– The lecturer in marketing had worked 15 years as a marketing director. He had fun cases and stories from his own projects and could share stories of what worked and not. His classes were always full, BI student Nora Krokan said to DN.
Krokan is in her second year at MSc in Business at BI and is responsible for policy and cooperation at the student union SBIO.
For Krokan the former Marketing Director became a role model. And it is the same with other lecturers who have practical experience, Krokan said.
- I have the impression that lecturers with business experience often have a different appearance in teaching. They have the ability to engage the students because it feels more relevant when you get the impression that the lecturers know what they are talking about, she said.
NHO agrees
The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) states that they also would like to see more business executives as full-time educational professors in the future.
- We need manpower, which is sufficiently adapted to the labor market’s needs. In that context, we propose to establish a position, which also allows people who primarily have experience from working life or the public sector, to be employed as practice professors, competence director Are Turmo at NHO said to DN.
He envisions that practice professors could have similar length of experience from employment as traditional professors have in academia. It will help to inspire faculty at universities and colleges to pick up on trends from business and industry, Turmo said.
The current arrangement
Pro-rector at BI, Dag Morten Dalen believes interaction between the work force and academia could be better, but primarily through the mechanisms already in use by BI.
He explains that BI follows international accreditation standards, which places requirements on their faculty’s qualifications. At least 40 per cent should have a solid, academic record. About 20 per cent of professionals at BI have practice from, or extensive background in business.