Higher education policy and the world of work: changing conditions and challenges

Abstract

At the end of the 20th century, the connections between higher education and the world of work are again among the key issues of debate whenever challenges for innovation in higher education are at stake. Job prospects for recent graduates are not consistently viewed as negative. Information on graduate employment and work is scarce and there are no indisputable criteria for assessing graduate employment. Signals from the employment system are more blurred and ambivalent than ever before. This notwithstanding, many experts and key actors agree on the main directions in which higher education must head in response to the changing challenges from the world of work, e.g. devote greater attention to generic competencies, social skills and personality development, prepare students for the growing globalization and internationalization, and serve students through an increasing variety of means beyond classroom teaching and learning.

Most experts agree that higher education must be well-informed of expectations from the outside world in order to adopt the necessary proactive role and thus respond to the need to prepare students for indeterminate future job tasks, new employment patterns and contributions to innovation in society.