employability
European Conference: Towards a European Quality label for ICT industry training and certifications
Since the financial crisis began to hit labour markets in 2008, Europe has lost more than 5.6 million jobs. In its Communication “Towards a job-rich recovery” the European Commission states that “recovering this lost ground is only possible if the EU returns to sustained economic growth, which in turn requires European industries and services to retain or regain international competitiveness. In this respect, the capability of industry and services to compete and evolve is becoming increasingly dependent on the innovative and effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT).
Despite high levels of unemployment, ICT skills shortages have been identified. The mismatch between skills available and the needs of the labour markets concern all Member States, but affect them to varying degrees. Remarkably the demand for ICT practitioners continues to grow by around 3% a year, with labour demand outstripping the supply. Depending on the scenario to become reality there could be up to several 100,000 vacancies by 2015 unless more is done to direct more young people into computing degrees and retrain unemployed people.
In this context industry-based training and certification is part of the solution to reduce skills shortages and mismatches and thereby unemployment in general. However, we are currently faced with some strong inhibitors and constraints to make this happen. Starting a career as ICT practitioner or advancing a career towards those areas of highest demand is constrained by the fact that the ICT certification world remains un-transparent with thousands of different certificates, ranging from technical ones (almost every ICT provider offers some), those offered by foundations in information management to high end certificates. Moreover they seem to live in a parallel universe to that of vocational and higher education.
The lack of transparency and quality labelling is a challenge to human resources departments in their (cross-border) recruitment processes and curricula developers interested in providing side entries for interested individuals and organisations, but most of all to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) searching for talent and very importantly also to ICT practitioners currently lacking orientation and guidance in deciding on and taking their next career step.
Progress towards solutions
Several European initiatives, involving in particular the CEN Workshop on ICT Skills, have been trying to address this issue by developing standards for competences (European e-Competence Framework) and ICT job profiles. The results of the project to be presented at this conference constitute a further step towards guidance and orientation through the certification world. Using the European e-Competence Framework it developed a European e-skills quality label, services and tools to foster transparency and guidance towards quality in the market of industry-based training and certification as it
- Provides means to distinguish different types of certification and training (by quality labels and industry-based certification and training courses against the e-Competence Framework),
- Collected and disseminated empirical information and evidence about demand and supply of e-skills in Europe to provide interested parties with an overview of areas with high demand for e-skills to better match e-skills demand and supply,
- Provides a service and tool for focused further development and certification of one’s own e-skills or those of staff members to support better job placement and recruitment in companies. For this purpose a prototype of an online landscape, self-assessment tool and web portal is offered to stakeholders interested in the further development and enhancement of the prototype towards a fully-fledged service for operation in the job placement, recruitment, e-skills further development and certification market.
At the conference leading stakeholders will discuss how industry-based training and certification can contribute to reduce ICT skills shortages and unemployment. Solutions for achieving greater clarity and orientation support through the ICT education and training landscape together with latest data on ICT skills demand and supply developments and forecasts (2012 – 2020) will be presented. Possible interactions with employment agencies and recruitment / staffing industry will be shown.
A proposal for a pan-European quality label together with criteria, processes and structures for ICT industry training and certification will be presented. The first prototype of an online support tool for ICT practitioners and stakeholders such as human resources managers will be demonstrated. These will allow stakeholders to better anticipate e-skills needs in EU labour markets and put them in a position to swiftly act upon. Recommendations for actions and governance will mark the end of the conference.
EU will offer every young person employment or training within four months of leaving schoool
The European Commission has launched their latest Youth Employment Package requesting a guarantee from all Member States that every young person receives a quality offer of employment or training within four months of leaving school, or of being unemployed. The proposal will make full use of EU funding and in particular the European Social Fund (ESF), which was set up to reduce the differences in prosperity and living standards across EU Member States and regions.
The new Youth Employment Package is part of the initiative Rethinking Education - designed to reduce the youth unemployment rate. Research has shown that the figure is close to 23 % across the European Union, yet more than 2 million vacancies remain unfilled.
To change this, Member States are being urged to take immediate action to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences needed by the labour market, and to achieve their targets for growth and jobs.
The need for a more dynamic approach to education comes after statistics showed that 73 million Europeans (around 25 % of adults) have a low level of education. Nearly 20 % of 15 year olds lack sufficient literacy skills, and in 5 countries more than 25 % are low achievers in reading (Bulgaria 41 %, Romania 40 %, Malta 36 %, Austria 27.5 %, and Luxembourg 26 %). Early school leaving remains at unacceptably high levels in several Member States: in Spain it is 26.5 % and in Portugal 23.2 % (the EU target is under 10 %). At the same time, less than 9 % of adults participate in lifelong learning (the EU target is 15 %).
Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, believes these statistics highlight a serious weakness in our education and training systems. She says, 'Matters have been made worse as the economic downturn has led many Member States to cut funding for education and training.'
She goes on to say, 'Europe will only resume sustained growth by producing highly skilled and versatile people who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. Efficient and well-targeted investment is fundamental to this, but we will not achieve our objectives by reducing education budgets.'
The focus now is on education and ensuring it is more relevant to the needs of students and the labour market, while assessment methods will be adapted and modernised. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and open educational resources (OERs) are also to be scaled up in all learning contexts. But teachers also need to have regular training in order to update their own skills. The strategy further calls on Member States to strengthen links between education and employers, to bring enterprise into the classroom and to give young people a taste of employment through increased work-based learning. EU education ministers are also encouraged to step up their cooperation on work-based learning activities at a national and European level.
Rethinking Education conducted a Commission survey this year titled 'Education and Training Monitor', which outlined the skill supply in the Member States. What was derived from the survey was the need for a much stronger focus on developing transversal skills and basic skills at all levels. Key areas were especially a[0]pplicable to entrepreneurial and information technology (IT) skills.
Improving foreign language learning has also been highlighted with a new benchmark set for 2020 for at least 50 % of 15 year olds to have knowledge of a first foreign language (up from 42 % today) and at least 75 % to study a second foreign language (up from 61 % today). Investment in these skills is deemed vital as is the need to build world-class vocational education and training systems and for increasing levels of work-based learning.
The goal for Member States is to improve the recognition of qualifications and skills, including those gained outside of the formal education and training systems. Technology, and in particular the Internet, will need to be fully exploited, and schools, universities, and vocational and training institutions must now increase access to education via OERs.
For more information, please visit:
Rethinking Education - Education and Training Monitor 2012 Report
http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw373_en.pdf
EU Youth Strategy
http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/latest-youth-unemployment-figures_en.htm
Commission launches EU Skills Panorama to tackle skills mismatches
The European Commission launched the EU Skills Panorama, a website presenting quantitative and qualitative information on short- and medium-term skills needs, skills supply and skills mismatches.
The Panorama, drawing on data and forecasts compiled at EU and Member State level, will highlight the fastest growing occupations as well as the top 'bottleneck' occupations with high numbers of unfilled vacancies. Currently, there are around 2 million job vacancies across the EU despite high levels of unemployment. The website contains detailed information sector by sector, profession by profession and country by country.
The Skills Panorama shows that the occupations with the most unfilled vacancies in the EU today are those of finance and sales professionals. Other shortages most frequently reported concern biologists, pharmacologists, medical doctors and related professionals, nurses, ICT computing professionals and engineers.
The website indicates that the strongest mismatch between skills and labour market needs exists in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Hungary and Ireland, whereas in Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands the situation is much better.
The EU Skills Panorama will be regularly updated with the latest data.
2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report: Youth and skills: Putting education to work
Many young people around the world — especially the disadvantaged — are leaving school without the skills they need to thrive in society and find decent jobs. As well as thwarting young people’s hopes, these education failures are jeopardizing equitable economic growth and social cohesion, and preventing many countries from reaping the potential benefits of their growing youth populations. The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will examine how skills development programmes can be improved to boost young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better lives.
EFMD - CEIBS Conference on Innovative Business in China and Europe (followed by EQUIS, EPAS & DAF seminars)
The development and growth of China over the last 15 years has been remarkable and has had a profound impact on the global economy. However with continued growth comes the challenge of maintaining this in the future. China is looking to shift from being the manufacturing powerhouse of the world to being a centre of innovation and ideas and the 2012 CEIBS-EFMD conference in Beijing (November 29-30) will focus on Innovative Business in China and Europe.
Questions that will be discussed and explored during the conference will include:
- What is the status of innovation in China?
- How innovative are Chinese companies that have gone global?
- What are the Chinese government's innovation policies?
- Which are the implications of innovative business practices on human resources?
- How open are European companies to innovation?
- How can European companies relate to China?
- Does China have the talent available to shift towards an innovation driven economy?
- What does this mean for business schools and companies?
All of these issues are relevant to companies, business schools, faculty and policy makers with an interest in China's and Europe's economic growth and cooperation. A variety of corporate and academic speakers will provide input and lead discussions around innovative business. The conference programme will be based on the expertise of the Centre on China Innovation at CEIBS. The 2012 CEIBS-EFMD conference will take place on the Beijing campus of CEIBS on 29-30 November and will be followed by EFMD introductory accreditation seminars which are highlighted below.
This conference is organised in the framework of the EU-China Business Management Training (BMT) Project, http://www.ceibs.edu/bmt/, funded by the European Union.
e-Learning et réseautage social dans les processus de mentorat en faveur du vieillissement actif
Le mentorat est un processus de développement des ressources humaines souvent utilisé pour l’accueil, la présentation et l’encadrement de personnes en stage ou venant d’être embauchées.
La formation « en milieu de travail » et le recours à des séniors comme mentors permettent de pallier un manque de personnel qualifié, de recruter ou de retenir des employés disposant des compétences voulues et de tirer parti d’un engagement actif des plus âgés au sein de l’entreprise. Nous présentons dans cet article plusieurs aspects du mentorat en mettant l’accent sur le rôle des TIC dans le processus et en donnant des exemples.
STEM Annual Conference 2012
The Higher Education Academy’s first annual learning and teaching STEM conference will take place on 12 and 13 April 2012 at Imperial College London, one of the world's leading centres of excellence for teaching and research in the fields of science, technology and medicine.
STEM subjects are recognised as having strategic importance in higher education for the economy and employers. The student learning experience in STEM subjects is vital in ensuring sustained growth in the uptake of these key disciplines. Furthermore an excellent learning experience ensures that students have developed the right skills at the time of graduation and beyond through continued professional development. The Higher Education Academy (HEA) provides national leadership in developing and disseminating evidence-informed practice in learning and teaching in higher education; this conference will provide a platform for this for the HEA's STEM disciplines (for full list see below).
The key conference themes applied to STEM disciplines are:
• innovative practice in STEM learning and teaching;
• gender issues in STEM subjects;
• Mathematics and Statistics in an interdisciplinary context;
• work-based learning in STEM subjects;
• teaching and assessing large classes;
• assessment and feedback;
• employability;
• flexible learning;
• internationalisation;
• retention and success.
Call for Contributions: ePIC 2012
Until 5 March 2012 authors are invited to submit research papers, case studies, work in progress, position papers, workshops and posters. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by three members of the programme committee for originality, significance, clarity and quality. Accepted papers will be published in the ePIC 2012 proceedings under ISBN 978-2-9540144-1-8.
Themes
Authors are invited to address issues in relation to:
- development of lifelong learner / professional / citizen identity;healthcare education of professionals and citizens (professional- health- folio);integrative learning and holistic development;individual / community /organisational ePortfolios and identities development;continuing professional development and sustainable employability;
- assessment, recognition and accreditation of learning (formal, informal, lifelong and life-wide).
Key conference questions may include, (but are not limited to):
- Should everybody (individuals, communities and organisations) have an ePortfolio?
- How do individual and organisational ePortfolios (and identity) relate?
- How do ePortfolios contribute to the identity construction process?
- How do ePortfolios support the acquisition of 21st century skills?
- How do ePortfolios support lifelong learning, orientation and employability?
- How to develop the recognition and accreditation of prior Experience and learning (APEL) ?
- How to create an ePortfolio ecosystem?
- How do ePortfolios, Personal Learning Environments and Personal Working Environments relate?
- How can we make effective an ‘business case’ to those funding eportfolio provision when resources are restricted?
European e-Skills Week 2012
European e-Skills Week 2012 highlights the continuing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign seeks to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.
European e-Skills Week 2012 highlights the continuing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign seeks to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.
Building on the success of the e-Skills Week 2010, this year’s campaign will deliver an array of training events, conferences, competitions and activities across more than 30 European countries, culminating in a dedicated European e-Skills Week from 26 – 30 March 2012.