Abstract

Because they live in the 21st century, students of marketing in higher and further education are open to the challenges of ongoing changes in the business environment. Although the job market may provide indicators of their career expectations, educators need to align the teaching, learning and assessment experiences to be provided in the curriculum so that graduates are well prepared for their future careers. Marketing graduates are expected to have mastered consumer behaviour and marketing research as the top two entry-level concepts in marketing knowledge, but they are also expected to have achieved proficiency in oral and written communications, and presentations as the top three skills needed in the industry. The first part of this paper will include a discussion of these 21st-century skills, considered in four categories: ways of thinking, ways of working, tools for working, and living in the world; the authors will compare these 21st-century skills with reference to marketing skills and knowledge as required by the professional market in Hong Kong. As students studying marketing are expected to demonstrate key knowledge and skills for their future careers in the discipline, the authors will discuss the design of the curriculum and how to match the requirements of a dynamic job market with the teaching strategies that are employed to facilitate the development of competence by marketing learners.