Construction of a Maritime Master Program in Denmark: A grounded theory study of experts opinions

Abstract

Maritime education in Denmark is mostly represented by programs at the professional bachelor level and lower. Few programs exist at master level and these all require an academic bachelor to enrol in and are not very well suited as further education for maritime professionals. The present thesis uses a qualitative grounded theory method to explore how content and structure of a master program closing the aforementioned gap should be according to experts in the maritime industry and educational system. Seven aspects in the form of categories were found: Barriers, broad and deep duality, maritime domain awareness, motivating circumstances, networking, non-maritime knowledge and theory and praxis balance. These categories were combined into a subjective theory explaining the data. The theory emphasizes the need to strike several balances in the categories and the need to make some of the more intrinsic aspects more explicit such as maritime domain awareness and networking. The need for a maritime master program in Denmark is confirmed and aspects to reflect upon when creating such a program is highlighted.

Maritime education in Denmark is mostly represented by programs at the professional bachelor level and lower. Few programs exist at master level and these all require an academic bachelor to enrol in and are not very well suited as further education for maritime professionals. The present thesis uses a qualitative grounded theory method to explore how content and structure of a master program closing the aforementioned gap should be according to experts in the maritime industry and educational system. Seven aspects in the form of categories were found: Barriers, broad and deep duality, maritime domain awareness, motivating circumstances, networking, non-maritime knowledge and theory and praxis balance. These categories were combined into a subjective theory explaining the data. The theory emphasizes the need to strike several balances in the categories and the need to make some of the more intrinsic aspects more explicit such as maritime domain awareness and networking. The need for a maritime master program in Denmark is confirmed and aspects to reflect upon when creating such a program is highlighted.