Purpose: This paper aims to find out what conditions are needed to enhance higher education curricula towards employability from the perspective of different stakeholders in the graduate labour market.Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study was developed, using a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews with higher education institutions (HEIs) and labour market players, in the north region of Portugal. The data were analysed through content and descrip\tive analysis with NVivo.Findings: The results show a set of constraints that hinder the match of higher education curricula with employability, namely, (1) the weak connection between HEIs and employers and (2) the curricular structure, which is characterised by a heavy theoretical component and a weak approach to the soft skills required by the current labour market. Possible solutions, with implications for educational policy, are given throughout the study.Research limitations/implications: The geographical scope and the nature of the study suggest that some precautions are required when generalising results. However, the literature on other areas in Portugal strengthens the findings and compensates for the sample's limitations.Originality/value: This study combines the perspectives of the different individual stakeholders involved which, when taken as a whole, provide some recommendations for tailored curricula towards employability. Other studies in Portugal address each of these issues individually, without a connection between all the different perspectives.

Interest in higher education institutions (HEIs) as instruments for development has increased in recent years. The main objective of this chapter is to address the main challenges HEIs face in the 21st century as key actors for regional development, emphasising their entrepreneurial dimension. The pressures exerted on HEIs to become more effective, efficient, and autonomous require a reflection regarding the present and future of higher education. Through a detailed analysis and discussion of the relevant literature, this chapter contributes to a better understanding of the role of HEIs, especially given its relationship with society and the need for a more effective contribution to socioeconomic development.

Universities, since the Middle Ages, have been set up with the purpose of meeting the demands of their societies. These demands varied according to the socioeconomic and political context of the ti...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether there is an adjustment between the Portuguese higher education supply and the needs of the labour market.Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study is performed, using a quantitative approach, relating the job offers for graduates registered at the employment centres and the number of graduates by higher education institutions (HEIs) in Portugal, at an aggregate level and NUT II regions, by areas of education and training, over the 2003–2018 period. To understand how job offers and graduates are correlated, bilateral Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated.Findings: The results show that, in large groups of educational areas, exists a match between the higher education supply and the labour market needs, with an emphasis on the fields of “social sciences, business and law”, “engineering, manufacturing and construction” and “health and welfare”. However, at a more disaggregated level, a mismatch in the sub-areas of “teacher training and education science” and “computing” was found since labour market needs are much greater than graduates by HEIs and the two variables are moving in opposite directions.Practical implications: The study has revealed important aspects that the educational policy should take into account in order to create the conditions for a gradual adjustment to the labour market needs. Also, the results demonstrate that some measures should be taken in short/medium term to avoid problems in the medium/long term.Originality/value: One implication of this empirical study was the elaboration of a correspondence table to standardise the data analysis units from two different sources. As this correspondence did not exist prior to this study, this output is a relevant contribution to the research field. Another important contribution is the demonstration of a mismatch in some educational sub-areas that deserves special attention from educational policymakers.

This paper studies the strongly asymmetrical distribution of the population, quality of life and economic development in Portugal. It identifies homogeneous areas supported by an analysis of competitiveness, cohesion and environmental quality dimensions. Drawing on a multivariate approach, its findings reveal differences in terms of development across the country. The study identified groups of regions with common characteristics that go beyond the standard north–south or coastal–inland distinctions. Metropolitan areas and export-oriented regions are clearly distinguishable from the remainder of the country. Economic agglomeration indicators, as gross domestic product per capita, population density, resident foreign population and youth index, among others, are those that reveal greater diversity across the country.