Challenges to inform the curricula of Master of Public Administration programmes

Abstract

The emerging complex challenges confronting public administration (PA) leaders are used as reasons for rethinking the quality of PA education throughout the world. However, it is not clear what PA scholars mean when they use the word ‘challenge’ when rethinking the curricula of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes globally. The questions this study set to answer were: what are the defining characteristics of the concept corresponding to those objects referred to as ‘challenges’ for MPA graduates to meet, and what are their implications for MPA curriculum standards? In an effort to answer these questions, a concept analysis of the concept ‘challenge’ within the context of PA and MPA curricula was done. For this purpose, three scholarly journals, as well as three operational documents, were purposefully selected for qualitative content analysis. The concept analysis showed that ‘challenge’ within the context of the MPA curriculum is characterised by being a PA task, its wickedness, and the required capabilities for public sector managers to undertake that task. The study found that due to the inherent wickedness of challenges, MPA curricula have to instil a capability in graduates for independent and autonomous thinking amidst a diversity of perspectives and settings.