THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF higher education and research is trying to bridge the gap between universities and the corporate world. But its latest venture, an advisory group on curriculum reform headed by business leaders, is rubbing up some academics the wrong way.
“We cannot stand by and watch our youth fall victim to the economic crisis,” says Francoise Gri, co-president of the advisory group, Sup’Emploi, and chief executive of the tourism firm Pierre et Vacances. “It’s a national challenge: France can emerge from the fray of global competition thanks to the skills and qualifications of its people.” Sup’Emploi, which features representatives from higher education and business, was created in December 2013 to work on guidelines to help universities adapt to the needs of a changing economy.
France’s Socialist government is battling to create jobs for the country’s young people amid fears that the eurozone’s second largest economy is sliding into recession. This year, youth unemployment peaked at 26.1 percent — nowhere near as bad as Spain’s 56.1 percent but still higher than the UK’s 20.9 percent — according to latest Eurostat figures. The government is rolling out a state-subsidised jobs scheme to get businesses hiring young job-seekers, but it’s also turning to the country’s academics to better equip students for the world of work when they leave universities.
But French employers grumble that university graduates do not acquire skills that are transferable to the workplace. They say candidates lack vital soft skills, such as IT qualifications, knowledge of English and presentation and project management skills. Another common complaint from corporate leaders is that university courses place too much emphasis on narrow academic knowledge and too little on its real-world relevance.
But closing the gap between the realms of academia and business is no small task: relations between France’s universities and corporate world are at best cordial, often non-existent and sometimes downright hostile. “The real problem is that most company leaders have a pathological mistrust of universities,” says Marc Neveu, who teaches IT at the University of Burgundy in Dijon and is co-head of the higher education trade union Syndicat National de l’Enseignement Superieur (Snesup). “They all come from engineering schools and think that students are lazy and dilettantes."
France’s higher education system is split into two tiers. The elite grandes ecoles train engineers, scientists and business leaders, while universities shape the minds of the country’s researchers. Neveu believes that UK and German businesses have more trust in those who study and work in universities and are keen to hire candidates with Ph Ds. “In Germany and in the UK, most employees in R&D have Ph Ds; here it’s less than half,” he laments. “If we want to foster innovation, we have to rely on our Ph D students; it’s absurd not to.”
Many corporate leaders admit they ignore applicants from the world of academia and tend to recruit from the cohorts of the grandes ecoles. But they also argue that universities fail to direct employers towards graduates who might fulfil their needs. Sup’Emploi hopes to foster links between these two worlds. But it’s unclear how many academics will take its recommendations to heart.
(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)