European Best Practices in matching graduates’ skills and labour market demands
The first Intellectual Output is aimed at providing both a cross-institutional and a European-wide analysis focusing on the identification of best practices to further enhance the employability skills of the students in HE and VET settings.
The output’s relevant activities and methodologies are:
- Building a theoretical framework based on a systematic review of current literature and reports on employability skills of new graduates at an European level. The aim of this review is, on the one hand, to enhance understanding of which soft and hard skills are required by employers for today’s employees; and, on the other, to identify the level of acquisition of these skills by new graduates in HE and VET institutions.
- Focus group method and individual interviews to get in-depth information on: how HE and VET institutions are currently developing and integrating employability skills into their programs of study; which soft and hard skills are really important and required in labour market; in which areas new graduates need to improve; and what should be done to strengthen ties between the worlds of education and work. The focus groups and interviews are carried out in each partner country and involve employers representatives, students close to graduation; alumni representatives, and academic staff and counsellors.
- Peer review analysis and future sustainability development with the International Advisory Committee to assess our results, its future direction in HE and VET, and its potential to specific markets.
- Publishing a report freely available in a digital format.
- Showcasing the results at a multiplier event hosted by the Open University of Catalonia.
- Preparing and publishing the results of the multiplier event for smart dissemination.
