PATHWAYS FOR EARLY-CAREER FACULTY IN CHINESE SCHOOLS OF MANAGEMENT TO BECOME MBA INSTRUCTORS: AN ACADEMIC-PRACTICE-PEDAGOGY-INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Keywords:
MBA education, Early-career faculty, Faculty development, Case teaching, ChinaAbstract
The rapid expansion and differentiation of professional graduate education in China has increased the demand for faculty capable of teaching Master of Business Administration (MBA) students. However, the transition from conventional university teaching to MBA teaching is not simply a matter of academic rank or disciplinary expertise. MBA students typically possess substantial work experience, and professional-degree education increasingly emphasises practice-oriented curricula, case teaching, industry engagement, and the ability to solve complex managerial problems. This conceptual study examines how early-career faculty members in Chinese schools of management can develop the capabilities required to undertake MBA teaching. Drawing on Chinese higher-education policies, management-education research, faculty-development literature, and international business-school accreditation standards, the article develops an Academic–Practice–Pedagogy–Institutional (APPI) framework. The framework identifies four interdependent forms of readiness: academic competence, practice currency, pedagogical integration capability, and institutional legitimacy. Based on these dimensions, the article proposes a staged career pathway from disciplinary preparation and classroom observation to case development, industry engagement, supervised MBA teaching, independent course responsibility, and sustained professional renewal. The analysis further argues that universities should replace rank-dominated selection with portfolio-based readiness assessment and establish mentoring, co-teaching, case-development, industry-immersion, and differentiated evaluation mechanisms. The study contributes to management-education research by conceptualising MBA faculty development as a role-transition process requiring the integration of scholarly and practical knowledge rather than the accumulation of academic credentials alone.References
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