Recruitment and Career Development in Competition with the Private Sector

Abstract

The problem area described in this presentation is career development in universities compared to the private sector. The first question to be addressed is, of course, do we have a problem? My opinion is that we have a problem of rethinking the role of universities. Their status has been based on the fact that they have the most recent knowledge in all problem areas. The situation is now changing because mass education is better than before, new information is widely available to everyone through different publications and data banks, and the level of knowledge is also high outside universities. The private sector is also doing more and more research and achieving remarkable results, sometimes even more advanced than universities can produce. In this changing environment, a number of new challenges now face the universities: we are expected to achieve more results with less resources, and to maintain closer links with society outside academia. Many state universities even have to be partially selffinancing. We are evaluated more than before in terms of the number of masters and doctors we produce, and on the number and quality of the publications we write. While being required to adopt a more visible posture in society, we must also undertake the popularization of our science. To meet these requirements, we need students and faculty members who are more result-oriented than before. They will need good communication skills, and to be generally more effective in what they do students who can work independently and contribute successfully to project and team work where necessary.