The employability of graduates has from the outset of the Bologna Reform process been considered as acornerstone in developing the three-cycle structure of Higher Education, and the curricula are being adapted accordingly. The underlying concern is to make higher education more responsive to rapidly developing societies, with equally rapidly changing demands from the world of employment.
This calls for flexibility and innovation in the contents as well as in the structuring of higher education programs. The vision for 2020 is a Europe where governments, employers and HE institutions have increased their partnerships in order to create jobs for the graduates and graduates for the jobs. HEIs must make it possible for students to maintain relations with the labour market through program structures based on linked and flexible cycles; employers must allow and encourage their employees to go back to
HEIs for relevant supplementary study periods; and governments must ensure that the proper support mechanisms are in place.
When dealing with employability, however, employers and HEIs should also take into account the longterm horizon of graduates’ careers. Furthermore a number of graduates may wish to become entrepreneurs rather than employees. And, not least, the strict market orientation must be balanced with citizenship and general human and humane qualities.
EURASHE commits itself and its members to create and further develop provisions for students, which directly affect their job prospects, e.g. careers services and skills-oriented education. We will increase partnerships with the public and private world of employment and establish cooperation for research and innovation. We will encourage quality-assured work placements as integrated elements in HE. And we will pro-actively look for and assist in the development of employment prospects that reflect positive tendencies in society, such as emerging ‘green-collar’ jobs , and provide appropriate training and certification for them.
Lifelong learning (LLL) as a leading principle for the creation and development of the EHEA is strongly supported and advocated by EURASHE and its members, and we believe that the predominant qualities of LLL are widely found in PHE institutions and programs. For societies, LLL contributes to extending knowledge and skills and to creating new skills and transversal competences. For individuals, LLL is a major source to be flexible towards societal and professional changes or to pursue personal desires for the mere reasons of personal development and growth.
The rapidly changing labour market and the increasing impact of information and communication technologies requires a more flexible and mobile population. In view of the global ageing of the world population, technical, professional and academic knowledge will continually have to be updated. LLL will then be the organic and essential part of the learning process at every level and in every sector of HE.
Our vision for 2020 is that in the entire EHEA, a system of linked and progressive cycles, which permits any qualified person to enter and exit HE irrespective of age and educational profile is implemented. We urge governments to ensure the provision of adequate investment and legal support for LLL as one of the most liberating tools to realise a more equitable society as one of the strongest movers towards prosperity and economic growth.
EURASHE commits itself to assisting its member institutions, other HE associations and international and national authorities to develop flexible and innovative HE programs in all academic and professional fields, with appropriate methodologies, including distance-learning provisions .And we will take initiatives to establish reliable indicators and data-collection, which will help measure and increase the effectiveness of lifelong learning policies and practices in the different Bologna countries and the EHEA as a whole.
These issue are researched and discussed by the Working group on Lifelong Learning and Employability (WG6), which is led by Michal Karpíšek (CASPHE) and Hans Daale (DASHE).
Its objectives are:
a. Increasing Employability rates by promoting Lifelong Learning implementation strategies:
b. Improve development of entrepreneurial and transferable skills of PHE students, graduates and adult learners
c. Promotion of the incorporation of LLL in strategic activities of HEIs
d. Promote the position of Level 5 of EQF in the EHEA
Find out the composition of the Working Group 6.
