warsaw seminar monika domańska

Relations between higher education and employers HEGESCO research results

Monika DomańskaUniversity of Science and Technology

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employability – definition

employability related research – HEGESCO project

employability related discussion

Employability

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compatibility, comparability, transparency, European Higher Education Area, credits, social dimansion, lifelong learning,

education, reserach, innovation, employability,

mobility, student centered learning, data collection, multidimensional transparency tools.

Conference ofEuropean Ministers Responsible for Higher Education,Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009Communiqué

With labour markets increasingly relying on higher skill levels and transversal competences, higher education should equip students with the advanced knowledge, skills and competences they need throughout their professional lives. Employability empowers the individual to fully seize the opportunities in changing labour markets. We aim at raising initial qualifications as well as maintaining and renewing a skilled workforce through close cooperation between governments, higher education institutions, social partners and students. This will allow institutions to be more responsive to employers needs and employers to better understand the educational perspective. Higher education institutions, together with governments, government agencies and employers, shall improve the provision, accessibility and quality of their careers and employment related guidance services to students and alumni. We encourage work placements embedded in study programmes as well as on-the-job learning.

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Contacts in professional environment (+24,7%)

Intellectual capital (16%)

Good grades (average over 4 13%)

Cultural capital (13%)

Higher education (11.3%)

Driving licence (10,8%)

Professional experience(9,2%)

Marital status (married) 6,6%Dr Leszek Wincenciak, Warsaw University,Dr Leszek Wincenciak, Warsaw University,

Presentation in Ljubljana 23 Sept. 2009 Presentation in Ljubljana 23 Sept. 2009

Research sample 20 thou. graduatesResearch sample 20 thou. graduates

Factors reducing unemployment – very large scale survey

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to provide information to what extent HE graduates are able to meet the demands of today’s knowledge economy,

to identify major competencies that are required of HE graduates by employers,

to identify to what extent HE has provided a solid basis for developing these competencies.

www.hegesco.org

Higher Education as a Generator of Strategic Competences

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what competences are needed for successful entry into the labour market, better employability and active citizenship,

how these competences are related to characteristics of jobs and firms,

to what extent higher education graduates possess these competences,

to what extent HE provides these competences,

how graduates and employers deal with discrepancies between acquired and required competences.

HEGESCO research problems

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Which do you think are the most important generic and specific professional competences for graduates to function well at workplace?

Who is responsible for the development of these competences?

How satisfied are you with graduates' competences do you experience overall shortages, surpluses, balance?

How do you cooperate with HEI (internships, practical work, applicative projects, direct recruitment from schools, cooperation with Career centres…)?

In what way and how should HE institutions change in order to improve students’ competence development?

HEGESCO qualitative survey - employers

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a large scale quantitative survey has been carried among 10.000 graduates (from partner countries: Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Turkey, Hungary; 4-5 years after graduation) based on the existing survey of the REFLEX network,

a complementary evaluation survey has been carried out among employers and representatives from higher education institutions, with emphasis on what employers expect from graduates and HE institutions,

HEGESCO methodology

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REFLEX (www.reflexproject.org) project (6 FP) Research into Employment and professional FLEXibility). Countries involved in the study: Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Survey of 70 thou. graduates

and earlier projects such as

CHEERS (http://www.uni-kassel.de/wz1/TSEREGS/metho_e.htm) , CATEWE (http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/projekte/catewe/ )STT (5FP), ‘Tuning Educational Structures in Europe’ (Socrates)

www.tuning.unideusto.org

HEGESCO methodology, origins

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http://www.reflexproject.org/

http://www.uni-kassel.de/wz1/TSEREGS/metho_e.htm

http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/projekte/catewe/

http://www.tuning.unideusto.org/

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HEGESCO research model

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1a. Globalisation, general market trends, policy….

2. Required Competences

3b. Higher Education Experiences

4. AcquiredCompetences 7. Labor Market

Success – Individual Level

1c. OrganisationalAdaptation

(technology, innov.)

8. Matching of Required and

Acquired Competences

5b. Work experience since

HE

Ins

titutio

n L

ev

el

Ind

ivid

ua

l Le

ve

l

5a. Other experiences during HE

1b. Organisational market and environment

3a. Higher Education Characteristics

6. Knowledge Management at

work

Sy

ste

m L

ev

el

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HEGESCO RELEX European perspective

HEGESCO results elaborated by Maastricht University Rolf van der Velden

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1,0 1,1

1,6 1,6 1,7 1,8 1,8 1,8 1,9 2,02,2

2,4 2,5 2,6 2,7

3,5

3,8

4,4

6,8

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

NO NL DE CH CZ PL AT FI BE UK FR EE IT LT PT HU SI ES TR

searc

h d

ura

tio

n (

m.)

Job search duration


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Job satisfaction – salary (ppp)


International

Competitive

Innovative

Insecure (50% experienced reorganisation)

Professional

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Job market

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Working in big companies


17

Working in international companies


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Working in innovative companies


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Experienced reorganisation


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Role in company

20

30

40

50

60

70

30 40 50 60 70 80 90

esta

bli

sh

es c

on

tacts

wit

h e

xte

rnal

exp

ert

s (

%)

authoratitive source of advice (%)

EE LT PL

CZ

HU

SI

TR

IT

ES FR

AT

DE

NL

BE

PT NO

FI

UK

CH


Acquisition of study related work experience (not ANY work experience!)

Experience abroad - mobility

Good grades

Graduation from institutions being demanding and prestigious

Links between HE and employers (vocational oriented, employers familiar)

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Success factors - general

Ability to use computers and internet

Ability to use time efficiently

Ability to work productively with others

Ability to make your meaning clear to others

Ability to perform well under pressure

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Job market – required skills

Mastery of own field or discipline

Ability to perform well under pressure

Ability to use time efficiently

Ability to negotiate effectively

Ability to assert your authority

Ability to use foreign languages


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Job market – shortages

Ability to use foreign languages


Willingness to question own and others’ ideas

Misallocation of resources

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Job market – surpluses

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Questions on characteristics of the HE programcooperation and consultation with employers

Questions on the modes of teaching and learningpositive role of written assignments and focusing on practical issues

Extra-curricular experiencespositive role of study related work experience

Higher education and competences

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

20 30 40 50 60 70

em

plo

yers

fam

ilia

r w

ith

co

nte

nt

(%)

programme vocationally oriented (%)

EE

LT PL CZ HU

SI

TR

IT

ES FR

AT

DE

NL BE

PT

NO

FI

UK CH

Characteristics of HE programme - employers participation


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20

30

40

50

60

70

30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

gro

up

assig

nm

en

ts (

%)

lectures (%)

EE

LT

PL

CZ

HU

SI TR

IT

ES

FR

AT DE

NL

BE

PT

NO

FI

UK

CH

Characteristics of HE programmes- teaching methods


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20

30

40

50

60

30 40 50 60 70 80 90

fac

ts a

nd

pra

cti

cal k

no

wle

dg

e (

%)

theories and paradigms (%)

EE

LT

PL

CZ

HU

SI

TR IT

ES

FR

AT DE

NL

BE

PT

NO

FI UK

CH

Characteristics of HE programmes- teaching methods


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0

10

20

30

40

50

30 40 50 60 70 80 90

mu

ltip

le c

ho

ice e

xam

s (

%)

written assignments (%)

EE

LT

PL

CZ

HU

SI

TR

IT

ES

FR

AT DE

NL

BE

PT NO FI

UK

CH

Characteristics of HE programmes

- examination methods


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17,8

21,7 22,2 22,2 23,3

27,028,2

32,4

41,9

45,447,3

54,957,4 58,0

59,862,1

69,5 70,271,3

0

20

40

60

80

TR BE UK IT ES PT PL HU LT NL CZ CH EE NO SI DE AT FI FR

stu

dy-

rela

ted

wo

rk e

xper

ien

ce (

%)

Study related work experience


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Non study related work experience


32

Higher education as basis for developing of entrepreneurial skills


but less so for developing a professional career …

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Higher education as basis for professional development


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Higher education as basis for personal development


Most are satisfied with current job

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Job satisfaction


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Focus on practical issues

Focus on internationalisation (foreign languages, mobility)

Focus on quality

Sandwich courses

Mobility window

Case studies

Internships

Employers opinions

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Most important is knowledge and expertise

Companies: short - term perspective

Internships

Cooperation through career centres

First destination surveys

HEIs opinion

Careers Services in Poland - numbers

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1993 2000 2003 2005 2009

Career Services in Poland

students universities

companies

CS

Qualified staff

Gov. agencies


Main activities of careers services in Poland number of positive responses N=115

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

organisation of virtual job fairs

trainings as part of curriculum

psychological counselling

job market research

graduates destination surveys

training by external experts

trainings/workshops

entrepreneurship assistance

organisation of work placements

graduates promotion

organisation of companies presentations

organisation of regular job fairs

job counselling

job offers dissemination


Who is the most important ?

Is conflict inevitable ?


abstract – concrete

theoretical – practical

individual – team/company

subject – wide context


emotions

effectiveness

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Success is seldom planned – it’s using the opportunity that matters...

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[email protected]