Interdisciplinarity:
University’s answer to the needs of the labor market
Aggelopoulos Georgios
PhD Student, University of Patras, Teacher Secondary Education
Abstract
Within
advanced economies, there is a general concern that teaching and research
within higher education institutions are not directed towards specific
objectives. One of the fields where this demand is clearest is labor market. In
this paper, I argue that universities answer to the demands of labor market by
implementing interdisciplinarity in order to provide
their students with the chance to gain relevant skills and competences, which
will enhance their possibility to be “employable”. These new skills and
competences can be considered as a response to the new jobs which will be created
in the future.
Keyword
Labor Market, University, Interdisciplinarity,
Employability.
Introduction
Despite frequent ivory tower
characterizations, the history of the university as an institution reveals
evidence of a deep engagement with
broader society and on-going
power disputes over internal versus external control (Mintrom
2008:231). In recent times, universities around the world have been subjected
to new manifestations of these external pressures. Firstly,
funders-especially governments-have required universities to better demonstrate
their social and economic contribution. Secondly, with growing
recognition being given to the central role now played by knowledge in
promoting economic advancement, stakeholders from many sectors of society have looked to universities to engage more
closely with the world of business and commerce.
Thirdly, the set of processes commonly bundled together under the heading of
globalization have created dynamics that highlight the internationalized nature
of competition for academic talent, quality students and, increasingly,
research funding (Marginson 2004:2).
Universities, in trying to handle these
pressures, maintain the quality of the higher education system and meet their
students’ needs, adopt and implement interdisciplinary research practices in
order to provide their students with the chance to gain relevant skills and
competences, which are in demand in the labor market.
Given the above considerations, the principle
objective of this paper is to provide an understanding of interdisciplinarity,
which is considered to be a kind of pressure exerted on higher education
institutions by external factors. Among other reasons, universities adopt this
kind of knowledge production in order to respond to societal needs and
-especially-to labor market needs. The secondary objective is to show how
skills and competences which are acquired through interdisciplinary
post-graduate programs, can meet the needs of the marketplace, where work
conditions have changed dramatically. Interdisciplinary curricula seem to
provide students with these skills and improve their employment prospects.
This article has three parts. The first
discusses the term “interdisciplinarity” which is
considered to be the higher education institutions’ response to the changing
context in relation to teaching and research. The second expands upon the
discussion of interdisciplinary skills and competences on the one hand, and
employability and work conditions in
the labor market on the
other. In the final part we try to link interdisciplinarity
with employability through skills and competences. This part is the result of
our research in Greek Universities at post-graduate level.
Understanding interdisciplinarity
Trying to
present a definition of interdisciplinarity is
difficult. The different expressions introduced in the 1960s in order to
describe different kinds of co-operation such as multidisciplinarity,
crossdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity,
have mostly been either abandoned or are now used as synonyms. There is,
however, a tendency to use the word multidisciplinarity
to denote co-operation between disciplines, in which no attempt at integration
is made, where each discipline retains its point of view and is not enriched by
any of the other disciplines. Kockelmans
(1979) argues that interdisciplinary work integrates
techniques and theories into common ground. Integration is the degree to which
the disciplines are woven together from two (or more) separate disciplines, or
sub-disciplines, into a single larger discipline. Integrated courses go beyond
simply presenting material from different disciplines within a course. They
merge the disciplines, thus demonstrating how they are interrelated, and how understanding each discipline enhances one’s
understanding of the other and the questions that each seeks to address.
The importance of interdisciplinary research is widely
recognized, since cross-disciplinary research is associated with creativity,
progress and innovation, and many “breakthroughs” of modern times were obtained
by crossing disciplinary boundaries. Cross- fertilization across different
disciplines has been described as a key element in the advancement of science.
Moreover, many of society’s major problems, such as environmental issues,
require integrative approaches from different disciplines. Meanwhile, studies
on interdisciplinarity from all possible perspectives
are increasingly demanded. Therefore, interdisciplinary collaboration
capitalizes on a diversity of perspectives and practices that each discipline offers in the hopes of providing innovative
solutions to multifaceted problems.
According
to Gibbons et al. (1994) this new knowledge production (Mode 2) is carried out
in the context of application. By contrast, in Mode 1 (the traditional
disciplinary mode) the context is defined in relation to the cognitive and
social norms that govern basic research or academic science. Mode 2 is created in broader social and economic
contexts and is intended to be useful whether in industry or government, or
society more generally. In recent years, alliances between industries and universities have proliferated. On one level, these
partnerships effectively provide universities with much needed funding sources
as government support for research declines. Companies, in turn, are able to
tap into knowledge at the frontier of science and achieve greater flexibility
in funding their own research and development efforts. Moreover, growing public
interest in issues to do with the environment, health, communications,
privacy, procreation and so forth, have had the effect of stimulating the
growth of knowledge production in Mode 2.
Interdisciplinary
competences
Universities, as the main realm of
knowledge production - under these circumstances - are forced to grasp the
“horns” of a dilemma: orientation of the curricula towards the fulfillment of
market and societal needs,
or the cognitive and social norms that govern basic research and academic
science. They seem to try to combine these two modes of knowledge production
and teaching, incorporating into their curricula
interdisciplinary programs at graduate and post-graduate level. This means
that Mode 2 is not supplanting but rather supplementing Mode 1.
However, the educational training programs are
characterized by strict disciplinary boundaries. Each educational program
requires the identification of the core elements in the skills and competences
needed within the respective professions. The identification of critical cross
points between two or more professional competences becomes an additional
requirement in educational programs aiming at interdisciplinary competences, as
the design of an educational program represents a balance between depth and
width, i.e. generalization and specialization. The concept of competence,
therefore, becomes an important issue for interdisciplinary research. The
literature on this concept is broad and encompasses many related issues, and covers various areas as well, from education
and social sciences to the labor market[1].
The majority of definitions describe
competences as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes, which make it
possible for someone to adequately solve a problem or do his “job”. Crick
(2008: 313) believes that competences are broader than knowledge or skills, and are acquired in an ongoing, lifelong learning
process across the whole range of personal, social and political contexts. Ten
Dam and Volman (2007) present a similar understanding of the
concept: for these scholars competence is a totality of knowledge,
skills and attitudes that enables a person to perform tasks and solve problems
within a specific social practice. Thus, competence is not so much about
acquisition of separated knowledge, skills and attitudes, as about how
to integrate these in order to carry out social tasks. Competences are connected to skills in the sense that they both include knowing and
understanding (theoretical knowledge of an academic field, the capacity to know
and understand), knowing how to act (practical and operative application of
knowledge to certain situations) and knowing how to be (values as an integral
element of the way we perceive and live with others in a social context) (Boni & Lozano 2005).
Interdisciplinary competences, as well as competences
in general, contain the three interacting dimensions of knowledge, skills and
attitudes. Knowledge primarily refers to the respective fields of knowledge
that characterize each profile. The specific knowledge that is gained through
an educational program constitutes the foundation of the respective
professional roles. Yet, interdisciplinary competences also require an overall
awareness of the knowledge fields represented by other, closely related,
disciplines. The skills of specific importance in an interdisciplinary
curriculum are represented by the ability to interact with people from
different professional disciplines, e.g. the ability to communicate,
coordinate, mediate compromise, convince, to convey your own knowledge and to assess input from other professionals.
The competence dimension of attitude implies the willingness of the students (and the professionals) to move
from their professional field to another. Thus, knowledge and skills represent
the dimension of competence that constitutes the basic role of a
profession, while attitude is more closely related to
interdisciplinary competence. As knowledge and skills gradually develop during
an educational program, so does attitude.
Within an interdisciplinary program, each
student is expected to
demonstrate a high level of skills and competences, such as:
Academic
Thinking Skills & Strategies
- Questioning critically and thinking creatively
- Solving problems effectively
- Making connections
Communication
& Collaboration Skills
- Offering ideas and making contributions
- Working well with others
- Respecting and valuing others
Personal Attributes
- exhibiting a strong work ethic
- taking personal responsibility
- demonstrating resiliency
Competence literature also points to a relationship between higher education institutions and the
world of work as early as the 1970s, when the findings of
research on occupational flexibility suggested adjustable and not very strong
relations between higher education and the labor market (Schaeper
2009). As a result of industrial restructuring
and technological development, concern about a potential mismatch
between the needs of employers and competences has been observed to develop
in recent decades. Teichler (2007)
suggests that there is also a growing
conviction that higher education should play a stronger role in fostering competences beyond systematic cognitive knowledge, meaning
those competences that are relevant for successful
professional practice and are based to a limited extent on cognitive and
systematic learning.
It is recognized in the
competence literature that higher education provides students with competences
that enable them to maintain their position in a changing professional
environment. Vaatstra and de Vries
(2007: 335-336) believe that generic, reflective and occupation-specific
competences in particular benefit graduates in the long term and render them
more “employable”. Students need to acquire competences during their studies
which can be used flexibly in complex working
situations. In an occupation-specific context all these competences should be
combined if an individual wishes to handle non-routine and unusual, complex
working. Boni and Lozano (2005) add that higher education
institutions should not only provide the specific competences of each
discipline, but also other general qualities to prepare the student for the working environment.
Although these competences are needed not only for a
successful interdisciplinary endeavor, but also for fostering employability,
the prevailing structures of universities constitute an obstacle to interdisciplinarity. Becher
(1994:151) notes:
Universities
are composed of different tribes. Each tribe has a name and a territory,
settles its own affair, goes to war with others, has a
distinct language and a variety of symbolic ways of demonstrating its apartness
from others.
It becomes obvious that universities have difficulties
in incorporating interdisciplinarity into their
structures. On the one hand, pressures from external
factors (EU, International Organizations etc) are exerted upon universities to
adopt interdisciplinarity, but on the other,
universities with traditional structures are not ready to bow to such pressure.
The question is: where do Greek universities fit into
this?
Greek
universities and interdisciplinarity
We wanted, as part of our research, to
find out how Greek Universities have responded to the challenge of interdisciplinarity. We searched on the internet, visiting
the official websites of Greek Universities, where we found the programs for
the Postgraduate Studies which are offered. This research, however, has several
limitations, as these web sites do not always give precise and updated information. However,
we created one list with the total number of Postgraduate Programs, and
another one, with the number of programs which are organized by more than one
Department or by more than one university.
Table 1: Interdepartmental – interuniversity programs (2010-2011)
Universities |
Total Number of
Programs |
Interdepartmental – interuniversity programs |
Percentage |
Patras |
42 |
17 |
40,4 |
Ioannina |
40 |
23 |
57,5 |
Dimokriteio |
24 |
8 |
33,3 |
Aegean |
27 |
3 |
11,1 |
Ionio |
10 |
1 |
10 |
Xarokopion |
4 |
0 |
|
West Macedonia |
6 |
2 |
33,3 |
Thessaly |
31 |
5 |
16,1 |
Agricultural |
10 |
2 |
20 |
Economics and Business-Athens |
20 |
9 |
45 |
Piraeus |
17 |
2 |
11,7 |
Crete |
40 |
11 |
27,5 |
Panteion |
14 |
1 |
7,1 |
Technical
University-Crete |
7 |
1 |
14,3 |
Macedonia |
13 |
6 |
46,1 |
National and Kapodistrian |
96 |
39 |
40,6 |
National Technical University |
28 |
28 |
100 |
Aristotle-Thessaloniki |
65 |
15 |
23 |
Total |
494 |
174 |
35,2 |
This web-based research indicates that Greek
Universities currently run 174 interdisciplinary/interdepartmental programs at
post-graduate level-more than almost 1/3 of the total number of post-graduate
programs. This reveals that Greek universities are gradually adapting to the
new mode of knowledge production and teaching. We must also take into
consideration that most of them were established after 1993, when EPEAEK
(Operational Program for Education and Initial Training) financed their
operation. It is interesting to quote a paragraph, regarding the steps for
submitting a proposal, to find out how EPEAEK urges universities to couple
education with employment, by offering interdisciplinary programs:
The general objectives of 2ndAction
Line are:
Coupling of
education and employment by developing alternative forms of lifelong learning. Development of occupational
guidance and counseling as well as the extension of internship and development
of skills programs.
Reformation of the initial vocational
training and higher education curriculum so that essential knowledge
and skills can be provided, increasing, in that way, young peoples’
opportunities for employment and integration into the labor market[2].
The evaluation process of submitted proposals is based
on objective criteria and requirements, such as the promotion of interdisciplinarity at post-graduate level. Accordingly, a
submitted proposal will be funded, when:
1.
a program is organized by more than
one Department
2.
the cooperation of the participants
is ensured
3.
a program focuses on areas such as Biotechnology,
Genetics, Biomedicine etc.
The
Ministry of Education,
in trying to achieve enhanced quality and national research competitiveness,
also promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching. Recently, on 27-07-
Thus,
the first issue is whether or not Greek Universities select interdisciplinarity
as a strategy; the second issue is whether they effectively implement this strategy.
According to our findings, the answer to the first question is taken as yes;
what is of interest is whether Greek Universities can put plans into action.
The answer here is mixed[4].
From
interdisciplinary to employability
The current global financial crisis is spreading quickly in the markets, but little is known about
its impact on institutions such as universities. Researchers usually focus on
how the crisis has affected the nature of public funding and not on its effects
on teaching and research as core university activities. In times of financial
constraint universities face further pressures in the form of a growing demand for higher education. Rising
unemployment levels drive more people into seeking education to increase their competitiveness in the labor market. In many countries (EUA
2011) this has led to reduced spending per student. The combination of
growing student numbers and reduced spending represents a major concern for
maintaining the quality of higher education.
The paper’s central thesis is that universities, in trying to maintain the quality of the higher education system and meet their students
“needs” adopt and implement
interdisciplinary research practices in order to provide their students with
the chance to gain relevant skills and competences, which are in demand in the labor market. In this
way, students, after having graduated, will be more
likely to be “employable”.
If the notion of employability is to contribute to the
quality of higher education, it is rather important to disentangle competing
preconceptions about what it is and how it might be promoted. Employability is rarely defined explicitly and clearly. There are
several implicit definitions in the literature. In all cases the core notion
relates to the propensity of a student to
obtain a job (
In the higher education sector, despite debate over
how it should be defined and measured, graduate employability has become a
critical benchmark for measuring performance at both individual and
institutional level. Interest in graduate employability has arguably produced
benefits for all stakeholders including universities, governments, employers
and graduates themselves. From a government and employer perspective,
employability is mainly concerned with ensuring that graduates are capable of
contributing to “economic competitiveness in a global context”. To achieve
this, degrees and post graduate programs now tend to focus on the acquisition
of two types of skills: critical subject specific knowledge and skills and
transferable knowledge, skills and attitudes. Transferable skills include oral
communication, high level learning skills, problem solving, decision making,
and affective skills and traits such as responsibility, a positive attitude,
interpersonal skills and the ability to work both in a team and independently
(Cassidy 2006:509). By shifting the focus towards graduate employability rather
than knowledge acquisition, universities have acknowledged the need for
graduates to develop a range of personal and intellectual skills beyond
specific expertise in an academic discipline, although the extent to which this
is achieved at a practical level remains open to debate.
Furthermore, although universities and other organizations have a role to
play in supporting employability, both employees and employers now see
responsibility for employability resting with the individual. According to Fugate et al. (2004:15) “the onus is on employees to
acquire knowledge, skills and abilities and other characteristics valued by
current and prospective employers” in order to maintain employability in both
current and future employment contexts. Fejes
(2010:90) gives another dimension to employability, saying that this term is
used as an explanation, and to some extent a legitimization, of unemployment.
This dimension holds the citizen responsible
for his/her own unemployment, and less emphasis is placed on structural inequalities
and problems in the labor market. For graduates this transfer of responsibility
means that employers are now looking for people who can demonstrate a range of
knowledge and skills relevant to the position as well as adaptive behavior that
will enable them to perform in new and often complex work environments.
European
Employment Strategy Framework: Employment first.
Since
the 1970s, western
European countries have had to deal with steadily high rates of unemployment.
In an attempt
to overcome this problem, the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam made employment policy a
“matter of common concern” and called upon Member States to co-ordinate their
employment policies. The European Employment Strategy, a broad soft law
framework of policy guidelines meant to serve as a platform for long-term
voluntary policy convergence and the exchange of best practices between Member
States in the employment field, was agreed upon later on in
From
1997 to 2002, the EES involved agreement of Member States on a set of annual
Employment Guidelines. Around twenty Guidelines were normally adopted each
year, which were placed under the four “pillars” of employability,
entrepreneurship, adaptability and equal opportunities. Despite frequent
reviews of the guidelines throughout the lifetime of the EES, its core
philosophy has not undergone significant changes. “Employability” has been said
to be “at the heart” of the European Employment Strategy. Being employable
means being expected to render and maintain oneself competitive in the labor market, that is, to possess appropriate competencies and
skills, as well as to be flexible and willing to continue to learn throughout
one’s lifetime.
The
ideational effects of EES employability policy discerned in national employment
policies when some or all of the following ideas and norms are introduced in
national policy discourse:
1. a normative shift from “passive” to
“active” measures (e.g. from unemployment benefits to active labor market
policies)
2. new emphasis on strengthening links
between education and work
3. the introduction of the concept of
“life-long learning”
4. emergence of arguments in favor of
making work pay (limiting passive measures’ generosity and length)
5. Emphasis on “activating” remaining
passive measures (Tsakatika 2009:4).
EU
(EC, 2007:11) also urges Member States to provide conditions conducive to
employment creation and growth.
“In
particular, Member States should: renew impetus in tax and benefits reforms to
improve incentives and to make work pay; increase adaptability of labor markets
combining employment flexibility and security; and improve employability by
investing in human capital”
The
focus on human capital is a central issue. Citizens must be offered the opportunity
to enrich their human capital so as to find a job more easily. Similar ideas
can be found in the OECD (1998:3) employment policy.
“as we move into ‘knowledge-based’ economies
the importance of human capital becomes even more significant than ever.
Together with business and individuals, public authorities share a common
interest in renewing and increasing the skills base of the population and
workforce. Human capital thus constitutes an intangible asset with the capacity
to enhance or support productivity, innovation and employability. It may be
augmented, or may decline, or become redundant. It is formed through different
influences and sources including organized learning activity in the form of
education and training. Knowledge, skills, competences and other attributes
combine in different ways according to the individual and the context of use”
The
link of employability to human capital is obvious. The European Commission
(2008:3) argues that, as financial crisis threats the global economy, it is
essential to enhance human capital and employability by upgrading skills. But
upgrading skills is not enough: ensuring a better match between the supply of
skills and labor market demand is just necessary. Due to imperfect information
and structured rigidities, workers and businesses are not provided with the
right level of skills in the right areas, which damages competitiveness. The
educational and professional choices of young men and women continue to be
influenced by traditional gender paths.
Therefore,
skills which are in demand in the labor market are needed, and not academic
skills in general. Who is in charge of offering and developing these skills? The role of universities in
this case is very important. Universities-according to the European University Association ( 2010:58)- should better address students’ needs. They should redesign their
curricula to stimulate the growth of interdisciplinarity
and optional courses in a study program, thus increasing the potential of
innovative studies that can better address each student’s interests and
potentially enhance employment opportunities.
The
terms ‘skills, competences, abilities’ are not the main issue of this paper;
they are considered to function as a ‘bridge’ between the labor market, where employability
prevails, and universities, which are now offering more and more
interdisciplinary programs at post graduate level. In this paper we argue that
this change must be interpreted as the universities’ response to the demands of
the labor market, which seeks employees with particular skills and competences.
Universities
implement interdisciplinary research and teaching in order to provide their
students with these skills and respond to societal needs. This relation is
illustrated better
in the following figure.
Figure 1: relation between labor market and
universities
Methodology
Qualitative research was conducted in
three Greek Universities to explore the perspectives of academics with regard
to interdisciplinary competences and the labor market. We investigated seven
interdepartmental/interdisciplinary post graduate programs:
University of Ioannina
1. Greek Philosophy- Philosophy of
Sciences ( This program is organized by the Department of Philosophy, Education
and Psychology in cooperation with the Department of Primary Education)
2. Biotechnology organized by the
1. Environmental Sciences (organized by the Department of
Biology, in cooperation with the Departments of Geology, Mathematics, Chemistry
and Physics)
2. Science and Technology of Polymers
(organized by the Department of Physics, in cooperation with the Departments of
Material Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering)
3. Medical Chemistry: Design and Development
of Pharmaceutical products (organized by the Department of Chemistry, in cooperation
with the Department of Pharmacy).
1. Protection of Monuments, Sites and
Complexes: conservation and restoration of historic buildings and sites
(organized by the Department of Architectural Engineering in cooperation with the
Departments of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Rural and Surveying
Engineering)
2. Environment and Development (organized by
the Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering in cooperation with the
Departments of Civil Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mining Engineering and
Metallurgy).
As is common in qualitative research,
data was
collected from participants via interviews (Strauss and Corbin 1994).
Collecting data from interviews enabled the researcher to ‘enter into’ the
perspective and experiences of others (Patton 2002:341) and involved the use of
an interview guide with lists of questions to be explored in order to ensure
that the basic lines of enquiry were addressed but also leaving the researcher
free to explore, clarify or probe. The
thematic analysis adopted was largely informed by constant comparative
analysis, an analytical tool originally developed for Grounded Theory by
Glaser and Strauss (1967).
Discussion of findings
The data was treated as one source for
analysis rather than being analyzed in discrete ways. However, any marked
distinctions in findings within the analysis were noted. The discussion and
findings section begins by referring to connections participants made between
the labor market and employability and then subsequently highlights the
perceived benefits.
Interdisciplinarity is necessary
Although participants do not share
the same meaning of the
concept of interdisciplinarity, they all agree that this means of knowledge
production is the answer to societal problems and to the promotion of science.
One academic said: our research brings us
into contact with people in diverse fields. Every meeting with them opens our
eyes to new ideas and methods.
As is evident from the participants’
responses, the benefits of such collaborative interdisciplinary research are
clear. But- they argue-it is not without problems. For example, two researchers
working in different fields might have to get over initial shyness and admit
they don’t know a lot about the other’s area. However, they say that this is
where the strength of interdisciplinary research shows its full potential.
Mixing such different ways of thinking is a great way to stimulate the
generation of new approaches to a problem that neither group,
or field, had thought of before. Without the collaboration of
researchers from several different fields, many of today’s important
discoveries wouldn’t have been possible. One of them posed a question: Where
would the Human Genome Project be without the help of the computer scientists and bioinformatics whose
programs have helped to organize and annotate all that information? Scientists are getting together,
talking, and sharing ideas and the results are fascinating.
The results, however, from the implementation of these post graduate
programs are not unanimously accepted. Some of the respondents said that these
programs are multidisciplinary and not interdisciplinary. However, they all
agreed that financing is the main issue for the proper functioning of the
programs.
Universities and the Labor
Market
The question here was about whether a link
between universities and the labor market should exist. The answer was yes and
no. No, because the attempt to link university output
to labor market needs has proved an abject failure. First of all, labor market
analysis is frequently tricky and politicians, driven by the election cycle,
make decisions that simplify this analysis even further. They want to show
their responsiveness to external factors and societal needs, but their
decisions, in reality,
serve neither the society nor the students’ personality.
Secondly, labor market needs become obsolete very easily. The kind of skills
that are in demand today may very well not be in demand tomorrow.
On the other hand, it is arrogant to
ignore underlying, long term trends. The effects of unemployment, globalization, the financial crisis and
internationalization should be taken into consideration. Most interviewees say
that universities and the government need to balance responsiveness with a clear
understanding of the difference between long-term structural change in society
and short-term volatility. Universities can serve the latter by building new
interdisciplinary programs. The former is best served by ensuring that
universities produce and disseminate knowledge and provide their students with
the skills needed
to practice a profession.
One of the participants thinks that the labor market supports moves towards
privatization, arguing that this trend is dangerous for society as a whole,
since it threatens the independence of universities. He also said that it is
useless to make comments on this link between universities and the labor market in
Although the answers are contradictory, they all admit that changes
in the role of universities are occurring so rapidly that it has become almost
impossible
to make a sound assessment of current trends. But the discussion is also
essential, and universities need to continue to participate in.
Students’ employability
All participants say that they care
about their students’ employment after studies. They describe how difficult it
is today to find a job, even in fields (civil engineering, medicine) where
finding a job was easy before. There was a time when simply being a graduate
was enough to help you stand out in a crowd. Securing employment wasn’t as tough, because there were
fewer graduates in the same position. Regardless of actual ability, having a degree meant you were a notch above many. Today everything has changed. The
financial crisis has exacerbated the situation and the labor market is crueler
than ever. One participant said that, even though they run post graduate
programs which could be financed by the private sector, they reject the offers,
because they do not want to get paid, when their students are unemployed.
Of course, they admit, universities
have been addressing issues related to employability for a long time. Some prefer the term
employment instead of the term employability, but they recognize that the labor
market determines one’s chances of finding a job. They argue that employability
implies the absolute flexibility of labor markets and the dismantling of labor
regulation. As a place of learning, the university isn’t solely about business and
career.
Despite this, the majority of the
respondents agree that
the university should take into consideration their students’ employability.
That doesn’t mean that a degree is an automatic passport to a job or a career.
But universities must do everything to ensure that they can facilitate their
students’ employability. To the question: how could universities help their students?
The answer is: by reforming their curricula.
Interdisciplinary programs: an answer to students’
employability
The data revealed that almost all
participants made connections between interdisciplinary curricula and
employability. In the view of one participant, a curriculum that could fulfill the
criteria as required in the job market, could assist and make it easier for
students to face challenges and to secure a place for themselves in employment.
The perceived value of interdisciplinarity was also
associated with observations that workplaces and practices were increasingly
affected by global and international forces giving rise to implications that interdisciplinarity is an answer to them. A student in an
interdisciplinary program gains additional skills, which are valuable to
employers. Through interdisciplinary education, students have studied approaches from many disciplines,
building detailed knowledge in some areas and integrating it into new means of
reaching goals or solving problems. Some skills listed are:
Critical
and Analytical Thinking skills:
·
Analyzing problems in a way that considers unusual
alternatives
·
Making connections between things that discipline-oriented
people wouldn’t see
·
Formulating different questions due to broader
perspectives and forms of knowledge
Problem-solving
skills:
·
Working with others to research, develop plans, and
implement solutions
·
Brainstorming-recognizing that there is no one method
that is superior
·
Structuring unstructured problems
Communication
skills:
·
Mediating between disciplines
·
Negotiating, persuading others
·
Combining skills to reach people with different
learning styles
These
skills come as a result, when a student finishes his course. As one of the respondents noted:
“The interdisciplinary nature of our
studies is valuable not only for its immediate benefits to our research, but
also for keeping the door open to diverse career paths in the sciences. It's
the perfect introduction to the team-based approach common in industry, a career direction that many
students at university eventually take. Not only does it give one the knowledge
and the vocabulary to understand other disciplines, but it also provides the necessary
communication skills. With the recent introduction of interdisciplinary
training programs, and the increase in team-based and problem-based learning
approaches, we are hopeful that today's crop of budding scientists will emerge
from their training with an appreciation of a variety of disciplines and the
ability to move among them effectively. It might not be long; in fact, before
we see the lines between different fields start to blur even further than they
have already”.
This statement indicates how supportive
academics are of interdisciplinarity, combining it
with industry and career paths. However, as one described it, the relationship
between post graduate students, institution and employer is not simple. Linear
explanations are not enough. No matter how many interdisciplinary skills
someone has, that doesn’t open the door to a job. Jobs change rapidly.
Different skills may be in demand in the future. But for the time
being, interdisciplinary skills –he added- are like an ‘umbrella’. They can cover
the labor market’s demands.
Besides the changing circumstances of
the workplace, participants also referred to the EU and its pressures on
universities to adopt interdisciplinarity. The EU demands the type of competences
required by the labor market
be reflected in the curriculum of Higher Education. One speculated that
the increasing number of changes in the labor market would lead to another type
of career, that is, the so-called protean career. The epithet, protean, is
etymologically derived from Proteus, the old Greek sea god, who could rapidly
transform himself, when needed, into various shapes. Given the protean
character of current careers, employability is important in the light of future
employment opportunities. Skills which a student acquires through an
interdisciplinary program are valued because they apply to many jobs and so can
support common preparation to meet the needs of many different jobs.
An academic, who teaches on the program
‘Environment and Development’, gave an example; in the last semester all
students must get involved in a project which requires the combining of different
disciplines. This project is a proposal for the development of a specific area
in
Conclusions
The findings of the research suggest that from the participants’ perspective there are clear
associations between interdisciplinarity and
employability. It is evident from the above discussion that there is a need,
recognized by a growing number of universities, to move towards the
employability of their students. The competition that universities face in
recruiting students and their selectivity of institutions and courses is one
factor, and the competitive employment market which those students enter, is
another. Universities cannot ignore that the labor market and its flexible
institutions based on short-term transactions and constantly shifting tasks,
feel uneasy when their employees are able to handle adequately only one problem
at a time, as they are trained in one discipline. It seems, thus, that Richard
Sennett is right when he says that “craftsmanship” is on the decline. According
to Sennett (2006:104-105), flexible organizations look for competences that
tend to be applicable to a variety of domains and settings. These
competences must be acquired fast, as deepening one’s competences takes time.
Nowadays problems must be solved within a limited amount of time and there is
no time to think things out in any deep or complex
matter. Interdisciplinary teaching and research offer the competences needed in
the labor market, as they can be applied in many domains and they don’t take
much time to acquire.
Greek Universities seem to be
responding to the growing demand to adopt interdisciplinarity,
recognizing its importance for the promotion of knowledge, the solution of
complex societal problems and the employability of their students. Of course,
it remains to be seen how this new knowledge production is implemented, but
that is not an issue addressed by this paper[5]. Interdisciplinarity
-as a challenge to universities- may be seen as an
opportunity for change. Moreover, as Tsaousis
says (1993:63), universities can react to every external pressure not by rejecting
them, but by taking initiatives and developing practices in order to reform
their structure and become useful to society.
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[1] The concept of competence has
been thoroughly analyzed by Monika Rerak for the Karatheodori
program of the
[2]
http://www.epeaek.gr/epeaek/en/a_1_2.html
[3]http://www.minedu.gov.gr/grafeio-typou/anakoinoseis-typoy/22-07-11-nomosxedio-gia-ti-ldomi-leitoyrgia-diasfalisi-tis-poiotitas-ton-spoydon-kai-diethnopoiisi-ton-anotaton-ekpaideytikon-idrymatonr.html
[4] This issue is part of our PhD
dissertation
[5] How interdisciplinarity
is implemented in Greek Universities, is the theme of my PhD dissertation.
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