Vocational educational ecosystem of an industrial enterprise: concept, features, experience

Abstract

Introduction. In modern conditions of rapid scientific and technological development, the training of highly qualified personnel is one of the most important tasks for most countries of the world. In this regard, it is of interest to study productive forms of interaction between education and the real sector of the economy. The aim of this research is to study the content of the vocational educational, to identify its features and development prospects. Methodology and methods. Systematic and comparative analysis was used to study the characteristics and significance of the vocational education ecosystem. In order to assess the influence of the vocational educational ecosystem on the formation of human capital of the enterprise that initiated its creation, two groups of its employees (30 people each) who received vocational education in educational organizations of the vocational-educational ecosystem and in other organizations were interviewed. In order to assess the impact of the vocational educational ecosystem on the development of human capital, a survey was conducted of 95 enterprise employees with higher education and experience from 3 to 25 years. The method of group assessments, questionnaires, and the Mann-Whitney U-test are applied Results. Analysis of the literature made it possible to identify the educational ecosystem as a special socio-economic ecosystem that has systemic characteristics, but has its own characteristics, expressed in the specificity of the goal, the presence of a special composition of key stakeholders and non-hierarchical connections between them. Using the example of the vocational educational ecosystem of a large machinebuilding enterprise in the Rostov region (Russian Federation), its specificity and importance for the enterprise are shown. A survey of industrial enterprise workers who received education in educational organizations of the vocational educational ecosystem and other educational organizations showed that the average period of professional adaptation for the first group was about 4.9 months, and for the second group – 9.9. Similarly, satisfaction with the practical skills acquired during the training process differs between the two groups of respondents. To assess the period of professional adaptation U = 75 at p < 0.01, to assess satisfaction with practical skills U = 264 at p < 0.01. 71.6% of surveyed enterprise employees at the second stage noted that over the past year they received new professional knowledge from employees of the academic sector. Conclusion. The key advantage of the vocational educational ecosystem is the pronounced practice-oriented orientation of training and the reduction of the period of professional adaptation of graduates, as well as the availability of opportunities for interaction between enterprise employees and representatives of universities or scientific organizations to resolve professional issues.