Selection of Teaching Faculty in B-Schools in the Context of Emerging Economies: Indian Scenario

Abstract

Globalization process has significantly affected the scope and concept of higher education scenario in general and management education in particular. In India alone the number of Bschools rose from 50 in the year 1990 to over 2000 in the year 2010. These institutes are run under the umbrella of different governance structures including Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs), University Grants Commission (UGC) approved post-graduate Bschools in the State- and deemed universities located on their own campuses or in the affiliated colleges; All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved Bschools under autonomous and technical institutes; and Distance Education Council (DEC) approved universities and institutes running distance education and open mode management programs. Some of them receive grants from the government but most are self-financing. Technological advancement and emergence of customized sector specific management programs (infrastructure development-, banking-, event-, tourism-, sports management etc) have further changed the face of management education. Today, the role of management institutes has not restricted to teaching and research alone but also fostering economic growth and offering innovative need based management programs in emerging sectors. A review of literature and the preliminary data of semi-structured interviews of educationalists including policy makers, vice chancellors of state and deemed universities, leaders of educational institutes and heads of B schools on the issues of selection process for teaching faculty in B-schools revealed that i) the process has not changed much in the midst of changing management education scenario, ii) teaching learning process, desired competencies for teaching and job profiles of teachers have changed, iii) neither stake-holders nor components of research are involved in framing the policies and guidelines and iv) the norms for selection of faculty provided by UGC/AICTE are uniform for all B-schools irrespective of varied governance structures and therefore do not provide scope for educational leaders to develop an independent selection model conducive for changing trends in management education.