Mass adoption of advanced information technologies is fueling a need for public servants with the skills to manage data-driven public agencies. Public employees typically acquire data skills through graduate research methods courses, which focus primarily on research design and statistical analysis. What data skills are currently taught, and what…

A purpose of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program is to translate theory into practical concepts to prepare leaders of the public and nonprofit sectors. The practice continues to employ entrepreneurial activities throughout the world. The academy has researched, written, and published extensively about entrepreneurship to build…

Imposter Phenomenon (IP) is feelings of inadequacy and inauthenticity in settings where achievement is emphasized and valued. This exploratory study employs a survey to investigate the prevalence and underlying factors of IP among Master of Public Administration (MPA) students at seven US universities with varying institutional characteristics.…

In recent decades civil services worldwide have experienced exogenous forces that are transforming their work and workplace. In turn, these changes are altering the skills set associated with civil service employment. As professional degrees oriented towards careers in civil service these changes can have important ramifications on the curriculum.…

This paper describes the pedagogical efforts of 67 NASPAA programs offering a specialization in global/comparative administration and policy. A web content analysis of course and concentration titles, course descriptions and syllabi of 67 programs with this specialization showed that across all programs, 52 unique concentrations were offered, and…

Every MPA student learns about organization theory but too few learn to "see" gender, both within the public service workforce and among clientele of the agency. Because organizations employ gendered structures and processes, it is incumbent on faculty to teach students not just about organizational architecture, but also how to identify…

Disparate student academic outcomes and program access is a problem at Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs in the Northeast United States The current admission committee members at the case university did not know institution leaders' rationale for eliminating the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) criterion. The decision to exclude the…

While the praxis of public administration in India is documented in the literature, its pedagogy, and the formal dissemination of its knowledge, is relatively unexamined. This study determines the status of public administration pedagogy in India through a review of the academic programs in public administration at accredited state, central, and…

Ethics, and its application in academe and society, is a subject of tremendous importance. Ethics education and courses of study are the foundations for developing ethical public servants, educators, researchers, and leaders. Ethics, while universally recognized as important, is not universally integrated into college curricula, few colleges take…

Service-learning is highly praised as a successful pedagogical tool for students' learning. Benefits are attributed to students, the university, and the community. However, the literature also cautions that the benefits of service-learning are largely assumed without empirical testing, warranting a closer review of this pedagogical method. The…

Since rural Canada contributes about one-third of the national economy and significantly to culture, we argue it deserves greater attention in public policy, beginning with policy education. A scan of 22 Canadian Masters of Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs reveals a marked absence of policy training focused on…

In the 21st century Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs need to meet the challenge of preparing public affairs professionals for an increasingly global and interdependent world in which complex social problems often span national boundaries and cultural differences. In that context, various internationalization strategies can be helpful…

This paper examines how the process of engaging simultaneously in study and work--through online distance-based study--affects students' capacity to apply their learning in and for the workplace. The paper takes as its starting point the importance of extending notions of "educational effectiveness" beyond course-based attainment to…

A pilot controlled before-and-after design was used to assess the impact of a new master-level course in evidence-informed policy making on students' basic knowledge in evidence-based practice. The primary outcome variable was the mean percentage of pre-post improvement on the knowledge test. In the treatment group, the mean percentage of pre-post…

Leadership forms a key component of the curriculum of most Master of Public Administration and other public management programmes, usually doing so on the basis of assumptions that leadership is (a) both a subject and a responsibility that all such students might expect to embrace in the course of their careers; and (b) in some respects at least,…