Aim of the project

Is to answer the questions: which competences are required by higher education graduates in order to be better equipped for the world of work and active citizenship? and how should higher education institutions develop these competences?

Objectives

To answer these questions, the consortium will in the first step prepare an analysis of European, national and (selected) universities’ strategies and organisation of curricula focused on competence development. This exercise will be followed-up by a large-scale survey on graduates’ competences and their experiences when making the transition to the labour market. In addition we will conduct a small qualitative survey among employers as well as representatives of the higher education institutions these graduates have attended. This survey complements the survey among graduates, and enables us to check whether the information provided by graduates is in line with the information from the other two major actors: employers and HE providers. The results from the graduate survey will be internationally comparable within emerging consortia as well as within the existing REFLEX network, but the qualitative survey among employers and HE providers will be more focussed on the situation in the participating countries. Special focus on the East-West European comparison will be possible. In the third step, the results and possible policy implications will be discussed in national workshops with representatives from HE, employers’ organisations and policy makers. The conclusions from these workshops will be the central input for the preparation of national and university-specific continuous modernisation strategies and curriculum arrangements, with recommendations for strategy implementation and monitoring.

Results

• Implemented quantitative survey among graduates in five out of six participating countries (Slovenia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Turkey) following the REFLEX methodology: the population consisted of graduates of ISCED 5A and they were approached some 4 to 5 years after graduation (aimed net sample of 2.000 respondents per country). The large-scale survey is comparable to the existing survey of the REFLEX’s network.
• Implemented a complementary survey among representatives from the HE institutions, with the emphasis on how they have taken up the challenge to take up the needs of the labour market in the reform of their existing curriculum development strategies and organisation of teaching practices.
• Implemented a complementary survey among employers, with the emphasis on what employers expect from HE graduates and to what extent employers think HE has sufficiently prepared them for work.
• Developed recommendations for instruments and strategies needed for modernising and organising curricula focused on effective learning methods and procedures for continuous monitoring of the quality ofHE from the perspective of work environment.
• Established a Web page in addition to distribution of the results to rectors of the 500 largest Universities and employers in the participating countries and the EU. Additional dissemination of the results (paper version) is done to 500 largest employers (selected sample) in EU with the possible upgrading to follow-up research.

Project documents

Competencies_and_Early_Labour_Market_Careers_of_HE_Graduate

Considerations_and_Recommendations_-_Introduction

Considerations_and_Recommendations_-_Employers

Considerations_and_Recommendations_-_HE_graduates

Considerations_and_Recommendations_-_HE_institutions

Considerations_and_Recommendations_-_Policy_Makers_-_Research

European_National_and_Universities_Strategies_-_Summary

Qualitative_Analysis_of_HEIs_and_Employers_in_Five_Countries

Project report

Contracting organisation

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Contact person: prof. Ivan Svetlik, professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Head of Research Centre, Vice Rector of the University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Partners’ organisations

LIBER/ROA - Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Website: http://www.roa.unimaas.nl
TARKI Social Research Institute Inc., Hungary. Website: http://www.tarki.hu/en/
Vytautas Magnus University, Centre for Quality of Studies, Kaunas, Lithuania. Website: http://skktg.vdu.lt/index.php/en
Cracow University of Technology, Institute of Economy, Sociology and Philosophy, Poland. Website: http://www.pk.edu.pl/kariery
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Website:  http://www.hun.edu.tr/english/

Contact person

Prof. habil. dr. Kęstutis Pukelis, Centre for Quality of Studies, Vytautas Magnus University