Employers’ viewpoint in setting the competency agenda in higher education

1. Employers’ viewpoint in setting the competency agenda in higher education LiviuIlies Monica Zaharie Centre for Quality Management Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania

2. HE accountability and employers’ opinion • Investments in HE • (individual and society level), • HE expansion • Stakeholders’ satisfaction - target of education quality management systems (Sallis, 2002) growing concern for HE accountability and graduates’ transition to employment (EC, 2005) Identify ST (students, parents, firms) Acknowledge ST’s needs

3. International surveys concerning employers’ perspective Factors influencing employers’ satisfaction • CHEERS survey, de Weert, Egbert (2007) in Teichler (ed), • REFLEX survey project, • National and institutional surveys • previous experiences, expectations, • needs (implicit or explicitly presented), • other socio-economical factors (financial resources, organizational culture, and interpersonal relations) • the way the education service is promoted

4. International results concerning employers’ view Relevant criteria in evaluating the quality of education (Lagrosen, Seyyed-Hashemi , Leitner, 2004): • collaboration with the economic context, other institutions, • information and responsiveness, • curricula, teaching methods, • campus facilities, IT facilities, library resources • internal evaluation, • post-graduation opportunities. • Bowles and Gintis (2002): • the higher education seemed to be valued by employers for developing non-cognitive factors (responsibility, reliability, self discipline)

5. Education quality dimensions - hierarchy • leit-motif – need for a more ‘realistic’, ‘practical’ educational system (Porter, McKibbin, 1988)

6. Paper objective and research questions • Focusing on graduates’ outcomes on the labor market, the paper is focused on the employers’ opinion regarding the quality of HE graduates. • What competencies do employers need from the graduate job candidate? • What criteria do employers use in selecting graduates? • How are the university’s graduates perceived on the labor market? The research questions are:

7. Methodological design Quantitative online survey: • 57 questionnaires filled in by HR personnel and management from Romanian companies • 34% rate of response • sample: • various sizes (50% of the companies were of small micro size), • private and state owned companies, • service and manufacturing • 9 in-depth interviews with employers from the companies surveyed (managers) Qualitative interviews:

8. Empirical results Employers’ hiring criteria and value of academic degrees Main criteria in selecting graduates are: • efficient use of the working time (mean 4.80) • honesty and candidate’s reliability (mean 4.63) • proactive attitude and solution finding (mean 4.60) • consciousness, trustworthiness (mean 4.57) • motivation and attitude towards work (mean 4.54) Least important criteria: • Experience on unskilled jobs (mean 2.27) • Grades and results during studies (mean 2.58) • Physical aspect of the candidate (2.67) • Teacher recommendations (mean 2.80) • Courses attended during faculty (mean 2.82)

9. Empirical results Job selection-undergoes two stages: • screening phase (degree plays a crucial role) • hiring stage(educational results play a less important role, being outbalanced by other traits) Interviews: diplomas offer information about the year of graduation, graduates’ major and subject knowledge; grades are not important • The companies more satisfied with the quality of the higher education system appreciate more all the educational information about the candidates (r = 0.45, p<0.05);

10. Empirical results • With private university graduates employers place more emphasis on the selection process • general satisfaction level regarding the quality of the graduates compared to their expectations – mean 3.2 • young graduates’ advantages in job finding are: • enthusiasm and motivation (30%) • openness to new (22%) Disadvantages: • unrealistic expectations (32%): salary, favoring treatment. • 10% do not see any disadvantage • Satisfaction with graduates’ competencies

11. Empirical results

12. Concluding remarks • For graduate entry level jobs, in the first screening stage, most of the employers require higher education degrees. • Non-cognitive traits, general skills are considered fundamental for employers Employers perspective: • Strength: the graduates’ theoretical knowledge and language skills - Contrary to common assumptions, employers value the theoretical knowledge to a higher degree than expected. • Weakness: graduates‘ field specific practical knowledge Universities should focus on: • - rising the admittance standards • - developing students’ practical knowledge • - enforcing the connections with economical agencies

13. Thank you for your attention!monica.zaharie@econ.ubbcluj.ro