BUCHARESTUNIVERSITY
DOCTORAL SCHOOL OF EDUCATION SCIENCES
HABILITATION AS DOCTORAL SUPERVISOR 2016
DOMAIN: EDUCATION SCIENCES
MODERN EDUCATION FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LEADERSHIP
Associate Professor SUZANA CARMEN CISMAS PhD, USAMV, MIEADR
ABSTRACT
My academic activity has focused on modern education for entrepreneurship and leadership in business engineering, both in the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages, and in the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, the Faculty of Management and Economics Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development. These prestigious tertiary education institutions function by the principle of the entrepreneurial university, widely illustrated in the current approach.
My research themes have always been consistent with such outlines, focusing on clusters like modern education, entrepreneurship, leadership, communication competence for such fields, and education by art via entrepreneurship and leadership role models in literature. Adjacent to these areas I am interested in implementing CLIL for specialised academic subjects, blended learning approaches, counselling for HR selection and valorisation, in step with labour market requirements, CPD and teacher training for life-long learning and career progress. My scientific achievements (11 books, 161 articles published in national and international congresses, 34 articles in ISI, 20 articles in Scopus, 42 contracts, out of which 5 as project manager, and 2 individual government grants obtained by competition) prove my dedication to applying critical thinking and effective learning styles for data management, brainstorming and prioritization of research outcomes in scientific frameworks used internationally. I have performed applied research in psychology and education sciences, always fighting plagiarism.
The academic institutions I have worked with have shaped my research interests in step with theirs, by supporting the following types of activities: transnational mobility for people in spheres of education across Europe; pilot projects based on transnational partnerships designed to stimulate innovation and high quality in education; promotion of language skills and understanding of different cultures; use of information and communication technologies in education; transnational cooperation networks to facilitate exchange of experience and strategies; observation and comparative analysis of systems and teaching policies; activities aimed at sharing information, disseminating results and fostering innovation. There is emphasis on studying in multicultural environments as a basic trait of EU citizenship. Modern entrepreneur education is designed to provide special support for disadvantaged groups, to promote equal opportunities, to integrate disabled people and to fight racism. There is a special focus on widely used language study.
The first part of this dissertation presents the international acknowledgement and impact of my scientific activity, the research themes, the results and management of relevant actions, as well as the 4 directions of academic work meeting the specific standards of the doctoral domain. Projects, grants and contracts are also discussed here, for proving the ability of coordinating wide research. Next, academic responsibilities in middle management and knowledge transfer activities in informing, counselling, and training are brought as arguments in favour of my proficiently mentoring and guiding scientific and didactic investigations. Academic teaching, with inter-disciplinary and inter-cultural views, are explained subsequently. The second part deals with career progress, indicating coordinates of further development, research directions, actions, professional plans, and, most importantly, their applicability to current academic environments. Conclusions are followed by a wide array of reference sources, pointing to a rich cultural background which can facilitate responsible science management.
In my activity dedicated to educating students for entrepreneurship and leadership I state as reference points the EU agreed CEFR, EQF, and the Framework of Reference in Entrepreneurship Competences, for the benefit of all the stakeholders involved, being fully aware of the fact that our students face integration on the global labour market, not only in Romanian jobs.
Relevant personal contributions to explaining, managing and facilitating research and education envisage occupational integration, best training quality, and wider access to innovation.
Adequate cultivation of leadership and entrepreneurship competences are achieved via work-linked internships with a view to promoting employability and enabling reintegration; continuing training and lifelong acquisition of abilities consolidate technological and organisational change, improve competitiveness and generate new job opportunities, thus fostering cooperation among training institutions, including universities and the business sector (mainly SMEs). Under these objectives the emphasis is on: lifelong training; the use of new ICTs; the participation in SMEs and craft industries; in a nutshell, partnerships among players from all walks of life.
Innovation promoted by proficient business engineering entrepreneur education is a must nowadays. In a team including USAMV & UPB researchers, we investigated this issue in a variety of contracts and EU projects, inherent to academic, didactic and student activities, meant to grant training continuity from college to university, in step with specific job descriptions (with feedback elicited from policy makers, students, teachers, employers and employees). These published studies give a glimpse on assessment evolution in the delicate context of globalised and increased pressures from immigration waves. The current dissertation presents the questions and the results, pointing to how essential aspects in entrepreneur and leadership education facilitated or hindered innovation in student practice contexts. Being entrepreneurial means creating, adapting and then developing the required skills to show constructive initiatives. Employers are no longer content with a good degree, basic transferable skills and a little work experience; enterprise skills and commercial awareness are now prerequisite outcome sets across all sectors. They are needed as companies strive to be effective and competitive in facing constant, speedy and unpredictable economic, technological, social and political change. In addition to the personal attributes and values associated with being enterprising, entrepreneurs need a range of skills to successfully start-up, develop, manage and grow their business organization, but also to be effective change agents within these. Entrepreneurs’ core skills are higher level versions of the ones associated with general employability for graduates, so the trend in such education is towards experiential and problem-based learning pedagogies, which are student-centred.
Being enterprising is not the same as having the ambition to be self-employed. Rather it is a particular mix of individuality, creativity, and leadership. These are key skills increasingly demanded by both employers and research organizations. People are different, but enterprising characters have in common a number of abilities, attributes, and behaviours that enable them to see opportunities.
Rural areas losing their best youth to large cities know the importance of creating businesses at home, using the advantages of modern communications and transportation. Global opportunities engaged by local entrepreneurial businesses may be the answer to losing local jobs. Creating new jobs is considered more effective than holding onto inefficient old jobs. Reducing business failure as a result of better education and training of our entrepreneurs is an economic benefit to all. Geographic mobility, professional change, and the fast moving life may give a person multiple social identities and all get played out alternately on the complex framings and re-framings of daily encounters.
Thinking, problem-solving, interpersonal, and self-directional skills are inherent. By using the real world of entrepreneurship to apply the 21st century skills, students learn the content and context necessary to adapt to the fast changing world. Information and communications technology skills are acquired as students conduct research, negotiate with others, and prepare presentations of their work. Contemporary education advocates for developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options.
What do I plan to become henceforth?
A modern professor in my university, developing research projects in a modern world, which is fast-moving, but intriguing and full of opportunities, both for myself and for my students; I plan to work just as hard as I have so far, and be one among the many valuable role models our learners need in this never-ending transition period, characterised by quick global shifts, strong characters, exquisite initiatives, numerous dissolutions, and innovative, unprecedented reconstructions, ready to be capitalised by the very entrepreneurs and leaders we are now cultivating in the academia.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I constantly try to prove to my teachers that their investment in developing my education and building my character has been worthwhile. I feel deep gratitude and respect for my mentors, the prestigious professors Dan Potolea, Ruxandra Popovici, Astrid Rodinciuc, Elisabeta Georgescu, Floarea Schiopu, Mihaela Irimia and Onofrio Cerbone, whom I thank in my mind whenever I achieve something of value which I can share with my students.