Students’ perspective on public relations curriculum and their preparedness for the industry

Tan, Sharon and Lee, Cheng Ean Catherine * (2023) Students’ perspective on public relations curriculum and their preparedness for the industry. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and Media 2022 (I-COME 2022). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 769 . Atlantis Press, pp. 153-162. ISBN 2352-5398

Preview

Text i-come2022 - proceedings 2023_pr.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (285kB) | Preview

Abstract

Public relations scholars and practitioners have raised a concern on the gap between students’ acquired knowledge and skills in the classroom learning and meeting the expectation from employers. There is a call for public relations educators to better prepare students before they enter the industry. The themes of public relations education, public relations curriculum and practices are the conceptual understandings of this paper in gauging the perception of undergraduate students on public relations curriculum and their preparedness for the industry. A qualitative interview was conducted with seven student participants. Public relations students of both public and private universities in Malaysia perceived the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom learning were mainly theoretical with a mix of practical skills. Most students claimed that they were not prepared to enter the industry even though they have positive feedback on their lecturers’ pedagogy. Although students of this study are satisfied and have a positive perspective of the public relations curriculum in Malaysia higher education institutions, they suggest students acquire external knowledge outside the classroom by attending personal development courses and having good mindsets in preparing the students for the industry. This paper brings implications for public relations education and course development as well as for professionals in the public relations industry to consider working effectively with educators in identifying the knowledge and skills important for the future of public relations practice.

Actions (login required)

View Item