This paper makes recommendations for enrichment of a postgraduate data warehousing/ business intelligence (DW/BI) course offered at a university. It aims to prepare students better for industry. DW/BI is an essential business skill—it improves decision making and competitiveness. Consequently, several organisations invest in DW/BI systems. Unfortunately these systems often fail. To improve upon high failure rates, the researcher identifies causes of failures, and ways to overcome them; she proposes that success rates be improved by educating students to proactively circumvent identified causes of failures when they become practitioners in the field. The study is guided by a critical systems thinking, reflective approach, i.e. critical social heuristics, to reflect on: sources of motivation, control, knowledge and legitimacy in terms of the actual versus ideal state. She explores shortcomings from the perspectives of: literature; alumni, currently employed in industry; and industry, as current/future employers of alumni and suppliers of DW/BI systems.