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The aim of this paper is to assess the motives, expectations and preparedness of postgraduate marketing students, and discuss possible implications for postgraduate marketing education in the UK.

The research uses primary data collected from postgraduate marketing students at four British universities. Factor analysis is used to evaluate the convergent validity of the survey questionnaire and Cronbach's alpha coefficient to examine the internal consistency and reliability of the variables composing the major scales.

The results indicate that postgraduate marketing education today faces a culturally diverse student body coupled with a notable lack of relevant work experience. Students are found to have relatively low perception of their preparedness for postgraduate study and high expectations for support and practical experience in marketing.

The sample used is relatively small although the high response rate achieved would help add validity to the study. Further research should examine the ways in which students draw on their prior‐learning experience to make sense of their learning process.

This study should be of interest to postgraduate marketing programme and module leaders. It suggests that a realignment of curriculum design and various support activities on the part of postgraduate marketing education providers are needed to respond to the changing body of students.

The study offers a timely measure of the motives, preparedness, and expectations of postgraduate marketing students. The findings should be of immediate and practical value to postgraduate marketing educators in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to explore why students decide to enrol in a business postgraduate programme at Damascus University in the current Syrian crisis.

Exploration of students’ motives was generated in this study using semi-structured interviews. On the basis of saturation sampling, 11 interviews took place in the leading Syrian university providing postgraduate programmes, Damascus University.

The results from the interviews indicate the existence of six different motives for students to enrol in a postgraduate study: self-motives, professional motives, social motives, academic motives, lack of vision, and delaying military service, which is directly caused by the current war conditions in Syria.

Understanding postgraduates’ motives is essential at the national level, the institutional level, and also at the individual level to make better future plans related to opening new programmes or altering admission criteria. Recommendations to higher education policy makers are highlighted in the study.

The majority of previous studies concentrate on students’ motives to pursue postgraduate studies during financial crisis. However, very little is known on why students decide to enrol in a business postgraduate programme in a war context.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, through empirical analysis, the factors affecting, and expectations of, postgraduate students in their choice of postgraduate programme in Greece.

A sample of 523 postgraduate students from various university departments in the Athens area completed the questionnaire (response rate: 70.2 per cent), which contained 14 questions designed to identify the reasons why postgraduate students had chosen their particular postgraduate programme and what their expectations were as to the outcome of their studies, on a self-reporting basis.

Two fields of postgraduate programmes were popular: business administration and educational studies. Quality and preference appears to influence business administration students, their choice was intrinsically motivated and self-determined, without any external pressures. By contrast, students’ choice in educational studies was influenced by the particular characteristics of the programme, their choice was influenced by institutional motivation whereas their options and autonomy support seemed to be less.

This study has some limitations, so data gathered from other Greek regions may be needed for a more thorough investigation and analysis as well as for the confirmation of the results.

There is only a very limited amount of empirical research concerning the identification of the factors affecting, and the expectations of, postgraduate students in their choice of postgraduate programme while the existing literature on the subject does not discuss the matter in substantial detail. Indeed, the present study moves the analysis forward as it considers both economic and psychological perspective in the choice of postgraduate programmes.

This paper presents a new constructivist model of knowledge development in a case study that illustrates how a group of postgraduate students defined and evaluated effective postgraduate supervision. This new model is based on “personal construct theory” and “repertory grid technology” which is combined with interviews and group discussion. It is argued that this approach leads to a more meaningful interpretation of results and facilitates formative evaluation and professional development of supervisors. In this case study we discuss details of our evaluation method and its benefits and limitations. We explain how this approach enables both supervisors and students to participate actively in research and development activities, to develop their own constructs or theories of effective supervision, and to communicate their suggestions for improvement. Further applications of this constructivist model to postgraduate supervision practice and to research in higher education are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Arab teachers’ motivations and justifications for choosing a college for postgraduate studies.

During the academic year 2014, the authors administered questionnaires to 150 Arab teachers studying postgraduate courses at a peripheral all-Arab teacher-training college in order to investigate their motivations for engaging in postgraduate studies and their justifications for choosing this college.

Findings indicated that the strongest motivation expressed by the students is intrinsic: desires for self-fulfillment and further education. Aspirations for social mobility also motivate the Arab teachers, while professional development is of less importance. Convenience (proximity to home and employment prospects while studying) determines the justification to choose this college. The reputation of the college was of less importance. Correlation and predictive tests reveal no connection between the level of intrinsic motivations and factors for choosing this college. Extrinsic motivations positively correlate with the justifications of convenience and reputation.

The conclusion is that for the Arab teachers, the possibility to pursue postgraduate studies at a peripheral all-Arab teacher-training college near home answers the needs of those looking for professional development.

The paper contributes to the authors’ understanding of teachers’ choice of a higher education institution for their postgraduate studies and professional developement.

This study empirically analyse the lived and individual experiences of internet use time among postgraduate students in a period where the line between the virtual and real is blurred. The infusion of the internet in higher education has not only facilitated the production of new knowledge but has also led to reports of internet addiction among many users during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns. This study aims to evaluate the level of internet addiction among postgraduate students and the supportive information services role that librarians could provide.

In this study, 279 postgraduate students completed a quantitative survey targeted at all the postgraduate students at a university campus in South Africa. Data was collected using an adopted internet addiction test questionnaire. The data was descriptively and inferentially analysed.

As many as 61 (22.7%) are always online, with most of the respondents, 112 (41.6%) spend 10 h or more on the internet daily. Laptop computers at 44.7% emerged as the primary electronic device used by postgraduate students for accessing the internet, surpassing the prevalence of mobile phone usage. On internet addiction level, internet use time had a statistically significant relation with problematic internet use levels in respondents. These results suggest that the increased uncontrolled internet use could negatively interfere with productive academic work of postgraduate students. However, based on the inferential statistical results, it can be concluded that academic use of the internet does not contribute to increased levels of internet addiction. The study recommends that librarians should provide literacy education and resources on how to use the internet safely and responsibly, including tips on setting boundaries, managing time online and productively using online information resources.

The study assesses problematic internet use among postgraduate students and provides suggestions on supportive information services that librarians could provide in an era where many library information services provision and higher education are hinged on the internet.

Although there is an increasing body of literature looking at the postgraduate student experience, there is a lack of research and knowledge in understanding the impact of postgraduate (taught) PGT students' learning experiences prior to their postgraduate study, and their expectations of studying at PGT level. The research undertaken in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing at a post-1992 institution, which focuses on STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), aims to correct this deficiency by providing valuable data and insights into this nationally and internationally largely neglected area. This paper seeks to report the notable findings of first and second-generation respondents.

Data were collected via a hard copy questionnaire that had been developed through previous research and with staff and PGT course representative input. It was distributed and completed by new taught postgraduate students during the orientation period in September 2012. It was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and a range of tests were run on the data.

This original research highlights the similarities and differences between first and second-generation respondents' prior learning experiences and their expectations of studying at postgraduate taught level.

The findings from the research presented was conducted over a one-year period and the findings are based on the limitations that such a time and financially limited project can offer. The university concerned is a post-1992 institution and has a high concentration towards teaching functions. What is observed at this UK HEI could be replicable in other teaching oriented organisations thus merits further research.

The findings from this original piece of research offer potentially important contributions to the current PGT debate looking at developing and expanding PGT provision and ensuring its sustainability.

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of satisfaction (food quality, service quality, ambience, price and portion) among postgraduate Health Sciences students on the cafeteria facilities in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Kuala Lumpur Campus. In Malaysia, the total number of postgraduate in higher institution increase from 75,199 in 2007 to 85,236 in 2010, an increment of 12 per cent. The increasing numbers of higher education postgraduates on university campuses has unquestionably raised the expansion of demand for food service availability and quality on campus.

A self-reported questionnaire was to 86 subjects at Faculty of Health Sciences, UKM, from September to November in 2012.

The findings showed that ambience and service attributes turned out to be the most dissatisfied attributes. Malay and non-Malay post-graduate Health Science students showed no significant difference on the satisfaction toward the four attributes. Respondents believed that increasing menu variation and introducing franchise outlet were the two supplementary factors that may increase satisfaction level.

The major drawback of this study is the inability to generalize findings to the students’ satisfaction toward UKM KL food service because data of the current study were only assessing postgraduate students.

The points developed from this study clearly indicate the level of satisfaction among postgraduate Health Science student against food service system in one of the famous research university in Malaysia, UKM.

The purpose of this paper is to surface themes which may influence Chinese students’ decision making in relation to postgraduate study in international universities.

The study utilises a semi-structured qualitative interview methodology (n=15).

The main findings are discussed according to the following themes: financial and time costs; employment prospects; postgraduate education as a cultural adventure; linguistics; visa issues; admissions; climate; influence of referents; and academic image and reputation.

The sample size is small, yet affords greater depth of data and discussion.

The research offers practitioners in universities who are managing postgraduate recruitment of Chinese students, some greater understanding of the reasons behind prospective Chinese postgraduate students’ choice; from which they can evaluate the effectiveness of their institutions’ recruitment strategies.

Extant research has tended to report reasons why Chinese students study overseas, whereas this study offers deeper insight and exploration of the reasoning of Chinese international students in the postgraduate context. The research is of value given the importance of postgraduate Chinese students to international university recruitment.