Faculty and academic leaders’ conceptions of competence and competence-based education

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate faculty and academic leaders’ conceptions of competence and competence-based education. Data were collected from 22 participants (18 males and 4 females). These participants played faculty, academic leadership, and both roles simultaneously. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which necessitated them to define competence and competence-based education. We used the inductive content analysis method and a deductive one to analyze the data. Ten categories emerged. Iterative reading of these categories revealed that they could be grouped under three principal categories identified in the literature: competence and behavioristic-functionalism, competence and integrated occupationalism, competence and situated professionalism, and an indistinct category. The three principal categories also disclosed the participants’ conceptions of competence-based education. Frequency counts of the prevalence of categories revealed competence and integrated occupationalism as the leading category, while competence and behavioristic-functionalism was the least prevalent. The emergence of 10 categories and three principal categories essentially highlighted the inconsistencies that prevailed in the conceptions of competence and competence-based education, which will affect practice in the study context.