EURASHE study

EURASHE INITIAL STUDY ON EMPLOYABILITY AMONG PROFESSIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION GRADUATES IN EUROPE

Copyright © 2014 by EURASHE

All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided that the extract is preceded by a complete reference to EURASHE (European Association of Institutions in Higher Education), followed by the date and title of the publication of the document. Author: Béatrice Schobbens (EURASHE Secretariat) Contributors: Hans Daale (LEIDO, EURASHE), Stefan Delplace (EURASHE), Michal Karpíšek (CASPHE, EURASHE), Stéphane Lauwick (ADIUT, EURASHE), Alicia-Leonor Sauli-Miklavčič (ASHVC, EURASHE), Klaas Van Steenhuyse (KHLeuven, EURASHE) Final Editors: Eleanor Brown (Coventry University, EURASHE), Marko Grdošić (EURASHE Secretariat), Alja Kiseleva (EURASHE Secretariat), Iva Voldánová (EURASHE Secretariat), Alexandre Wipf (EURASHE Secretariat) Cover and layout: Alexandre Wipf (EURASHE Secretariat) This Study was undertaken on the initiative of EURASHE’s Working Group 6 on Employability and Lifelong Learning. For correspondence please address eurashe@eurashe.eu.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Contents

Contents .................................................................................................................................................. iii

Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... iv

Figures ..................................................................................................................................................... iv

Foreword .................................................................................................................................................. v

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. vi

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... vii

I. Definitions ........................................................................................................................................ 1

II. The European Union: Framework and Opportunities ..................................................................... 3

III. What is Professional Higher Education? .......................................................................................... 5

IV. Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes ....................................................................................................... 8

V. Higher Education Institutions and Employability: Challenges ....................................................... 16

VI. The Employers’ View ...................................................................................................................... 20

VII. Benchmarks, Indicators and Monitoring ....................................................................................... 24

VIII. Data ................................................................................................................................................ 27

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 29

Notes ...................................................................................................................................................... 32

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 40

List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... 44

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Tables

Table 1: Levels used in the EHEA .................................................................................................................. 6 Table 2: Examples of skills/competencies frameworks: institutional frameworks ...................................... 8 Table 3: Examples of skills/competencies frameworks: frameworks from research studies ....................... 9 Table 4: Comparison of employability frameworks .................................................................................... 10

Figures

Figure 1: Graduate tracking by higher education institutions .................................................................... 25

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Foreword

Stefan Delplace, Secretary General of EURASHE

EURASHE took the initiative for this ‘Initial Study on Employability among Professional Higher

Education Graduates in Europe’ after the Council meeting of EURASHE in October 2012 had decided to make this topic a major focus for the following years, in line with our message to the Ministerial Conference of the EHEA in Bucharest in 2012, which underlined the overall importance and multi-faceted features of employability.

Indeed while we have always followed the Council of Europe’s fourfold purposes of higher education, in which ‘preparation for the labour market’ is put next to ‘active citizenship’, ‘personal development’ and the ‘maintenance and development of advanced knowledge’, we have at the same time continuously stressed the specific role and mission of professional higher education, in interpreting the signals and in meeting the needs of the world of work, especially in times of economic crisis and with the high unemployment figures in many European countries.

At the 2012 EHEA Conference in Bucharest the Ministers had decided that ‘enhancing employability’ would be a major political goal in the further implementation of the EHEA priorities, till the following Ministerial Conference in Yerevan in 2015, together with ‘quality higher education’ and ‘strengthening mobility’.

Employability became the main theme of our working year in 2013, and EURASHE’s working group on employability and lifelong learning elaborated a number of activities around the topic, which would showcase the overall good performance of professional higher education in securing employment for graduates, whereas it would also engage our membership in sharing good practice with others.

This took the form of a round table of experts, which was held in February 2013 in Brussels with social partners contributing; thematic workshops in the Annual Conference in Split in May 2013; a policy session among EURASHE members on the topic of employability was held in the Council meeting in Bucharest in October 2013; and finally there was a workshop for ‘practitioners’ in Prague in December 2013, where we discussed how learning outcomes can be used for more transparency in the labour market.

It was then decided to take the topic forward for the next two years, precisely in view of the 2015 Yerevan Ministerial Conference of the EHEA, where a strong and evidence-based message on employability could be brought from professional higher education. Our own Annual Conference in 2014 in Yerevan is therefore an excellent opportunity for releasing this ‘initial study’ to our broad membership.

This study has proved to be a good basis, as it has provided a list of internal recommendations for our association, on the basis of which a policy or position paper of EURASHE could be drafted, and get the approval of the authoritative bodies of EURASHE, and through this of our members and affiliated stakeholder organisations.

I would like to thank the author, Béatrice Schobbens, for a comprehensive and thoughtful work, as well as EURASHE’s working group on employability and lifelong learning, which monitored the drafting of this study, the practitioners and experts who provided input in the various events, and also the EURASHE Secretariat for taking care of its final editing, and look forward to everyone’s contributing to take this important study further.

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Executive Summary

This study aims to describe employability among professional higher education graduates in Europe.

The study features an overview of the European texts on employability, a summary of the leading studies in the field, with the main factors favouring employment identified, and how it matches the professional higher education profile and a statistical overview of employment in Europe. The study exposes ways to monitor and improve employability in Europe and how to compare it transnationally. The study will lead to policy recommendations and projects in the months and years to come.

The definitions of employability are various but the most commonly accepted one refers to one's ability to find and maintain employment at one's level of qualifications. Employability of an individual is defined by their knowledge, skills and attitude, and also by the opportunities of the labour market. Among the knowledge, skills and attitudes most regarded as highly employable, we have professional competence, which is to be adapted for each position, but also transversal competences such as the ability to communicate, to work in a team, to work in an international environment, adaptability/flexibility, reliability, having a good network, IT expertise, etc. The graduates surveyed by the REFLEX study point to the importance of volunteering, related work-experience and internships during the studies in order to find employment post-graduation.

For the institutions of the European Union, employability has been an objective since at least 2000, and has become more and more central as unemployment rates rise. The key solution proposed by policy-makers is the improvement of higher education and of lifelong learning. It focuses on some specific sectors (namely languages, IT and sciences), and some transversal skills: entrepreneurship and mobility. By improving employability, the European Commission hopes to alleviate unemployment, but also to improve social inclusion and democratic participation (thus contributing to citizenship).

Employability is crucial in today’s Europe of high unemployment, it is therefore important to enhance it, measure it and make it an important part of the evaluation of higher education institutions, in the European rankings for instance. We thus present the different ways employability could be, and is currently, measured.

We feel professional higher education ideally responds to the challenges of employability, as it is adapted to the needs of the labour market, also offering professional expertise and internships. It is thus surprising that it receives so little attention from the European institutions, which, for instance, focus mainly on academic higher education for their mobility programmes, and do not use specific data which actually shows that professional higher education offers better chances for employment, in studies like HEGESCO or REFLEX.

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Introduction

In order to build upon EURASHE’s long-standing interest in the topic of employability, EURASHE’s

working group on employability and lifelong learning has completed an internal research initiative exploring employability in Europe. The topic has already been widely explored in large projects such as REFLEX or HEGESCO, but EURASHE felt it could bring added value by highlighting the specificities of professional higher education in this respect.

Employability is widely understood as the ability to gain and maintain employment at one's level. Although the concept has long been used in literature, it gained momentum in recent years in the European Union, as the crisis made it increasingly more difficult to find employment, especially as regards youth. The European institutions thus refer to it more and more, especially in the field of education in order to give European graduates the best employment chances in the labour market.

EURASHE feels it is at a crossroads regarding this European Union priority, as it specifically concerns professional higher education. EURASHE has been working on the topic for a long time now, within its working group on employability and lifelong learning. EURASHE’s policy paper Towards a Diversified, Responsive and Competitive European Higher Education communicated to the Ministers of the EHEA at the occasion of the Ministerial Conference in April 2012 in Bucharest (Romania) highlighted this belief in the corner-stone importance of employability in current times:

EURASHE believes that the best long-term future for the citizens of Europe is one in which employability, rather than immediate employment, is fully focused, and that it is inextricably linked to the constant pursuit of self-development and professional fulfilment through lifelong learning.

Employability was chosen as one of EURASHE’s priorities for its 2013 work programme, with a focus on translating the general concept into more concrete tools and approaches, as well as promoting employability and entrepreneurship of graduates of professional higher education within curricula in order to reflect the ‘New Skills for New Jobs’ agenda and underline the relevance of professional higher education in that regard. EURASHE held various events and activities including round tables of experts on the topic, the underlying study and various policy activities.

It is important to recall that, although employability is the topic of this study, EURASHE does not consider that it is the only purpose of education: education aims at personal development, intellectual curiosity, social contribution and research. It is nevertheless one of the objectives of higher education institutions to enable their graduates to find employment, recognised largely as such by governments, students and higher education institutions themselves.

For this study, we are greatly indebted to previous research conducted in EURASHE and to other European projects: the working document compiled by Marcin Krasnodębski for EURASHE’s working group on employability and lifelong Learning, the HAPHE project (Harmonising Approaches to Professional Higher Education in Europe) led by EURASHE itself and the various research conducted by the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University (Netherlands), and by the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).

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I. Definitions

The concept of employability has been used for many years in literature but the scope of its

definition varies from one author to another. Most authors agree on a minimum definition, referring to it as one's ability to find employment. It is thus close, but not identical, to actual employment. Some authors consider that the term also comprises the ability to maintain this employment, and evolve in it, or, if necessary, find a new position swiftly.1 The former working group on employability of the Bologna Process defined it as “the ability to gain initial employment, to maintain employment, and to be able to move around within the labour market”.2 It also includes self-employment, so long as it offers sufficient stability and allows a decent independent living. Employability is thus not limited to recently graduated job seekers but to any worker at any time of his or her career. It is an ever-changing, dynamic concept, very much linked to lifelong learning. We also find in it the notion of the ability to find a job at one's level: a position at the level of one’s studies and work experience, for which one is neither under- nor over-qualified (vertical match) and in one's own field (horizontal match).3 Some add to it some notion of happiness, citizenship and well-being, the ability to combine leisure and work time, possibilities to evolve and upgrade one's skills, and general satisfaction with one's position.4 Employability is thus a relatively clear concept but its scope and implementation are variable and thus hotly debated.

As we said, employability refers to the ability to be employed, which requires some knowledge (know), skills (know how), and attitudes (how).5 A particular combination of these three types of factors makes a successful professional. But employability also refers to the ability to actually gain that employment, which requires different skills, such as awareness of opportunities, a good professional network (which should already be developed during the studies), good presentation skills, knowing how to write a curriculum vitae, use Europass documents (when appropriate), as well as an appropriate covering letter. Employability is influenced by the skills the individual possesses and the way they can present these skills to an employer, their ability to learn new skills (learning to learn), as well as the ability to be flexible to changes in the labour market. We will go into further details in the chapter on Knowledge, Skills and Attitude.

Employability is often considered in literature as an absolute concept, determined by a set of characteristics an individual possesses or not, regardless of the field, the context etc. This is particularly apparent in the European Union (EU), where the European Commission defined that having a higher education degree is equivalent to being employable.6 However, many authors are quick to highlight that employability is also a relative concept. It depends on the labour market: are there job opportunities at the moment?, what are the qualifications of the other job seekers?, is there much competition?, what sectors are hiring at the specific moment? etc. Employability also relies on the ability of the employers to recognise and take advantage of, among others, non-formal and informal learning, further training and professional experience. The problem with the absolute understanding of the term employability, besides an oversimplification of the issue, is that it puts the full responsibility of one's employability with the individual, considering the individual solely responsible for his or her unemployment or poor career prospects. Employability is thus a combination of factors:

- Personal (such as personality, network, social background, special talent etc.); - Acquired in education (such as knowledge, know-how etc.); - External (labour market, employers and other job seekers).

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Employability can be defined from the point of view of the individual (professional, job seeker), from the point of view of higher education institutions and from the point of view of employers. For an individual, employability is linked to his or her competencies and career path. It is the most studied point of view in literature. For higher education institutions, employability is a goal for quality, as it is responsible for students as ‘input’ in the curricula and for the graduates, as ‘output’. Employers consider employability as what they are looking for in a candidate. We will try to envisage the three points of view in this study with most of the focus on the perspective of higher education institutions.

This first overview of the many possible definitions of and perspectives on employability leads to many questions. How to improve employability? What are the elements favouring employability? How to measure it for an individual or a population? How, in a practical way, to distinguish employability from employment? What is the role of higher education institutions in improving its graduates’ employability? What are the specificities of professional higher education in this field? Our study intends to explore these questions and proposes some recommendations regarding employability in professional higher education for policy-makers, students, employers and professional higher education institutions.

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II. The European Union: Framework and Opportunities

As we have seen, employability is a long-standing concept. EU policy-makers have used it since the

end of the nineties but it gained momentum in Europe in recent years, as the crisis has made it increasingly harder to find employment. Employability, compared to employment, which is a concern of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, is related to the development of skills, and is thus very much linked to the field of education. That shows in European texts: the European institutions increasingly refer to it in the field of education in order to give European graduates the best employment chances in the labour market.

Employability was first mentioned in EU texts when it was established as one of the four pillars of the European Employment Strategy,7 adopted by the member states in 1997. The strategy aimed to prevent long-term unemployment and to facilitate access to the labour market, and included employment guidelines aimed at developing training and skills.8 The vision of employability was thus already very similar to the one we still use today, linked to education and employability skills.

Employability was included in the core vocabulary of the EU in 2000, with the Lisbon Strategy, then in its successor Europe 2020, Europe’s Growth Strategy launched in 2010. It is specifically mentioned in its education section, Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020). Employability is unsurprisingly seen as the cure for unemployment, but also, through it, a way to enhance social inclusion and democratic participation (citizenship).9 The definition of employability is thus much wider and integrated than a mere economic vision.

EU institutions favour education to raise its population’s employability, following the recommendation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and some European think-tanks10 pointing at evidence that graduates of higher education resist better to labour market changes, and are therefore more flexible. The European Commission then fixed the objective to reduce early-school leavers by 10%11 and to have 70% of its population being graduates by 2010.12 The strategy was very much focused on academic higher education, which was encouraged at European level as the main beneficiary of the Bologna Process.

The European Commission, considering the rapid changes the knowledge society imposed on the labour market, decided to set the priorities of education on languages, IT and sciences and transversal skills, mostly learning to learn and entrepreneurship.13 These priorities seem to generally correspond to the labour market demand.14

Another solution envisioned by the EU is mobility. The EU is pushing for a more integrated recognition and qualifications framework in the whole European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in order to foster mobility, also seen as an answer to the crisis as some labour markets are overcrowded. By encouraging the learning of foreign languages, mobility programmes and international recognition of diplomas, the EU hopes to give the best chance to all of its citizens to find employment, if not in their own country, at least in the EU, supporting the growth of the EU as a whole.

Still, the preoccupation for employability seems to fade when it comes to implementation, as the concept is blurred: in a European Commission staff working document of 200315 designed to implement the Lisbon Strategy employability was only mentioned twice, and neither employability nor employment rates were used among the 29 benchmarks to monitor the progress of education.16

The concept of employability became even more central with the economic crisis. As time goes by, EU institutions try to overcome the shortcomings of the first approach of the Lisbon Strategy.

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As youth unemployment now reaches 25% in some EU countries, employability, specifically of young graduates, is a striking issue. As we can see with initiatives such as the Youth Guarantee, the EU is trying to find a solution to the problem. And, in theory at least, it also tries to link it to lifelong learning, especially for people from a disadvantaged background.

The European Commission has come to realise that its focus on academic higher education did not cover the variety of the higher education landscape and could not provide an effective answer to all situations. A new emphasis was recently given on professional higher education, level 5 and higher vocational education and training. The communication Rethinking Education also tries to include the value of relevant work experience and non-formal education, with the validation and recognition of prior learning, non-formal learning etc. These concepts are diversely implemented in the different member states: France for instance already has a wide recognition and validation system whereas others have virtually no formal procedures. By 2018, there is hope to develop a common principle at the European level for these procedures.

Facing the lack of job opportunities, the term is more and more associated with entrepreneurship, encouraging young graduates to create their own jobs. The link was already visible in 2001, but the focus on entrepreneurship has increased, and is extremely visible in the Rethinking Education communication,17 and the accompanying staff working document18 of the European Commission.

In response to the higher education sector’s lack of opportunities to actually get in touch with labour market stakeholders, 19 the European Commission staff working document linked to Rethinking Education mentions partnerships20 with the private sector, stating the shared responsibility when it comes to having the most efficient workers in Europe. These partnerships can also be used to establish curricula that respond better to the employers’ needs.

Today more than ever, employability is a central concern of the European Commission. It supports initiatives and projects focused on employability and gives an opportunity for all higher education institutions to modernise their programmes and methods of teaching, using if possible good practices in other member states.

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III. What is Professional Higher Education?

When discussing the employability of professional higher education graduates in the EHEA, we need

to agree on a clear definition of what is part of professional higher education21 and what is not. The term professional higher education is rather a passe-partout word for educational programmes and training that exist under different education structures in most European countries. However, at present, there is no universally-acknowledged definition of professional higher education and the typology varies greatly from one EHEA country to another.

The justification for such a term is that throughout Europe there are institutions and programmes that profess themselves as profession-oriented, offering curricula oriented towards the development of professional skills. This is because they recognise themselves in a number of features or indicators that are linked to professional higher education rather than to academic higher education or higher or continuous vocational education and training.

In some countries, the distinction between the different types of higher education is clear at the institutional level. In this category we find for instance the Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (IUT) (France), the Hautes Ecoles (Belgium), the Hogescholen (Belgium, Netherlands), the Fachhochschulen (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland), the Universities of Applied Sciences in most of Europe, the Professionshøjskolen (Denmark), the Ammattikorkeakoulu (Finland), the Yrkeshögskola (Sweden), the Politécnicos (Portugal), the Institutes of Technology (Ireland) etc. For other countries where the separation is not so clear, academic higher education or, in a way, vocational education and training institutions usually provide professional higher education and we must rely on other indicators to define what professional higher education is.

Professionally-oriented education should mean, although it is not always the case, that professional higher education has close links with the labour market and professionals in their fields and leads to a clear profession. This can be done in various ways. Curricula can be established to respond directly to the needs of the labour market (evident in programmes for pilots and flight attendants developed around the Charleroi airport in Belgium);22 curricula can be elaborated with professionals and enterprises; professionals are allowed to teach; work placements, internships and apprenticeships can be included in the programme.

A very intuitive way to define professional higher education would be the length of the study as professional higher education usually offers shorter curricula than academic higher education, mostly three or four years. But practical examples counter this vision, as, in the United Kingdom, many academic higher education programmes last four years, and programmes at Fachhochschulen in Germany, for instance, can last five or more years. This is also depending on the length of the programmes for general education, to reach the entrance level for higher education. In the Netherlands, having a binary system for professional higher education and academic higher education it takes in both learning pathways (secondary and tertiary education) nine years to get a bachelor’s degree.

Another intuitive way to proceed would be by topic studied. Some topics belong exclusively to one type of education; for instance, philosophy is always studied at academic higher education institutions, or plumbing in vocational education and training institutions. One could establish a list of topics professional higher education generally proposes:

- Arts: drama, plastic arts, design … - Construction: electricity - Tourism, hotel and catering

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- Translation-interpreting - Secretariat - Business - Nursing, midwifery, prosthetist, optician, hearing technician … - Social work - Communication, journalism - Teachers, educators - Engineering, IT, sciences

The fields covered by professional higher education are thus extremely wide and varied. When we compare them with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) typology of fields of education,23 almost every field is covered. There are, however, numerous problems with this method as many more topics could be listed, and also because many of these topics are not exclusively studied in professional higher education. Communication or pharmaceutical sciences for instance can in some countries be studied both in professional higher education and in academic higher education. Other topics are part of professional higher education in some countries but of academic higher education in others. For instance, primary school teachers in Germany are trained in academic higher education, but in Belgium, they are trained in professional higher education exclusively. We can thus see that this very intuitive way of separating the two would not be consistent at the European level.

Institutional attempts have already been made to try and classify the existing offer in higher education, typically to be able to compare education systems transnationally. At the European level, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) was developed for this specific purpose, to act “as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe”.24 It is based on learning outcomes to make sure that the level fits in the whole of Europe regardless of the institutional and historical constraints. The framework does not differentiate between academic and professional higher education, as the achievements at the end of the curricula are very similar. Professional higher education can cover category 5 (short post-secondary education),25 6 (bachelor’s degree), 7 (master’s degree). It is thus not very helpful, as academic higher education usually covers levels 6, 7 and 8 (post-master degrees, PhD).

On a larger scale, the ISCED levels, created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), offers another taxonomy. On ISCED-97, professional higher education could cover levels 4, 5B and 6 but the scale was revised in 2011 to better reflect the reality of the worldwide educational landscape. It is based on the EQF levels, and although it describes more accurately European systems, it does not differentiate between track A (theory-based) and B (practical, technical or occupational skills). The same problem is encountered in the EHEA framework of qualifications.26

Table 1: Levels used in the EHEA

Framework of qualifications for the EHEA EQF ISCED-97 ISCED-11

Post-secondary non-tertiary education 4 4 4

Short-cycle higher education 5 5B 5

Bachelor level First cycle 6 5A - 5B 6

Master level Second cycle 7 5A 7

Doctoral level Third cycle 8 6 8

In many countries, the degrees ‘academic bachelor’ and ‘professional bachelor’, although classified

at the same level of the qualifications framework (1st cycle/EQF level 6), are not fully compatible and

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progress into second-cycle studies by ‘professional bachelors’ is virtually impossible without one to two years of “bridging studies or programmes”. It is even more obvious when it comes to the doctoral level, virtually inaccessible to professional graduates in many EHEA countries.

Very much linked to this question of post-master graduates is the one of research. Fundamental research is usually conducted in fully-fledged academic universities. But professional higher education institutions sometimes conduct applied research, linked to the businesses’ needs.27

As a result we have a group of indicators, none of them matching exactly the grassroots diversity, rather than a simple set of criteria.

The best way of defining professional higher education may be to have higher education institutions define themselves, as it was done in the first phase of the HAPHE project.28 It is the best way to reflect the diversity of the sector and is quite efficient, as the stakeholders usually feel no difficulty in defining themselves at a national level.29 Another advantage of this approach is that it is possible to define professional higher education without referring to historical levels and (national) (higher) education structures, and even not to certain types of institutions and ways of learning. Professional higher education can take place in all kinds of institutions in the broad spectrum of academic, professional and vocational strands, in the same way as it can be offered through several modes of learning next to the traditional ones, such as contact learning, distance learning, blended learning both in formal and non-formal contexts. This study is heavily indebted to the way the HAPHE project approaches the issue, by basing its definition of professional higher education on the way professional higher education institutions see themselves.

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IV. Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

Defining the skills that lead to employability is a necessary step to ensure the concept is concrete and

implementable: it is the starting point to find ways to measure it and teach it; it is essential to give the job seekers and students indicators of what to improve in order to become more employable, the policy-makers with a programme to reduce unemployment rates, the education and training institutions with improvements for their curricula, the employers’ organisations with more possibilities to stimulate work and study and regions with more options to be involved in supporting the regional labour market in cooperation with education providers at all levels. This very important goal is also very hard to reach, as employability varies with the type of career, the labour market, the region etc. It is not a stable, fixed set of competences employers look for. Furthermore, we should note that some skills are useful only in the job-seeking process or only for actual employment, whereas other skills are useful at both stages. We can nevertheless identify some skills and attitudes valued by most employers in Europe at the moment, based on the many typologies available. We propose here two compilations existing in literature, based on Holmes30 and Van der Velden.31

Table 2: Examples of skills/competencies frameworks: institutional frameworks

Source Skills/competencies

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing Report)

Communication skills, numeracy, the use of information technology, learning to learn

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Communication, application of number, information technology, working with others, improving own learning and performance, problem solving

Bangor University, University of Wales

Communicating, analytical thinking, interpersonal skills, managerial skills, mathematics and information technology, creativity, enquiry and research

Huddersfield and University of Lincolnshire and Humberside

Communication, application of number, IT, problem solving, working with others, improving own performance

Luton University Information retrieval and handling, communication and presentation, planning and problem solving, social development and interaction

University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Managing and applying intellect, self-management, working with others, effective communication, IT, use and application of mathematics

University of Sheffield Communication, teamwork, problem solving, managing and organising

Teesside University Use of IT, research skills, critical thinking, problem solving, information, gathering, decision making, communication/ presentation, public speaking, group skills, negotiating, influencing, persuading, interviewing, consulting, leading discussions, intellectual skills

University of Wolverhampton Communicate effectively, organise, gather information, use IT, act independently, work in teams, numeracy

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Table 3: Examples of skills/competencies frameworks: frameworks from research studies

Source Skills/competencies

Smith, et al. (1989) Personal transferable skills: Problem solving (e.g. ability to learn quickly, specifying personal objectives, critical thinking...), communication (e.g. communicating your ideas orally, communicating your ideas in writing, listening to others’ views...), working in a group (e.g. working in a team, ability to lead, ability to negotiate…)

Harvey et al. (1992): “Someone who can make an impression”

15 qualities listed including: Effective communication, team work, ability to solve problems, analytic skills, flexibility and adaptability, self-skills (confidence etc.), decision making skills, independent judgment

Allen (1991): “Improving the Personal Skills of Graduates”

8 categories of transferable personal skills: Organising, social and group, communication and linguistic, creative, cognitive, contingency, self-managing, physical

Harvey and Green (1994): “Employee Satisfaction Summary”

Generic or core skills: Willingness to learn, team work, problem solving and a range of personal attributes including commitment, energy, self-motivation, self-management, reliability, co-operation, flexibility and adaptability, analytic ability, logical argument and ability to summarise key issues.

Association of Graduate Recruiters (1995): “Skills for Graduates in the 21st Century”

Self-reliance skills, or career management skills and effective learning skills, including:

Self-awareness, self-promotion, exploring and creating opportunities, action planning, networking ...

Harvey et al. (1997): “Graduates’ Work: organisational change and students’ attributes”

Attributes of graduates: Personal attributes (knowledge, intellect, willingness to learn…), interactive attributes (communication, team working, interpersonal skills)

Knight and Yorke (2003) USEM model of employability: U: (Subject) Understanding S: Skills E: Efficacy beliefs, students self-theories and personal qualities M: Meta-cognition (encompassing self-awareness regarding the student’s learning, and the capacity to reflect on, in and for action)

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Table 4: Comparison of employability frameworks32

Abraham and Karns (2009, 352)

Kreber (2006, 5) Multiple countries – competencies

higher education institutions should provide.

Andrews and Higson (2008, 413) Employers and graduate

perspectives: multiple sources. Top 10 competencies identified by

businesses in the USA

Be able and willing to contribute

to innovation and be creative

Be able to cope with

uncertainties

Be interested in and prepared for

lifelong learning

Have acquired social sensitivity

and communicative skills

Be able to work in teams

Be willing to take on

responsibilities

Become entrepreneurial

Prepare themselves for the

internationalisation of the labour

market through an understanding of

various cultures

Be versatile in generic skills that

cut across disciplines

Be literate in areas of knowledge

forming the basis for various

professional skills, for example, in

new technologies

Professionalism

Reliability

The ability to cope with

uncertainty

Ability to work under pressure

Ability to think and plan

strategically

Capability to communicate and

interact with others, either in

teams or through networking

Good written and verbal

communication skills

Information and

communication technology skills

Creativity and self-confidence

Good self-management and

time-management skills

A willingness to learn and

accept responsibility

Communication skills

Problem solver

Results oriented

Interpersonal skills

Leadership skills

Customer focus

Flexible / adaptable

Team worker

Dependable

Quality focussed

Highlighted in bold = commonly cited items which appear in all frameworks. Highlighted in italics = attributes with clear links to personality traits. Highlighted by underlining = attributes potentially linked to proactive personality.

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Abraham and Karns (2009, 352)

Top 10 competencies emphasised in the business school curriculum in

the USA Archer and Davison (2008,7)

Employers in the UK. Cumming (2010,7)

Government in Australia

Communication skills

Problem solver

Team worker

Leadership skills

Technical expertise

Interpersonal skills

Business expertise

Hard worker

Results oriented

Dependable

Communication skills

Team-working skills

Integrity

Intellectual ability

Confidence

Character / personality

Planning and organisational

skills

Literacy (good written skills)

Numeracy (good with numbers)

Analysis and decision-making

skills

Communication

Teamwork

Problem solving

Initiative and enterprise

Planning and organising

Self-management

Learning

Technology

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Other authors insist on attitudes such as reliability, honesty. To find employment opportunities, the skills most commonly underlined are self-assessment,

opportunity awareness, decision making-skills, etc. In the knowledge part, you can find information on knowing how to build a career, knowing how to find a job, where to look for a job, how to build a good network etc.

Although many more typologies could be added, this study presents three more, from the most recent studies in Europe, and the former working group on employability of the Bologna Process.

(1) The REFLEX study33 proposed 6 elements, which constitute an efficient professional of which

the general applicability is declining down the list. So the first element on the list would apply to all graduates, the ones below to some. Also, the elements lower on the list would generally be needed only at a later stage in the professional career while the top ones would require to be used immediately. - Professional expertise: knowledge specific to one's type of work (e.g. medical knowledge

for a nurse, or writing skills for a journalist); - Human resources: skills regarding the mobilisation of human resources (e.g. self-

management skills, interpersonal skills); - Innovation and knowledge management skills; - Entrepreneurial skills: entrepreneurial skills are linked to initiative-taking and taking a

project to completion, it includes what is now called intrapreneurial skills; - International competence: knowing more than one language, and being culturally

adaptable; - Flexibility.

(2) The study on employers,34 also from the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market

(ROA) of Maastricht University proposes the following typology: - Professional expertise: knowledge and skills needed to solve occupation-specific problems; - General academic skills: analytical thinking, reflectiveness, and the ability to see the

limitations of one’s own discipline; - Innovative/creative skills: ability to come up with new ideas and to approach problems

from a different angle; - Strategic/organisational skills: ability to act strategically towards the achievement of

organisational goals and priorities; - Interpersonal skills: ability to work in a team and communicate and cooperate effectively

with diverse colleagues and clients; - Commercial/entrepreneurial skills: ability to recognise the commercial value of an idea

and to search for and pursue opportunities to turn them into successful products. Flexibility is excluded, as this competence is mostly useful to the individual during the transition, not to the employer.

(3) Bologna Process typology:35

- Transfer of (academic) knowledge to professional work assignments (‘problem solving activities’);

- Development of typical working styles (e.g. working under pressure, working independently without clear assignments);

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- Development of typical working values (‘loyalty’, ‘achievement orientation’); - Social skills (e.g. ‘leadership’, ‘team work’); - Supplementary knowledge (e.g. foreign languages, ICT, organisational knowledge); - Context awareness (e.g. ‘adaptation’, ‘reflection’, ‘risk taking’); - Learning to manage one’s own career.

We can see that the typologies are numerous and varied but that they all converge and actually have

not evolved much for a long time. A typology of 1989 already pointed to very similar elements,36 with only IT competences/computeracy added to the list.

Internships and Work Experience

Almost every author in the literature on employability emphasises the importance of internships and formal work placements. The research on the employers’ perception of the University of Glasgow notes in its review of the existing literature that

perhaps above all, the literature and our own findings have overwhelmingly highlighted that employers, students, graduates and HEI representatives value work-based learning (such as placements and internships) as particularly effective approaches to promote the employability of graduates.37

The work of the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University shows that work experience is the second most important attribute when it comes to hiring an employee.38 The report of the round table on employability organised by EURASHE in 2013 points out that

work experience seems to signal work-readiness in the sense of being instantly deployable, knowing work-life, and to some extent that the skills certified by the diploma have been applied successfully in practice.39

Internships seem to be an increasing phenomenon over the last decade. Only one third of the respondents to the Eurobarometer40 had no work experience before they actually started working. All the others had experience, through internships, apprenticeship or student jobs. We note that higher education graduates have more experience with internships than the graduates with a lower educational achievement.41 Internships are thus a crucial topic in this study, as internships seem to be a feature of higher education in general, and more specifically of professional higher education.

Nonetheless one should stay cautious towards internships, traineeships and work placements. The REFLEX study actually reveals that non-related work (student job in order to pay for the studies for instance) has no influence when it comes to starting an actual career.42 For related work experience (such as internships etc.), the REFLEX study reports that it helped graduates find employment, not so much because it developed their professional competences, but more via the professional network it allowed them to build. Volunteer work of graduates is also seen by the REFLEX study as an experience rewarded by employers, as well as non-formal education, as it demonstrates organisational skills and positive attitudes such as commitment and loyalty. It can serve as an expedient for work experience, especially for junior positions, for which the candidate is not supposed to have experience.

The Eurobarometer on traineeships43 also depicts an overview of internships that is more balanced: Traineeships can help young people in the transition from school to employment by providing them with practical, hands-on training in the workplace. Despite this, concerns have been

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expressed over the working conditions during traineeships and the level of compensation, as well as on the effective learning content of these experiences for young people.44

The survey shows that the practice regarding work placement varies a lot from one country to another, but we will try here to underline the general trends across Europe.

Interns are usually satisfied with their internship, regarding it as a learning experience. But the proportion of satisfied interns shrinks when it comes to knowing if it actually raises employability; internships are usually considered as helping to find employment but not overwhelmingly. 71% thought it was useful to find employment where 28% disagreed;45 meaning that more than a quarter of interns felt it was a failure on that regard. This view of the students seems to curb the enthusiasm of literature, higher education institutions and businesses for internships. At the end of their internship a little more than a quarter were offered a contract and a little less than a quarter were offered an internship. This is mostly the case for longer internships taking place after graduation, whereas internships taking place during the studies usually do not lead to direct employment in the company where the internship took place.46

Internships are also a source of precariousness. Usually interns are not paid (59%) or insufficiently paid (20%). About one third have no contract and one quarter of interns are not covered by insurance. About one third of interns finish their internship without certificate nor recommendation letter. Women are more exposed to this precariousness.47 Furthermore, considerably more men are offered an employment contract at the end of their traineeship than women (31% versus 24%).48

On all these topics, it is interesting to see that interns from higher education fare slightly better than others. They are more likely to work in larger companies, to be better mentored, to have a contract and to be paid.49 They also have a better chance of being offered a contract at the end of their internship.50 Nearly one third of respondents who graduated were proposed an employment contract at the end of their traineeship (31%). In comparison, this number is lower for respondents who have not graduated from higher education, decreasing to only one quarter (26%). The same difference is observed for interns who were offered to extend their internship.

The Eurobarometer does not give conclusive evidence that internships during the studies facilitate employment but we can see that 38% of the unemployed never did an internship whereas only 24% of employees never did any kind of work placement before starting their career.

Interns are generally positive about their experience and the learning opportunities it offered.51 Most interns find that they learned during their placement and that they were appropriately mentored, and were treated like other employees. Still, one out of five was not treated as other employees and one out of ten had no proper supervisor. This raises the question of the quality of internships that was evoked at the policy session of EURASHE held in Bucharest (Romania) in October 2013. The issues raised at the time regarded the possibility of imposing internships for every programme. Some companies struggle already and do not have the time to properly monitor their interns. The other issue is to assess the placement and to ensure quality for all students.

The study from the University of Glasgow52 insists on the importance of having quality internships. It suggests developing an equal partnership between higher education institutions and companies, to ensure that both participate in the creation of the placement, its length, educational goals and assessment means. The higher education institution and the company must both follow up the student closely and conjointly.

To ensure that the students learn from their placement, it is very important to plan moments for reflection on the learning and reporting during the work placement and after the work placement. This can be done through regular meetings with the mentor in the workplace and in the higher education

15

institution and a final report explaining what lessons were learned, and how it can feed in the learning at school.

The placement requires some kind of assessment to ensure that the skills and competences can be validated and recognised by the schools and other employers.53

Finally internships can also serve directly higher education institutions, allowing them to know their stakeholders and build strong relationships with the business world.

Case Study: Dual System (Germany)

The German dual education system can offer some insights into efficient internships. In the duales Ausbildungssystem or dual education system, students are trained in a company for about three-fourths of their

study time. It can be for instance two years out of three of studies or three out of five days a week. The remaining time is spent at school (vocational school or university of applied sciences). The company is responsible for

ensuring that students get the standard quantity and quality of training set down in the training descriptions for each trade.

Although the dual education system is generally considered to be exemplary, an increasing number of young people are being trained at training sites and schools rather than in real companies, as for various reasons,

companies are becoming less willing to take on apprentices.

Case Study: Paid Internships (France)

Since 2011, considering the numerous abuses in the use of interns in France, new rules were introduced. Any internship of two month or more should be paid; the internship cannot last more than six months; no intern can

be taken in to replace an employee or be faced with an increase of their workload.54 These measures were proven valid, as some companies relied heavily on unpaid work by interns, did not offer sufficient supervision, or had an

intern training his or her replacement. Nonetheless, some reckon the legislation did not fully address the issue. The law discouraged many companies

to take interns, especially for the last internship of the degree in the Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (DUT), lasting usually three months. Facing a shortage of internships, students sometimes agree to work in even worse conditions. In some sectors in particular (social and/or artistic), students may return the payments at the end of

the internship as a donation for instance. The challenges thus remain numerous.

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V. Higher Education Institutions and Employability: Challenges

Employability is a main concern for higher education institutions. Institutions have a long-term

responsibility towards their students. It is important for their image to provide graduates with the best skills, to ensure that their students have a good reputation among employers and also for prospective students, to prove to them that their programmes can offer them a future. All in all, employable graduates are one sign of the quality of the education provided by one higher education institution.

In this chapter we will discuss the challenges higher education in general faces regarding employability and how professional higher education fares regarding these issues, compared to academic higher education and vocational education and training.

The most common remark experts have regarding the employability that higher education

institutions provide to their graduates is that the skills and knowledge provided are not always in line with the labour market expectations.55 This results from the fact that higher education institutions still do not seem to be fully aware who their stakeholders are. They are not confronted with employers and work providers in a structural way, at an institutionalised national level. Employers still have little knowledge what to expect from higher education graduates, and similarly higher education institutions have little knowledge of what employers expect from their new recruits.56 To remedy these problems, business stakeholders could be included in academic boards, or higher education institutions and business stakeholders could be gathered in common fora. It is very hard for higher education institutions to be in contact not only with a few stakeholders but to grasp general trends in the labour market.

Good Practice: Employability & Entrepreneurship: Tuning Universities & Enterprises57

The Tuning Universities & Enterprises project aims to modernise higher education institutions by involving business representatives in the definition, promotion and validation of business and economics student graduates’

key skills to ensure a good fit between society and labour market needs and academic curricula. This is a good example of a fruitful cooperation between the education and economic sector.

Good Practice: Universities of Applied Sciences (Austria)58

The Austrian universities of applied sciences have several mechanisms to ensure the employability of their graduates:

- The strategic orientation of universities of applied sciences is a market-oriented view (i.e. labour market seen as customer);

- The strategic objective of universities of applied sciences is the employability of graduates (i.e. the main purpose of education is the employability of students and not the transformation of the students etc.);

- The development of new curricula is based on an accreditation process. This accreditation process is done by a development team, which consists of an obligatory number of labour market representatives;

- The main point for accreditation is the proof that there is a clear labour market need for graduates, thus that graduates will be absorbed by the labour market after graduation. This assessment is valid only for a

limited number of years (usually three years) and then needs to be re-done in order to re-accredit the

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programme; - The curricula encourages a strong labour market focus by including mandatory internship/placement

phases and student projects in collaboration with companies; - Job announcements clearly state that each lecturer requires work field experience;

- Job application trainings, coaching and entrepreneurship trainings are foreseen in many curricula.

Employers are often confused by the multiplicity of curricula and qualifications available. There is a

permanent tension among higher education institutions between offering programmes that are attractive on the student market and offering programmes that are transparent for employers on the labour market.59 The way higher education is financed, based on student supply rather than labour market demand, might give insufficient incentives to offer programmes that are transparent enough for employers.60 Some experts suggest that in order

to increase the quality and labour market relevance of Higher Education programmes, a certain level of nation-wide standardisation is needed in order to smooth graduates’ transition from education to work.61

The qualifications have to be clear for all stakeholders, through the use of learning outcomes for instance.

This variety of possible learning pathways partially explains why employers sometimes seem to favour professional experience over diplomas, even if this work experience has not been validated or certified. While the diploma certifies a certain body of knowledge and skills, work experience seems to signal work readiness in the sense of being instantly deployable, knowing work-life, and to some extent that the skills certified by the diploma have been applied successfully in practice.62 The focus on learning outcomes, which should be an improvement for employability, remains largely alien to employers.63

Another challenge and maybe fundamental question is simply whether higher education institutions

should teach employability skills and if so, what kind of pedagogical approach should be put in place as it is about skills more than about knowledge. Rolf Van der Velden insists that professional expertise should remain the main focus of professional higher education. “HEIs should stop trying to develop all necessary skills since a great deal of those skills are fostered outside the educational world anyway”,64 or can be practised in already existing courses. The ability to communicate, work as part of a team or take initiatives, for instance, should not be the subject of specific courses but can be included in every programme. Project-based learning and teamwork in higher education courses can probably develop them. When it comes to creativity, innovation or entrepreneurship, many think that those skills are innate rather than acquired.65 The role of higher education institutions should then be to offer an environment where these skills are encouraged rather than repressed, as was sometimes reproached to very traditional educational settings.

Good Practice: Personal and Professional Project (France)

France has taken the challenge to teach employability through the Projet Personnel et Professionnel de l’Etudiant, the Personal and Professional Project (PPP). The PPP started on a voluntary basis in some institutions in

the nineties. In 2005, it became compulsory in all Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (IUT). The objective is to allow the student to build career plans according to their individual interests and capabilities. The programme

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intends to allow students to know the labour market, the job opportunities through meetings with alumni, job fairs, internships etc. and to know themselves. The PPP had a mixed reception. Although all agree on the

importance of it, many do not know how to “teach” it, as there is no content as such. Teachers feel they are not qualified for the role, as some students have strong emotional reactions when confronted with their future. It is

also complicated to evaluate the class as well as to evaluate one’s plans and dreams. The PPP is still relatively new and its implementation is free and creative.

The demographic change we are currently witnessing requires higher education to find answers to

the growing need for lifelong learning. Professional higher education may still be too much focused on young full-time students and lack the flexibility and expertise to address the needs of older employees who want to return to education to upgrade their skills level,66 such as evening classes or distance teaching, yet we can see that professional higher education also offers the kind of curricula usually sought later in life.67

A point on the MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are the new trend in European education. A MOOC is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Internet. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user fora that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants.

MOOCs have been very successful in the USA already with famous platforms such as Coursera or Udacity. In Europe, some universities also have started with MOOCs. The European Commission has supported a platform, OpenupEd, 68 initiated by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), to ensure a quality standard and an efficient platform. The platform now offers over 150 courses on a wide range of subjects and languages.

MOOCs are considered a useful tool to raise the population level of education and encourage lifelong learning, but it has its limitations. The classes are free but it is not always the case of the certification. The assessment is a rather complicated process online, as there is no possibility to ensure that all students participate fairly. The completion rate of these courses is extremely low (usually less than 10%).

If MOOCs offer an interesting alternative it seems improbable that they will replace traditional education.

Specificities of Professional Higher Education

Higher education institutions in general experience some mismatch with the labour market and professional higher education institutions could be bridging that gap.

They have many connections with the labour market: through their teachers, of which a good part is drawn from the labour market; through their external assessment (very often for the evaluation of projects in professional higher education the jury is composed of teachers of the schools and professionals from the sector); labour market actors can be involved in the establishment of the curricula, which, in some countries will only be funded if it is proven that they meet the needs of the labour market; higher education institutions’ staff is also confronted with professionals when it comes to finding and following up on their students’ internships; finally, higher education institutions’ staff collaborates with business stakeholders to develop applied research.69

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Practice-oriented education allows graduates to develop their profession-specific skills. It also allows them to foster some employability skills through projects: creativity, entrepreneurship, teamwork, communication etc. can be developed through the practice-oriented programmes of professional higher education. But professional higher education institutions are not only professionally oriented, as vocational education and training is, it is also an integral part of higher education. Students also have generic academic competences, analytical skills, the ability to learn etc.

The curricula are more focused on professional expertise than generic skills, producing slightly less flexible but more immediately employable graduates. Professional higher education programmes also have more compulsory internships, which give the graduates a better chance of employment as we have seen in the chapter on internships. Generally speaking, professional higher education graduates seem to have a better long-term employability than the population’s average, although slightly under the average of academic higher education, and a better short-term employability than any category of educational attainment.

In the Report on the EURASHE Round Table on Employability, Jan Koucký noted that HEIs must continue to be heterogeneous: it is good to have a diversified set of competent graduates rather than only ‘broadly formed academics’. Yet, an improved clarity towards the future student would be necessary: what exactly are they offering and in what terms do they really differ from other HEIs?70

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VI. The Employers’ View

As we have seen, one of the challenges for higher education institutions when it comes to

employability is to get to know the needs of their counterparts in the labour market: the employers and companies. There are few platforms to share views on the topic, at national and international level. As employers and higher education institutions have no chance to talk directly, it seemed important to present in this study the point of view of employers to higher education stakeholders. This chapter is greatly indebted to the Eurobarometer on Employers’ perception of graduate employability71 and the work of the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University, specifically its latest EU project on the employers’ perspective on graduates’ employability.72

These two studies have shortcomings regarding our topic, as the Eurobarometer regards employability of higher education graduates without differentiating between academic and professional higher education graduates. The survey of the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University explicitly excludes professional higher education as it focuses exclusively on “academic universities”,73 but the needs of employers regarding professional higher education graduates can be extrapolated from their results as academic and professional higher education are similar. Their conclusions can thus be applied to professional higher education, with some caution however.

Employers for their part are very interested in graduates and the way they are trained during their studies. In a knowledge-based society such as the one we currently observe in Europe, the tasks are getting more complex, as computers can increasingly execute most tasks that do not require analytical thinking. According to projections of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), in 2015 around 30% of jobs will require high qualifications and one half will require medium qualifications.74 The importance of higher education programmes, their diversity and relevance for the labour market are thus crucial.

Skills

The first, very important result of these studies is that employers are generally satisfied with the level of skills of European graduates. Furthermore, they seem to think that graduates develop the necessary skills at the necessary level of mastery: the Eurobarometer states that

skills and capabilities were ranked similarly when comparing employers’ views about the importance of various skills and capabilities and their actual satisfaction with their employees’ skills and capabilities.75

At the same time, employers also state that their main challenge when hiring graduates is a shortage of applicants with the right skills and capabilities. If the big picture is satisfying, there are still challenges to meet in that respect.

Employers seem to generally agree with the literature, ranking the different employability items from the list proposed by the surveyors as very important. In the Eurobarometer for instance, between 88% and 98% of the respondents ranked these skills as “very” or “rather important”.76 The most valuable input of the study from the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University is that it forced employers, through conjoint analysis,77 to rank the various skills, giving the following results:78

(1) Professional expertise – 19.5%

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(2) Interpersonal skills – 19.1% (3) Commercial/entrepreneurial skills – 17.6% (4) Innovative/creative skills – 16.0% (5) Strategic/organisational skills – 14.2% (6) General academic skills – 13.7% The Eurobarometer, using a more traditional methodology, came to the following results:

In terms of rating certain skills and capabilities as being “very important”, graduate recruiters were most likely to highlight the importance of team working (67%), sector-specific skills, communication skills, computer literacy, being able to adapt to new situations, first-class ability in reading/writing, and analytical and problem-solving skills (all 58%-62%). [Employers of graduates] were less likely to highlight the importance of foreign language skills: 33% rated these skills as “very important” and 34% as “rather important”. Foreign languages skills, however, were the only skills that were ranked higher as a requirement for future graduates.79

It is important to note that employers do not expect higher education institutions to provide graduates with all of those skills. It is expected of higher education to develop professional expertise/sector-specific skills and general academic skills (analytical skills, ability to learn, ability to synthesise etc.). Proficient numeracy, literacy and computeracy (the ability to use computers and IT) are expected as well, as these are the core business of higher education institutions. Employers expect graduates to develop communication abilities and interpersonal skills, during their studies and their personal lives. When it comes to innovative/creative skills and entrepreneurial spirit, employers feel they cannot be taught, but only encouraged during higher education. As Rolf Van der Velden mentioned, higher education is not the best place to foster all skills. Time is by definition limited and should be put to best use. Some skills are better developed through volunteering, non-formal education or directly in the workplace.

Recruitment

When employers recruit graduates, they usually do not have a skills or human resources assessment centre to evaluate the candidate’s skills and their match with the job profile. They thus rely on indicators visible in their application. According to the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University, these indicators are ranked as follow:

(1) Match between field of study and job tasks – 25.8% (2) Relevant work experience – 19.9% (3) Degree/the applicant’s qualification – 19.3% (4) Grade Point Average (GPA) – 17,8% (5) Study abroad – 11.0% (6) The degree awarding university’s prestige/reputation – 6.3%80 The more important indicators are those which

signal familiarity with the job task and ensure low training costs: the match between the field of study and the job task, as well as relevant work experience […] Having graduated in a field of study not completely matched but related to the job task can be compensated with relevant work experience.81

The Eurobarometer confirms these findings on work experience, with 87% of graduate recruiters finding it a crucial asset when recruiting a new graduate, even more so in private companies.82 This shows again the importance of specific skills and internships, as we discussed earlier.

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Regarding the characteristics of higher education institutions (types of education and prestige of the institution) the results seem again to be rather favourable to professional higher education: the majority of employers do not care much about the prestige of the institution but more about the type of degree earned. PhDs are usually disregarded, whereas bachelor’s degrees are slightly preferred: the Eurobarometer states that “a slim majority of graduate recruiters (55%) answered that graduates with bachelor’s degrees would best match the skill requirements in their company” and 35% said that graduates with master’s degrees would be a better fit. Graduate recruiters in medium-sized companies and those in the private sector were more likely to answer that graduates with bachelor’s degrees would best match the skill requirements in their company. Graduate recruiters in large companies and those in the public sector, on the other hand, more frequently said that graduates with master’s degrees would be a better fit.83 The study of the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University has relatively similar results, lowering a bit the attractiveness of bachelor’s degree as the study does not include professional higher education.84

Employers, especially those with an international orientation rather have employees having done part of their studies85 or work experience86 abroad, although it is not such an important factor. This emphasises the importance of developing further exchange programmes in professional higher education, especially for some specific fields, such as business.

Cooperation

Employers are aware that the studies-to-work transition and lifelong learning are shared responsibilities between higher education institutions and the labour market. On average, employers expect junior graduates to be fully functional and profitable after six months on the job.87 Many also mention they have on-the-job training88 and mentoring programmes for their employees. 83% of respondents said that their employees with higher education degrees had participated in training and development programmes organised at their workplace and 55% mentioned training offered by continuing education institutions.89

It has been said many times already, businesses and higher education institutions do not have the opportunity to share their goals and ambitions for graduates.90 The research of the University of Glasgow noted that in the United Kingdom

employers feel ignored by HEI. In many cases, they have few (if any) links with an HEI; and those employers – relatively few in number – who serve on university committees say their views on course design are disregarded.91

This anecdotal evidence has to be taken very seriously, knowing that professional higher education is already for a long time part of the educational system in many EU member states and it could be expected that a well working structure for cooperation between higher education institutions and representatives of the labour market would be in place. That shows how difficult it is to design such a structure and to maintain it.

It is hard to find an appropriate platform to share and find the human resources to attend those discussions on both parts. The focus group of the study on employers by the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) of Maastricht University offered one of those platforms and noted that

the participating stakeholders seem to be very interested to discuss the topic of graduate employability and appear truly motivated and committed to finding possible ways to improve it. Secondly, it appears that in several countries participating employers and educational experts

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were not used to talking to each other (about these topics). Nevertheless, several of them indicate that they valued the discussion a lot and that it made them appreciate the need to cooperate together.92

The most quoted way to improve employability and build bridges between higher education institutions and employers is compulsory internships in the study programme. The EU encourages private-public partnerships, among others through co-funding. Many schools use their alumni network as a source of feedback, information and contacts. Accreditation bodies are sometimes a platform for all stakeholders to meet. Many more ambitious projects exist in Europe to enhance collaboration between higher education institutions and business.

Good Practice: EMCOSU and UBC

The EMCOSU project focuses on cooperation between higher education institutions and enterprises. It developed an extensive questionnaire for higher education institutions and employers to explore their linkage.

Though many studies have been directed at understanding the interactions between higher education institutions and business, not much is known about University-Business Cooperation (UBC) within the European

context. The UBC study has been commissioned to fill this knowledge gap. It aims to give a clear picture of the extent of UBC in Europe and to gain a better understanding of how UBC can be fostered, promoted and

strengthened.

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VII. Benchmarks, Indicators and Monitoring93

Employability is, by its very nature, hard to evaluate in an objective way, as it is an ability made up of

an ever-changing combination of skills. It is difficult to measure employability in itself, apart from the outcomes on the labour market, i.e. actual employment. To evaluate it correctly different indicators should be combined and some precautions are to be kept in mind.

Employability could be measured by tests similar to the ones of the Program for International

Student Assessment (PISA)94 or the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC),95 evaluating the level in each competence seen as favouring employability. A ratio attributed to each competence according to its importance would then allow the calculation of one’s employability with a single final result. But as there is no consensus on what those skills would be and because of the evolutionary nature of what constitutes employability, this type of test is unlikely to be consistent from one survey to another, and thus would not offer possibilities for longitudinal studies. Furthermore, that type of study requires vast resources in order to be conducted.

Another possibility would be to measure employability ‘objectively’ by the employment reached by

the graduates after a few years (two, five and ten for instance). But again, as we underlined repeatedly in this study, employability is not a mere synonym of employment, it is the ability to find employment. The labour market must be taken into account, as, when the employment demand is lower than the offer, employable graduates might not find employment.

The graduate must also work “at their own level”. The data must thus take this into account. It is the case in France for instance.96 If it is not the case, the researcher can use an existing table such as the International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status.97 Another way to see if there is a mismatch would be the income. Whether salaries are highly regulated or relatively free, graduates in general earn more than unqualified or low-qualified workers. Eurostat already has a database of the average hour earning by educational attainment in every EU country. This could be used as a basis to evaluate if graduates are working at their level or are overqualified.

As employability is the ability to gain and maintain employment, another ‘objective’ factor would be the duration of the transition period between education and work or between two positions. Then again, this factor seems easy to calculate but sometimes, a slow transition does not reflect low employability. Some graduates might wish to take some time abroad after their graduation, have to take care of relatives, do civil or military service, or embark upon further studies. Matti E. Lindberg, based on Marchand,98 thus suggests considering the share of employed, unemployed and inactive so as to have the full picture. How many are really active on the labour market? It is hard to determine where the cause and where the consequence lie. Does the late entry in the labour market reflect a desire to discover more after their studies?, or do students decide to delay their entry in the labour market because there are few opportunities and they do not feel employable?

Another issue that is very much increasing over the last years is the question of interns and trainees.

More and more graduates do very long internships after finishing their studies. Although the issue regards more academic higher education as most professional higher education graduates already have practical experience, this trends forces researchers to decide on how to consider this once marginal group. Can they be considered as employed? Their employment certainly does not fit in the definition of

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employability, as they often are overqualified and in a very precarious situation. On the other hand, they are not really out of the labour market.

How are graduates tracked in Europe?

According to the outcomes of the TRACKIT initiative by the European University Association (EUA), some higher education institutions track their graduates all over Europe. In nine of the countries surveyed by the project, all higher education institutions did collect the data and encoded them in a national database.

Figure 1: Graduate tracking by higher education institutions99

Good Practice: Compulsory tracking of graduates (Romania)100

For five years, the University of Bucharest (Romania) has been tracking graduates in order to enhance the quality of study programmes. Tracking students and graduates is required by law, and part of external quality

assurance. Recent bachelor’s and master’s graduates, when receiving their diploma, are obliged to fill in a questionnaire. In addition, individual faculties have developed their own approaches for tracking graduates,

depending on the size of the faculty, the teacher/student ratio and the relation with the industry in which graduates are usually employed.

Good Practice: Tracking of graduates based on voluntary basis (Italy)101

Early initiatives have been launched in Italy, in which the Ministry of Education, University and Research supported the establishment of AlmaLaurea and Stella as non-profit membership schemes. They offer their

university members standardised questionnaires and prepare the data analysis. AlmaLaurea, launched in the

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nineties, involves 78% of Italian graduates from 64 Italian universities. Students in their last year complete an online questionnaire, and update it regularly after graduation. The data is used for institutional purposes, but also for research. Another feature is a graduate portal that employers can use for recruitment. This may be one reason why graduates update their information, as the initiative reports a high response rate (90% in the graduation year

and 70% after several years).

The last indicator could be subjective. By asking graduates to self-evaluate their skills against the

ones required to perform their tasks, and then crossing the results with the perception of a direct supervisor, we could obtain a fair picture of graduates’ employability.102

One could also consider the problem from the standpoint of learning input rather than outcome.

Although this is less reliable, it might also be easier to evaluate. How involved are stakeholders in setting up curricula, offering internship, participating in evaluation?103

We would probably need to work on various levels: systemic, regional and institutional, with

different kinds of surveys more adapted to specific levels. The third approach for instance (subjective indicator) could be useful inside a single company but might be hard to apply it to the whole country. The learning input method is probably more adapted to higher education institutions evaluation etc.

Once employability has been evaluated for an institution, it could be part of the parameters for the ranking of universities. To establish all over Europe a common system for continuous professional development (for instance with a possible link to the EU directive on recognition of professional qualifications)104 seems the most useful opportunity for the highest professional levels.105

Collecting data is crucial for exploring outcomes of professional higher education and for opening discussions on the above crucial aspects. The REFLEX and HEGESCO projects have served to open up the discussion on graduate employability and strengths and weaknesses of national higher education systems. Such surveys need to be carried out on a regular basis.

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VIII. Data

As we have seen, there is no consensus as to how to measure employability. Given all the assets of

professional higher education in terms of employability, professional higher education graduates may fare much better than other graduates on the labour market. But it is hard to observe, at the European level at least, as not every country tracks graduates’ employability (following alumni for some years), or does not separate them between academic higher education, professional higher education, and higher vocational education and training, and also due to the blurred definition of professional higher education across Europe, preventing any cross-country comparison or analysis.

Given the available data, we could nevertheless study the employment – not the employability – of graduates and more specifically of professional higher education graduates. Unfortunately, most of the research on graduates’ employability excludes professional higher education106 or does not differentiate between the different types of higher education (Eurostat for instance classifies all higher education, level 5 and 6 of ISCED-97 in one single category).107

But we can nevertheless find some conclusions from the existing data, mainly based on the employment figures produced by the OECD, in their Education at a Glance Report,108 which still uses the ISCED-97 taxonomy. It is important to note that we consider in this part that 5B is equivalent to professional higher education, even though we have seen in the first part of the study that it does not correspond perfectly.

The most striking conclusion is that on most points, academic and professional higher education are very similar. Generally speaking, employment rates seem to rise with the ISCED level: ISCED 5 shows good employment rates, slightly higher in 5A than 5B.109 The length of the transition between leaving education and the first employment is always shorter.110 A higher education degree also seems to reduce part-time employment111 and raise earnings.112 When it comes to earnings, age and gender are more influential factors than having a 5A or 5B educational attainment level.113

Professional higher education offers relatively good chances to find employment, but not always to maintain it. We can see that the employment rate of 5B graduates seems to decrease, as they get older.114 Professional higher education graduates seem less versatile than academic higher education students. This emphasises the importance for professional higher education to focus not only on short-term employability (professional skills) but also long-term employability (general academic skills). It is important to note here that the narrow definition of professional higher education we have to use here is also probably dragging the results down. Some institutions we consider as part of professional higher education in this study are classified on level 5A, (some Fachhochschulen for instance) and those probably have better long-term employability results.

On the other hand, its short and very practical feature seems to attract older students.115 If professional higher education does not always equip for life, it gives an opportunity to update skills and knowledge later in life.

Professional higher education students come from a more varied background than in academic higher education. It is enhancing social inclusion116 through education. Professional higher education offers a good alternative for academic higher education students who have been unable to complete their training.117 Without ISCED 5B education, many young Europeans would have no access to higher education. All this inclusion leads to some precariousness among professional higher education students: the dropout rates are higher than in academic higher education.118 This is probably due to the

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age of the students, the employment they might find before the end of the studies and maybe a lower social background.

Although ISCED 5B graduates have a slightly lower employment rate than 5A, the difference between genders is similar to the one in 5A. For the enrolment, the difference between men and women is smaller than in academic higher education (with a clear dominance of women). It seems thus that employment is better for women than men in those studies, although more men start it. It might be due to the fact that women in professional higher education are mostly nurses and teachers, low-paying but high-employment rate sectors. The gap in earnings is also smaller between men and women in professional higher education.119 Although, in aggregated numbers professional higher education seems to promote more gender balance, it is not always the case once we observe the sector more closely, by field. Nurses and teachers still are overwhelmingly female, when engineering still has a majority of male students.

All those results are general trends in Europe but the national figures vary greatly, much more than in academic higher education. This makes sense as professional higher education is more closely linked to the local labour market. However, it offers room for improvement, by sharing best practice.

These results show that professional higher education offers almost similar benefits than academic higher education for a generally much lower cost, as the studies are shorter and also as professional higher education institutions are less focused on research.120 It also shows that professional higher education is a tool for more equality in society as it is more balanced when it comes to gender, social background or age of the students.

This does not mean of course that all academic higher education should be replaced by professional higher education, but it shows the importance of maintaining diversity in higher education and making professional higher education more attractive to categories of the population that would not go in higher education otherwise. Still, much effort has to be done by professional higher education to give access to atypical students through shift schedule, online classes, distance teaching and blended learning.

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Conclusion

The definitions of employability are various but the most commonly accepted one refers to one's

ability to find and maintain employment at one's level of qualifications. Employability of an individual is defined by its knowledge, skills and attitude, and also by the opportunities of the labour market. Among the knowledge, skills and attitude mostly seen as highly employable, we have professional competence, which is to be adapted for each position, but also transversal competences such as the ability to communicate, to use IT proficiently, to work in a team, to work in an international environment, adaptability/flexibility, reliability, having a good network, etc. Apart from IT skills, these employability skills have been identified for over 30 years.

The graduates surveyed by the REFLEX study point to the importance of volunteering, related work-experience and internships during their studies in order to find employment once they graduated, but we have seen that internships cannot be the cure for the issues raised as they are often leading to the misuse of the trainees rather than to the improvement of their competencies, and may turn into unfair competition to paid work. Internships must be of quality, and seen as a shared responsibility between higher education institutions and employers.

In the EU, the topic became more and more central with the economic crisis and the rise of youth unemployment. It led to a refined definition and understanding of the concept, to become central in the Europe 2020 and more specifically in Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) strategies. The EU texts link employability to higher education. They consider that better employability leads to a better economy but also to more citizenship. The Council of Europe shares this broad definition.

Perhaps the most striking conclusion of this study is that higher education and more specifically professional higher education provides the labour market with highly employable graduates. Based on the theoretical approach and data available, we can safely say that professional higher education offers good chances for quality employment to its graduates: it teaches professional skills and knowledge, as well as transversal skills and combines theoretical classes with work placements. Furthermore, curricula are usually established because they meet the needs of the labour market. As professional higher education prepares its graduates for a specific career, graduates are employed at their own level, vertically as well as horizontally.

It also offers a good social ladder for many students who are generally absent from more traditional curricula: men, older and socially disadvantaged students, although more efforts could still be made. Professional higher education offers them employability, which is often linked with social inclusion and democratic participation. Professional higher education is thus essential for a more equal, social and democratic Europe.

Professional higher education institutions also need to face some challenges. They needs to build bridges with employers, to make sure their graduates’ skills and knowledge are in line with the labour market needs and that they have good employment prospects after their studies. They need to offer qualifications as transparent as possible, on their local labour market but also for a global labour market, within the international qualifications frameworks. This can be reached through the use of learning outcomes. The use of learning outcomes furthermore enhances facilitated communications between the teachers, students and assessors.

Unfortunately professional higher education often suffers from the comparison with academic higher education, often seen as the only gateway to higher education. Generally, academic higher education is more prestigious and it shows in European policies, which often seem to neglect other forms of higher

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education. The push towards academic higher education has resulted in an excess of academic higher education graduates, especially in fields such as humanities, leading to a very harsh competition among them, and a lot of overqualified workers. With the move to a more knowledge-based economy, it was widely thought that there would be an increasing demand for high-calibre managerial talent. However, a focus on obtaining skills in order to gain good employment has led to an over-supply of graduates and a larger number of contenders chasing the same top jobs. Brown and Hesketh argue that there is a clear mismatch between individuals’ expectations of employability and the realities posed by the labour market.121 It is important to preserve the diversity of higher education.

Definitive results are hard to reach for the whole sector of professional higher education as statistics rarely divide the employment statistics by type of higher education institution, which would also be an uneasy task, as professional higher education does not have a single accepted definition across Europe (yet). Professional higher education suffers from an unclear definition and lack of harmonisation in Europe, on the policy level, on transparency, mobility, funding, and international employability. That is why projects such as HAPHE are so crucial.

To conclude, although efforts and improvements are still possible, we can say that the employability of graduates in Europe is satisfactory, but there are not enough opportunities for employment. Unfortunately, that is out of the reach of higher education institutions.

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32

Notes

1 For instance, HILLAGE Jim, POLLARD Emma, Employability: developing a framework for policy

analysis, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies, Research Report RR85, Department for Education and Employment, 1998. or ROTHWELL William et al., Cases in Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development, 2008.

2 BFUG WORKING GROUP ON EMPLOYABILITY, Report to Ministers, Bologna Conference, Leuven/Louvain-La-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009, p. 13.

3 ALLEN Jim and VAN DER VELDEN Rolf, The flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society, general results of the REFLEX project, Maastricht: ROA, 2009, (http://www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/roa/reflex/documents%20public/publications/reflex_book_eu.pdf )

4 For instance, HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of graduates in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014.

5 It is to be noted that some authors try to escape this traditional approach of skills that one acquires and can use. For instance Fugate et al. defines employability as a psychosocial construct, a representation of the worker as a dynamic and social person or not. Holmes considers that employability is not about skills and competence but about identities perceived by the individual and the employer. These perspectives are rather interesting on a theoretical level but do not really feed concrete ideas for higher education institution to implement and as such it was decided not to develop them further here.

6 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, CRELL, EUROSTAT, Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training - Indicators and benchmarks 2008, 2008, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/report08/report_en.pdf).

7 EUROFOUND, European Employment Strategy, update: 3 Dec 2010, (http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dictionary/definitions/europeanemploymentstrategy.htm).

8 EUROFOUND, Employability, update: 30 Nov 2010, (http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dictionary/definitions/employability.htm).

9 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, Early school leaving, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/leaving_en.htm).

10 See for instance GROS Daniel, “Employment and Competitiveness, the Key Role of Education”, CEPS Policy Brief, nr 93, Centre for European Policy Studies, 2006.

11 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, CRELL, EUROSTAT, Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training - Indicators and benchmarks 2008, 2008, p. 148, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/report08/report_en.pdf).

12 Idem, p. 147. 13 Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes,

(http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/com669_en.pdf).

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14 ALLEN Jim and VAN DER VELDEN Rolf, The flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society, general

results of the REFLEX project, Maastricht: ROA, 2009. 15 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, Commission

Staff Working Document: Implementation of the "Education & Training 2010" programme, COM (2003) 685 final, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/policy/staff-work_en.pdf).

16 idem EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, Commission Staff Working Paper, Progress Towards The Common Objectives In Education And Training Indicators And Benchmarks, SEC(2004) 73, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/progress_towards_common_objectives_en.pdf).

17 Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/com669_en.pdf).

18 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, Commission Staff Working Document: Partnership and flexible pathways for lifelong skills development (Accompanying the document Rethinking Education), SWD(2012) 376 final, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw376_en.pdf).

19 Taking as a model vocational education and training, having Sector Skills’ Councils and Alliances. 20 To know more about partnerships consult for instance EUCIS-LLL, “Policy Debate”, Partnerships for

LLL: A new idea?, report of the roundtable of May 7, Brussels, 2013, (http://www.eucis-lll.eu/eucis-lll/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/EUCIS-LLL-Partnerships-Report.pdf).

21 This part is largely based on the HAPHE project. More information on http://haphe.eurashe.eu. 22WALLONIE AEROTRAINING NETWORK, Centre de competence,

(http://sites.google.com/site/wallonieaerotrainingnetwork/). 23 ISCED STUDY 1997, (http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/isced97-en.pdf) and ISCED

1997 MAPPING, (http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/ISCEDMappings/Pages/default.aspx).

This framework is currently being revised, see http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/isced-fos-consultation-draft-2013-en.pdf.

24 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, The European Qualifications Framework (EQF), (http://ec.europa.eu/eqf/home_en.htm), 2013.

25 More information on the level 5 of the EQF can be found in the study on short-cycle higher education in Europe of the L5Missing-Link project, (http://www.eurashe.eu/library/modernising-phe/L5_report_SCHE_in_Europe_full_report_Jan2011.pdf).

26 The framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area, The Bergen Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, 19-20 May 2005, (http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/QF/050520_Framework_qualifications.pdf).

27 CAMILLERI Anthony F., DELPLACE Stefan, FRANKOWICZ Marek and HUDAK Raimund, Profile of Professional Higher Education in Europe, Brussels: HAPHE Consortium, 2013, pp. 37-45. and UASnet, The Bachelor for the Labour Market: the flexible response to the needs of the labour market, BaLaMa Report, 2010, (https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B841P4yDYEDsZmZhMTM2ZjAtZjIzNS00ODNkLTlkMTktNjBiN2MxMjllODMy&usp=drive_web&hl=en_US).

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28 CAMILLERI Anthony F., DELPLACE Stefan, FRANKOWICZ Marek and HUDAK Raimund, Profile Of

Professional Higher Education In Europe, Brussels: HAPHE Consortium, 2013, (http://haphe.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Profile-of-Professional-Higher-Education-in-Europe-FINAL.pdf).

29 Idem, p. 18. 30 HOLMES Leonard, “Understanding the competencies of college graduates: possession, position, or

process?” Keynote presentation to International Forum on Higher Education Evaluation, Taiwan National Normal University, October 2008, (http://www.re-skill.org.uk/papers/creed2008_holmes.pdf).

31 VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and ALLEN Jim, “The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society: Required Competences and the Role of Higher Education”, In: J. Allen & R. van der Velden (eds.) (2011), The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society: New Challenges for Higher Education, Higher Education Dynamics, 35, Dordrecht: Springer, p. 15-54, (http://ideas.repec.org/p/ner/maastr/urnnbnnlui27-20754.html) and (http://www.competence-in-higher-education.com/pdf/Van_der_Velden.pdf).

32 TYMON Alex, “The student perspective on employability,” Studies in Higher Education 2011, 1–16, iFirst Article, 2011.

33 ALLEN Jim and VAN DER VELDEN Rolf, The flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society, general results of the REFLEX project, Maastricht: ROA, 2009, p. xvii.

34 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of graduates in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014, p.15.

35 WORKING GROUP ON EMPLOYABILITY, Report to Ministers, Bologna Conference, Leuven/Louvain-La-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009, p. 16.

36 HOLMES Leonard, “Understanding the competencies of college graduates: possession, position, or process?” Keynote presentation to International Forum on Higher Education Evaluation, Taiwan National Normal University, October 2008, (http://www.re-skill.org.uk/papers/creed2008_holmes.pdf).

37 LOWDEN Kevin, HALL Stuart, DELY Elliot and LEWIN Jon, Employers’ perception s of the employability skills of new graduates, London: Edge Foundation, 2011, p. vi.

38 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of graduates in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014, p. 40

39 Report on the EURASHE Round Table on Employability, Brussels (Belgium), Thursday 7 February 2013, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

40 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EMPLOYMENT, the Experience of Traineeships in the EU: Report, Flash Eurobarometer 378, 2013, (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_378_en.pdf).

41 Idem p. 11. 42 ALLEN Jim and VAN DER VELDEN Rolf, The flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society, general

results of the REFLEX project, Maastricht: ROA, 2009, p.25. 43 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EMPLOYMENT, the Experience of

Traineeships in the EU, Flash Eurobarometer 378, 2013, (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_378_en.pdf).

35

This survey interviewed EU citizens aged 18-35 about their experience with traineeships and the

benefits they felt they had received from them. 44 Idem, p. 3.

45 Idem, p. 64. 46 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EMPLOYMENT, the Experience of

Traineeships in the EU, Flash Eurobarometer 378, 2013, (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_378_en.pdf), p. 29.

47 Idem, p. 49. 48 Idem, p. 67. 49 Idem, p. 49. 50 Idem, p. 36. 51 Idem, p. 59. 52 LOWDEN Kevin, HALL Stuart, Dr DELY Elliot and LEWIN Jon, Employers’ perceptions of the

employability skills of new graduates, London: Edge Foundation, 2011, (http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/docs/Graduate_employability_skills%202011.pdf).

53 LOWDEN Kevin, HALL Stuart, DELY Elliot and LEWIN Jon, Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates, London: Edge Foundation, 2011, p. vii, (http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/docs/Graduate_employability_skills%202011.pdf).

54 Loi n° 2011-893 du 28 juillet 2011 pour le développement de l'alternance et la sécurisation des parcours professionnels, JORF n°0174 du 29 juillet 2011 page 12914, texte n° 2, (http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000024408887&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id#JORF).

55 Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Brussels (Belgium),Thursday 7 February 2013, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

56 PAVLIN Samo (DEHEEMS project), in Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Brussels (Belgium), Thursday 7 February 2013, p.2, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

57Employability and Entrepreneurship Tuning Universities & Enterprises, 2007-2008, (http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/project_reports/documents/erasmus/erasmus_2007_progress_reports/emhe/employabilityandentrepreneurshiptuninguniversities&enterprises.pdf).

58 FRECH Bernadette, Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Brussels (Belgium), Thursday 7 February 2013, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

59 VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and HUMBURG Martin, idem. 60 Ibidem. 61 Ibidem. 62 Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Thursday 7 February 2013, Brussels

(Belgium), p. 3, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

63 Idem, p. 4

36

64 Idem, p.2. 65 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of graduates

in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014. 66 VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and HUMBURG Martin, Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on

Employability, Thursday 7 February 2013, Brussels (Belgium), (preparatory documents), (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

67 See chapter VIII. on data and OECD, Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, 2013, (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2013-en), p. 293.

68 More information on the OpenupEd project on www.openuped.eu. 69 UASnet, The Bachelor for the Labour Market: the flexible response to the needs of the labour

market, BaLaMa Report, 2010, (https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B841P4yDYEDsZmZhMTM2ZjAtZjIzNS00ODNkLTlkMTktNjBiN2MxMjllODMy&usp=drive_web&hl=en_US).

70 KOUCKÝ Jan in Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Brussels (Belgium), Thursday 7 February 2013, p. 2, (http://files.eurashe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf).

71 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT, Employers’ perception of graduate employability: Analytical report, Flash Eurobarometer, Series #304, 2010, ( http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_304_en.pdf).

72 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of graduates in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014.

73 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem, p.14. 74 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE, CRELL,

EUROSTAT, Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training - Indicators and benchmarks 2008, 2008, p. 155, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/report08/report_en.pdf).

75 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT, Employers’ perception of graduate employability, p. 5.

76 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT, Employers’ perception of graduate employability p. 5.

77 Conjoint analysis is a statistical technique used in market research to determine how people value different features that make up an individual product or service.

78 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem, p.72. 79 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT,

idem, p. 5. 80 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem, p. 40. 81 Idem, p. 69. 82 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT,

Employers’ perception, p. 36. 83 Idem, p. 5.

37

84 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem. 85 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem, and EUROPEAN

COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT, Employers’ perception of graduate employability p.38.

86 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT, Employers’ perception of graduate employability p.38.

87 ALLEN Jim, RAEMAKERS Ger, Survey among employers of alumni from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Universiteit Maastricht, ROA-R-2006/1E, Maastricht: ROA, 2006, (http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=10003).

88 Idem. 89 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT,

Employers’ perception of graduate employability, p. 40. 90 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE and EUROSTAT,

Employers’ perception of graduate employability, p. 6. 91 LOWDEN Kevin, HALL Stuart, Dr DELY Elliot and LEWIN Jon, Employers’ perceptions of the

employability skills of new graduates, London: Edge Foundation, 2011, p. iii. 92 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, idem, p. 99. 93 This section is mainly based on EURASHE’s Round table on Employability and the article: LINDBERG

Matti E. “At the Frontier of Graduate Surveys' Assessing Participation and Employability of Graduates with Master's Degree in Nine European Countries”, Higher Education, Vol. 53, No. 5, May, 2007, pp. 623-644, (http://www.jstor.org/stable/29735076).

94 The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years. More information on www.oecd.org/pisa.

95 The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 33 countries of cognitive and workplace skills. The main aim is to be able to assess these skills and use the collected information to help countries develop ways to further improve these skills. The first data was released on October 8, 2013. More information on www.oecd.org/site/piaac.

96 See for instance the Céreq, Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications, the French centre for study and research on qualifications, placed under the responsibility of both ministries of education and labour. More information on www.cereq.fr.

97 GANZEBOOM Harry B. G. et al., A Standard International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status, Social Science Research 21, I-56, 1992, (http://home.fsw.vu.nl/hbg.ganzeboom/Pdf/1992-ganzeboom-degraaf-treiman-isei68-%28ssr%29.pdf)

98 MARCHAND Olivier, (1999), “Youth unemployment in OECD countries, how can the disparities be explained”. In OECD: Preparing Youth for the 21st century: the Transition from Education to Labour Market, Proceedings of the Washington DC Conference, 23-24 February 1999. OECD, Paris, pp. 329-344.

99 GAEBEL Michael, HAUSCHILDT Kristina, MÜHLECK Kai, SMIDT Hanne, Tracking Learners’ and Graduates’ Progression Paths (TRACKIT), Brussels: EUA, 2012, p. 26-30

38

100 Idem, p. 39. 101 Idem, p. 40. 102 This is for instance the approach chosen in VAN DER HEIJDEN Beatrice I. J. M., et al. “Age effects

on the employability–career success relationship.” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2009, doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2008.12.009, (http://www.annetdelange.nl/data/_uploaded/image/annet/Beateco.pdf).

103 This is the approach chosen for instance by the BFUG and experts from the EURASHE round table on employability.

104 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Legislation (Free movement of professionals), update: 06/01/2014, (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/policy_developments/legislation/index_en.htm).

105 Report on the EURASHE Roundtable on Employability, Brussels (Belgium), Thursday 7 February 2013, (preparatory documents),

(http://files.eurashe.eu/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/EURASHE_Roundtable_Empl_130207_report.pdf). 106 HUMBURG Martin, VAN DER VELDEN Rolf and VERHAGEN Annelore, What is expected of

graduates in the 21st century? The employers’ perspective on graduate employability, Maastricht: ROA, 2014.

107 For instance EUROSTAT, Employment rates by age group, sex, educational attainment level and number of years after leaving formal education, 2009, (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=edat_lfso_09t3&lang=en).

108 OECD, Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, 2013, (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2013-en).

109 Idem, p. 76-77 and 80-81. 110 EUROSTAT, Average time between leaving formal education and starting the first job by age

group, sex and educational attainment level for persons who left within the last 3 or 5 years - (months), 2009, (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=edat_lfso_09t2&lang=en).

111 EUROSTAT, Full-time and part-time employment by sex, age and highest level of education attained (1 000) (lfsa_epgaed), 2012, (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=lfsa_epgaed&lang=en).

112 EUROSTAT, Median hourly earnings, all employees (excluding apprentices) by educational attainment (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=earn_ses_pub2i&lang=en). In 2010, the median hourly earnings for level 0-2 is 9.6 EUR; 11.28 for level 3-4 and 16, 27 for level 5-6. The level of earning varies greatly from one country to another (21 in Norway to 0.80 in Bulgaria) but the proportion between the different groups stays more or less the same.

113 OECD, idem, p. 72. 114 OECD, idem, pp. 92-93; 96. 115 OECD, idem, p. 293. 116 OECD, idem, p. 160-162. 117 OECD, idem, p. 69. 118 OECD, idem, p. 71. 119 OECD, idem, p. 73. 120 OECD, idem, p. 165. There are some exceptions such as Estonia and Italy.

39

121 BROWN Phillip and HESKETH Anthony, The Mismanagement of Talent: Employability and Jobs in

the Knowledge Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

40

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DG EAC, The European Qualifications Framework (EQF), (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/eqf_en.htm).

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DG EAC, Commission Staff Working Document: Implementation of the "Education & Training 2010" programme, COM (2003) 685 final, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/policy/staff-work_en.pdf).

DG EAC, Early school leaving, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/leaving_en.htm).

DG EMPL, The Experience Of Traineeships In The EU: Report, Flash Eurobarometer 378, 2013, (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_378_en.pdf).

DG EAC, Commission Staff Working Paper, Progress Towards The Common Objectives In Education And Training Indicators And Benchmarks, SEC(2004) 73, (http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/progress_towards_common_objectives_en.pdf).

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Employers’ View

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BARUCH Yehuda, “Employability: a substitute for loyalty?”, Human Resource Development International Volume 4, Issue 4, 2001.

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EUROSTAT, Average time between leaving formal education and starting the first job by age group, sex and educational attainment level for persons who left within the last 3 or 5 years - (months), 2009, (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=edat_lfso_09t2&lang=en)

EUROSTAT, Full-time and part-time employment by sex, age and highest level of education attained (1 000) (lfsa_epgaed), 2012, (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=lfsa_epgaed&lang=en).

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List of abbreviations

Cedefop European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

EADTU European Association of Distance Teaching

EHEA European Higher Education Area

EMCOSU Emerging Modes of Cooperation between Private Sector Organisations and Universities -

project

EQF European Qualifications Framework

ET 2020 Education and Training 2020

EU European Union

EUA European University Association

EURASHE European Association of Institutions in Higher Education

HAPHE Harmonising Approaches to Professional Higher Education in Europe - project

HEGESCO Higher Education as a Generator of Strategic Competences - project

HEI Higher Education Institution

ISCED International Standard Classification of Education

IT Information technology

IUT Institut Universitaire de Technologie - University Institute of Technology

MOOC Massive Open Online Course

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PhD Doctor of Philosophy

PIAAC Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies

PISA Program for International Student Assessment

PPP Projet Personnel et Professionnel de l’Etudiant - Personal and Professional Project

REFLEX The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society New Demands on Higher Education in

Europe - project

ROA Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market

TRACKIT Tracking Learners' and Graduates' Progression Paths - project

UBC University-Business Cooperation - project

UK United Kingdom

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

USA United States of America

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