economic decision: The employing business organisation usually covers tuition fees, and pays an income to the student. In return, business organisations gain immediate access to latest student knowledge and can train future staff with a specific focus on their very own business.The concept of a duales Studium is rooted in the desire of business organisations to recruit and train their future management at a young age, and to close the gap between academic discourse in the ivory tower and social discourse in the workplace in a general sense (Krone, 2015). With specific focus on cultural identities, such gap has been highlighted by Bolten (2006) who argues that cultural stereotypes continue to persist in the workplace, reinforced through intercultural trainings that focus on dimensions of national culture whereas academia has experienced substantial view changes in relation to culture over the past years. Stehr (2011) raises the concern that business organisations in Germany may soon struggle to address the current skills shortage as intercultural competence remains an underestimated skill in human resource management. Thus, collaboration and communication between universities and business organisations seem more relevant than ever for the aim to achieve or maintain competitive advantage, and to be innovative in a business world that is shaped by intercultural interaction (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2017).This paper presents some of the key findings from a qualitative investigation into the recent implementation of the study programme International Business BSc at a private university of applied sciences in Germany. Participant observation was employed to identify in how far merging academic and social discourse about cultural identities can be achieved through a duales Studium in the field of business and management studies. The data collection method allowed the researcher to access the students’ knowledge (cognitive), emotions (affective), and behaviour in a classroom environment for the duration of two semesters. Such approach seems most suitable in the investigation of how learning takes place.Backed by local SMEs and foreign MNCs, the university launched the duales Studium in International Business BSc in 2018. Whilst business and management theory is the backbone of the study programme entirely taught in English, International Business BSc engages students in an academic discourse about culture and identities, history, banal nationalism, stereotypes and prejudice, language and language ideologies, power, as well as the sojourn and migration experience. The objective is to view culture as a dynamic and fluid concept (Piller, 2017), as a communication process on a microsocial level in which dialogue is pivotal. Dialogue occurs through constant iteration within the lecturer-student-workplace relationship. Dervin & Tournebise’s (2011) identification of a lack of a uniform understanding of and approach to conversing about culture remains a challenge that is explicitly being addressed and discussed throughout the teaching and learning experience. Students meet lecturers with individual opinions, not only at their home university, but also in the course of their mandatory semester abroad. Variation in relation to the meaning of culture is omnipresent, thus requires students’ attention and awareness to organise themselves in a diverse world. The university takes responsibility to accompany the student sojourn experience – before, during and after the event (see Jackson, 2014) to avoid the development or reinforcement of potentially harmful stereotypes (see Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2009) and to allow sense-making. A central tool in this endeavour is the engagement of reflective and reflexive practice (Jackson, 2014).Twelve students participated in the present research, making up the first cohort of students in their first year of study. The researcher was a teacher in the three-semester module Intercultural Communication at the same time, an approach that Spradley (1980, p. 61) calls complete participation, turning the “own ordinary situations in which they are members into research settings” (also see De Walt & De Walt, 2002; Hammersley & Atkinson, 1983). Students initiated valuable conversations about cultural identities in the workplace, and through those, identified relevant research questions for their written assignments and transfer papers. These conversations contribute to the objective of achieving more understanding for culture and identity challenges employees often face in the workplace. Participants recognised theoretical concepts in the workplace and shared experiences with peers and lecturers in class. The duales Studium appears to encourage other employees to engage in conversations about culture, too – a topic that, at times, seems a difficult one in the contemporary German business landscape. This is not surprising considering the portrait the tabloid media paint of refugees and right-wing movements in Germany, and the attention certain politicians and their anti-globalisation campaigns receive by the media in general. In addition, all too often, business seems to have nothing do to with culture and identities.This paper contributes to research by mapping out how a duales Studium may offer a way forward to closing the gap between ivory tower and social area discourse in relation to cultural identities. This seems critical in order to identify opportunities for a knowledge transfer that allows for strengthening intercultural communication in the workplace, and thus, fostering Germany’s international competitiveness. Naturally, more research has to be conducted with future students of International BSc and their employing business organisations in order to provide more valid data – but the first insights are exciting.
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