Oral Presentation by Julia Schöllbauer¹
¹ Ferdinand Porsche FERNFH, Austria
TIME: Thursday, 16 July, 10:30 – 12:00
Location: Room 1
Session: 17
Abstract
The world of work is profoundly shaped by neoliberal paradigms. The associated social consequences include growing social inequality, gender-specific income disparities, a decline in civil society solidarity, and an increasing undermining of democracy and the social system. This lecture highlights the role of Fachhochschulen (FH, universities of applied sciences) as central educational institutions for future decision-makers in the economy. There is often a tendency towards unitarianism, particularly in economic teaching at Fachhochschulen. This one-sided perspective inevitably leads to students uncritically reproducing the neoliberal status quo in their working lives and then, as compliant ‘professional experts’, bringing it back into FH teaching. This creates a cycle that further strengthens neoliberal paradigms. However, since FH graduates are key figures in the working world, their behavior can theoretically not only reproduce the status quo but also bring humanistic changes to the working world. But how can FH teaching break the cycle outlined above without being politically didactic and thus generating reactance? The proposed solution focuses on increasing multi-perspectivity in the teaching of a FH master’s degree programme in business administration and business psychology. By integrating sociological, philosophical and political perspectives, students should be enabled to understand social processes in politics and economics and the underlying views of humanity in a more holistic way, thereby also enabling them to critically question their role. The socially critical view from the perspective of other sciences is intended to establish the necessary emotional distance from the course content so that it does not have a politically didactic effect (which fundamental critical perspectives within the main disciplines could have) but rather broadens horizons and thus actually enables ‘innovative approaches’ as stipulated by the NQF at Level 7. Through this educational approach, academic training at Fachhochschulen could broaden the horizons and strengthen the cognitive flexibility of key players in the economy. If, at the same time, their intrinsic motivation to strengthen social democratic values in working life is sparked, they can bring self-determined humanistic changes to the Austrian world of work.