Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Quality in higher education: linking graduates' competencies and employers' needs

Quality in higher education: linking graduates' competencies and employers' needs Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on measuring competencies of higher education graduates and employers' needs, and using these measurements in the quality development of higher education study programmes. Design/methodology/approach – Results of a survey among Danish employers and their perception of the competencies of MSc graduates from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) are presented and discussed. In addition to assessing the competencies, the respondents were also asked to assess the importance of the individual competencies. Findings – The estimated importance score and performance score for each competency can be combined in a competency map, and it is shown how the four cells in the map can be interpreted in useful ways, when essential areas for quality improvement of the study programme are to be identified. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the Danish employers' perceptions of MSc graduates from CBS. Practical implications – The presented linking of competencies to employers' needs have clear managerial implications in the strategic development of higher education study programmes. Originality/value – The study identifies and measures 16 essential graduate competencies and links these to employers' needs in a competency map. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences Emerald Publishing

Quality in higher education: linking graduates' competencies and employers' needs

Download PDF
11 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/quality-in-higher-education-linking-graduates-competencies-and-Af30xgWtC8
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1756-669X
DOI
10.1108/17566690910945877
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on measuring competencies of higher education graduates and employers' needs, and using these measurements in the quality development of higher education study programmes. Design/methodology/approach – Results of a survey among Danish employers and their perception of the competencies of MSc graduates from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) are presented and discussed. In addition to assessing the competencies, the respondents were also asked to assess the importance of the individual competencies. Findings – The estimated importance score and performance score for each competency can be combined in a competency map, and it is shown how the four cells in the map can be interpreted in useful ways, when essential areas for quality improvement of the study programme are to be identified. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the Danish employers' perceptions of MSc graduates from CBS. Practical implications – The presented linking of competencies to employers' needs have clear managerial implications in the strategic development of higher education study programmes. Originality/value – The study identifies and measures 16 essential graduate competencies and links these to employers' needs in a competency map.

Journal

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 20, 2009

Keywords: Higher education; Quality; Graduates; Competences; Employers; Denmark

References

  • Kandidat‐ og aftagerundersøgelsen
    Aalborg University and Roskilde University
  • Behov for globale kompetencer
    Anderskouv, R.; Mikkelsen, I.S.
  • Internationalisering af de danske universiteter: Vilkår og virkemidler
    Association of Presidents of Danish Higher Education Institutions
  • Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value
    Christopher, M.; Payne, A.; Ballantyne, D.
  • Vind eller forsvind i den globale økonomi: Hvordan får vi verdens bedste salgs‐ og marketingmedarbejdere
    Confederation of Danish Industries
  • Competencies in graduate recruitment and selection
    IRS
  • Customer Orientation and Market Action
    Johnson, M.D.
  • Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit: An Integrated Measurement and Management System
    Johnson, M.D.; Gustafsson, A.
  • Service Marketing
    Rust, R.T.; Zahorik, A.J.; Keiningham, T.L.