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What employers expect from quality assurance in higher education?. Monica Zaharie The Center for Quality Management, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj. Expansion and competitiveness.
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What employers expect from quality assurance in higher education? Monica Zaharie The Center for Quality Management, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj
Expansion and competitiveness • Considering the investments in HE (both at the individual and society level) and the waste of not using the highly educated labor force into suitable work positions there is a growing concern in Europe with the drawbacks in youth’ transition from education to employment (EC, 2005) • Educational expansion and the diversification of higher education institutions emphasize the need for quality of the educational services and bring into focus the graduates’ integration into the labor market (changing value of HE) • How national systems react to the pressures of competition and globalization and other challenges brought by unemployment, aging population, migration of the high skilled labor force to more developed countries
Paper objective and research questions • Starting from the relation between education and labor market, this paper will focus on the employers’ perspective upon quality in higher education in order to facilitate the graduates’ integration into the labor market Questions universities should focus on: • How are the university’s graduates perceived on the labor market? • Are the graduates attractive labor force for employers? • What kind of activities do employers expect from universities?
Factors influencing labor market transition process • Transition process is both affected by the educational system and labor market and by the relation between them: • The characteristics of the educational system (its standardization and stratification level (Allmendinger, 1989), and the vocational specific) strongly influence the patterns of the graduates’ transition towards labor market (Kerckoff, 1995) • The characteristics of the labor market (occupational structure, employment policies, available labor force, occupational dynamic, the national labor market regulation, rate of unemployment) also influence the criteria and the selection procedures employers use when hiring graduates (Müller, 2005)
Recent labor market integration trends • traditional transition from education to labor market, traditional characteristics of the labor market, and traditional career paths: the graduates search for a full time job and easily get it after graduation, individuals build up a step by step career, by getting higher level job positions within the same company, and by getting pay increase along time, according to the prestige of the diploma attained • new transition patterns: the recent trends on the labor marketbring more complex problems: a general insufficient number of jobs offered for the youth (Paul, 2000), more diversified professional trajectories (longer periods necessary for finding a suitable job, increased job instability, frequent unemployment periods intertwined with working periods, highly paid first jobs not necessarily followed by better paid jobs, more flexible working patterns such as part time jobs)
Recent labor market integration trends • The graduates’ value at the entrance on the labor market (the value of their competencies) is unstable not only because of the rapidly changing labor market, but also because of the less standardized higher education system (given the educational expansion the degrees obtained at different institutions cover very different levels of competencies across country) • Highly vocational educational systems favor a smooth graduates’ transition, but if there is a very dynamic labor market (rapidly changes in the request for the job field the graduates have been prepared), the difficulties of the integration grow
Results concerning employers expectations • the study conducted by Bowles and Gintis (2002) where the higher education seemed to be valued by employers for developing mostly non-cognitive factors (responsibility, reliability, self discipline) • the interviews with Romanian employers transmitted the idea that university does not develop moral values (the function of the university is to select those with already acquired education and not to form it)
Young population employment in Romania • extended long term unemployment an the decrease of young categories’ employment (from 33% in 2000, to 24% in 2006) indicates a significant mismatch between skills and jobs, the most affected categories being the newly graduates and lower educated • the young categories have the greatest difficulties in getting connected with the labor market: fewer regular jobs available, job insecurity. The youngest age groups (15–24) are characterized by higher levels of irregular employment than any of the other age groups • The young, being new entrants, are the first to feel the tightening of the labor market and must accept irregular employment in order to enter the labor market.
Actions taken at Babeş-Bolyai University The quality assurance system at BBU is highly focused upon the stakeholders needs and expectations: • Students’ satisfaction survey • Identification of the students’ satisfaction level concerning the educational programs and the services offered by BBU • Employers expectations survey • The analysis of the employers’ opinions and their requirements towards higher education graduates • Faculty members satisfaction survey • Identification of the teaching staff development needs and their level of work satisfaction • Graduates’ labor market insertion survey
Empirical results at BBU Employers perspective: • Strong points: the graduates’ theoretical knowledge and language skills • Weak points: graduates’ specialized practical knowledge Universities should focus on: - enforcing the connections with economical agencies - organizing job fairs Secondary educational institutions expect from HE: - reorganization of the students’ practical preparation (teaching skills tests, teaching assistance, teaching materials portfolio)
Employers expectations • Short and medium term competences needed on the labor market and transversal competences Employers especially value transferable skills: • Attitude toward work • Personal job involvement and investment • Attitude toward learning and personal development • Interest for the quality of the job done • Reliability and job responsible • Initiative • Team working skills • Cognitive information process => one can get a job based on the practical job experience, but can not keep it without transferable skills
What universities can do to improve the graduates transition into labor market • Informative programs, which to better inform the educational system (both teachers and students) about the new trends on the labor market: • systematic research of the employers’ request of competencies for their available jobs through interviews with employers and surveys of the labor market. • organizing different informative, social events, seminars and workshops, where teachers, students and employers could meet and exchange information
What universities can do to improve the graduates transition into labor market Institutional contacts between universities and companies: • internship programs established between faculties and companies corresponding to their field of specialization, • work shadowing (students working together more experienced employees) • scholarship programs in which companies select students and sponsor them during school period, preparing them for being employed after graduation Individual orientation and counseling for finding a proper job.
