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Pedro Videira is a researcher at DINAMIA’CET (Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies), Lisbon, Portugal and at CIPES (Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies), Matosinhos, Portugal. He received his PhD in Sociology from ISCTE_IUL. His main research interests lie in the field of higher education policies, namely changes to the academic profession and graduates’ employability and skills development. He has published several articles and book chapters on those subjects.
This research examines the barriers and facilitators to employers’ engagement with higher education institutions. The data were collected through interviews with a set of employers (n = 19) in the Northern region of Portugal, V.N.de Famalicão, in 2019. We begin by exploring employers’ engagement activities as a potential solution to address local-level skill problems. Empirical evidence suggests that the engagement activities are mostly passive as firms use higher education largely as a recruitment channel. The differences in organizational goals and culture are the most cited barriers to the lack of more active engagement. Some efforts have recently been made to strengthen the ties between higher education and employers, notably through a local multi-stakeholder partnership as a potential broker. However, it will take time for this to bear fruit and contribute to reducing skill gaps and shortages. The data show that despite employers’ apparent willingness, more effort must be made to encourage active engagement.
Fátima Suleman; Pedro Videira; Emília Araújo. Higher Education and Employability Skills: Barriers and Facilitators of Employer Engagement at Local Level. Education Sciences 2021, 11, 51 .
AMA StyleFátima Suleman, Pedro Videira, Emília Araújo. Higher Education and Employability Skills: Barriers and Facilitators of Employer Engagement at Local Level. Education Sciences. 2021; 11 (2):51.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFátima Suleman; Pedro Videira; Emília Araújo. 2021. "Higher Education and Employability Skills: Barriers and Facilitators of Employer Engagement at Local Level." Education Sciences 11, no. 2: 51.