Higher Education and Employability Skills: Barriers and Facilitators of Employer Engagement at Local Level

Fátima Suleman,Pedro Videira,Emília Araújo

doi:10.3390/educsci11020051

Fátima Suleman, Pedro Videira + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11020051

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Abstract

This research examines the barriers and facilitators to employers’ engagement with higher education institutions. The data were collected through interviews with a set of employers (n = 19) in the Northern region of Portugal, V.N.de Famalicão, in 2019. We begin by exploring employers’ engagement activities as a potential solution to address local-level skill problems. Empirical evidence suggests that the engagement activities are mostly passive as firms use higher education largely as a recruitment channel. The differences in organizational goals and culture are the most cited barriers to the lack of more active engagement. Some efforts have recently been made to strengthen the ties between higher education and employers, notably through a local multi-stakeholder partnership as a potential broker. However, it will take time for this to bear fruit and contribute to reducing skill gaps and shortages. The data show that despite employers’ apparent willingness, more effort must be made to encourage active engagement.

Highlights

In recent decades, the collaboration between higher education (HE) and industry has grown significantly [1] fueled by marked changes in the modes of knowledge production and innovation [2,3] as well as increasing societal demands and expectations from higher education institutions (HEIs)
They blame HEIs for a skill shortage that causes an undersupply of graduates in these areas, despite the massification of HE
This research contributes to our understanding of two key but often neglected questions in the literature: Are employers willing and able to actively engage with HEIs to become a viable solution for skill problems at the graduate level? What are the main barriers and facilitators of the engagement activities with HE experienced by firms?

Summary

Introduction

The collaboration between higher education (HE) and industry has grown significantly [1] fueled by marked changes in the modes of knowledge production and innovation [2,3] as well as increasing societal demands and expectations from higher education institutions (HEIs). This collaboration is based on the recognition that HEIs are an essential source of technology, innovation, and human capital [4]. This is a timely issue in the context of massification of HE and the skill shortages and gaps reported by employers worldwide; scientific research is still scarce and geographically limited

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