Relating Higher Education with the Labour Market: Graduates’ expectations and employers’ requirements

The role of international competences in increasing graduates’ access to the labor market

“…The results of this paper came to confirm the opinion of Nicolescu & Păun (2009) that universities provide very good theoretical knowledge and professional competences but there is still a need to improve the practical relevance of the content of study and the provided soft skills for the labor market.…”

“…Students' appreciation for achieved skills upon graduation varies and depends mostly on their utility at the workplace. Studies conducted in Romania for ensuring the measurement of quality in terms of requirements and expectations of the multiple educational stakeholders have traced some directions and recommendations at the institutional level (Nicolescu, 2011;Nicolescu & Dima, 2010;Nicolescu & Păun, 2009). Among the main recommendations should be mentioned the following: "to create a central department to deal in an integrative way with student experience, including all aspects of the students' life" and "to create regular data collection mechanism from various stakeholders -to monitor learning academic process and success by introducing student tracking practices; to regularly obtain feedback from the market ….…”

New Trends in Workforce Competences Due to the Internationalization of Markets

“…Several studies conducted in Romania (Nicolescu, 2011;Nicolescu & Dima, 2010;Nicolescu & Paun, 2009) have traced some directions and recommendations at the institutional level in order to minimize the gap between the demand for and the supply of competences. The skill mismatch is experienced by both employees and employers, that are actors in the labor market.…”

“…The indicated reasons are lack or poor collaboration with universities (only 19% of respondents have collaborations with universities with the purpose of adapting curricula and recruitment procedures to the labor market needs), lack of previous work experience and internship programs (Alexa et al, 2014). Literature recognizes that there are 3 major theories related to development of competences: through curricula and lifelong learning (European Commission, 2014a; Nicolescu, 2014; Van der Wende, 1997), through international mobility (Knight, 2004;Nicolescu, 2014) and through internships and volunteering (Matthews, Green, Hall, & Hall, 2009;Nicolescu & Paun, 2009). …”

“…Literature recognizes that the curricula play an important role in providing both technical and interpersonal skills and reducing the skills mismatch. The universities' policy regarding curricula, the legislative framework and the collaboration between universities and its stakeholders are the New Trends in Workforce Competences Due to the Internationalization of Markets main directions for the development of HE and for building graduates' competences in accordance to labor market needs (Nicolescu, 2011;Nicolescu & Dima, 2010;Nicolescu & Paun, 2009;Rizvi, 2007). Alongside the curriculum, the work force mobility has increased the opportunity for finding and developing a professional career (Caligiuri & Bonache, 2016;Clark, 2000;Muller & Wolbers, 2003).…”