Abstract
We interviewed 25 corporate communication professionals to learn the competencies they see as necessary for entering and succeeding in their field. We then used what we learned to inform course-level and program-level changes to our corporate communication major. Our results detail: (1) the range of tactical, strategic, and dispositional competencies the interviewees identified as necessary for a career in corporate communication, (2) three categories of strategies for transitioning into the field, and (3) the subsequent curricular and course-level changes that resulted from our interviews. Our study concludes that students need broad training for a wide-ranging and rapidly-changing field, and they need to be able to recognize and communicate across generational differences. Moreover, our research demonstrates that ongoing conversation between academic units and professionals in the field is an invaluable part of curricular assessment.
Recommended Citation
Vaughn, M. S., Davis, J., Fyke, J., & Webb, N. (2018). “Field” research: Letting corporate communication professionals’ stories inform curriculum development. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 37(2), 37-52.
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