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Fragility of Tertiary Ergonomics/Human Factors Programmes

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Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) (IEA 2018)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 821))

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Abstract

For many years Massey University in New Zealand ran a postgraduate diploma and masters degree in Ergonomics/Human Factors (EHF) that were small, successful, comprehensive, internationally recognized, linked directly to professional certification and innovative. However in 2016 these qualifications were closed. This occurred soon after some other recent prominent university EHF course closures, worldwide. The demise of the Massey EHF programme was largely due to governmental restriction in tertiary academic budgets and poor understanding of the holistic nature of EHF amongst senior tertiary decision makers. This paper describes the history and composition of the Massey EHF programme. It outlines the reasons for its fragility and closure and indicates that it could easily be revived. The paper concludes with consideration of a way forward and the potential for evolution of EHF at Massey, by being more widely integrated into a broader range of academic undergraduate courses. A logical and co-operative way forward for a small country would be to integrate undergraduate teaching of EHF into wider teaching programmes across all of its universities, not just one, and to complement this with a single cross-university national masters degree.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ergonomics, Occupational Health and Safety, School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Stephen J. Legg

  2. Centre for Mobility and Transport, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Alex W. Stedmon

Authors
  1. Stephen J. Legg
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  2. Alex W. Stedmon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen J. Legg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Republic of San Marino, San Marino, San Marino

    Sebastiano Bagnara

  2. Centre for Clinical Risk Management and Patient Safety, Tuscany Region, Florence, Italy

    Riccardo Tartaglia

  3. Centre for Clinical Risk Management and Patient Safety, Tuscany Region, Florence, Italy

    Sara Albolino

  4. Fraunhofer FKIE, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Thomas Alexander

  5. International Ergonomics Association, Tokyo, Japan

    Yushi Fujita

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Legg, S.J., Stedmon, A.W. (2019). Fragility of Tertiary Ergonomics/Human Factors Programmes. In: Bagnara, S., Tartaglia, R., Albolino, S., Alexander, T., Fujita, Y. (eds) Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018). IEA 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 821. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96080-7_22

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