Do higher education institutions make a difference in competence development?: A model of competence production at university

This paper proposes a model of competence development required of graduates at work which suggests that universities make a difference when they add value to their students. They add value by ensuring that their modes of teaching and learning, and assessment positively enhance the competencies of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education 2014-10, Vol.68 (4), p.503-523
Main Author: Salas Velasco, Manuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Akademiker
Ausland
Bedarf
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
College Graduates
College instruction
College Students
Colleges
Colleges & universities
Colleges and universities
Competence
Competency based education
Econometrics
Economic development
Economic growth
Economics
Economics education
Education
Education, Higher
Educational Innovation
Educational policy
Educational Practices
Employees
Employers
Employment
Europe
Foreign Countries
Graduates
Higher Education
Innovations
Job hunting
Labor
Labor market
Labor markets
Labour market
Learning
Learning styles
Lehre
Literature reviews
Markets
Methods
Outcomes of education
Pedagogy
Production
Productivity
Skills
Spain
Spanien
Spanish language
Student
Students
Studium
Teaching
Teaching methods
Thinking Skills
Universities
University graduates
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Description
Summary:This paper proposes a model of competence development required of graduates at work which suggests that universities make a difference when they add value to their students. They add value by ensuring that their modes of teaching and learning, and assessment positively enhance the competencies of their students which are important in the labor market. Our results have clear implications for policy in the Bologna process. One of the main challenges facing higher education institutions in Europe is to transform their current pedagogical practices—the lecture continues to be the dominant teaching method—into competence-based teaching as a response of universities to labor market needs. In this paper, econometric evidence shows that innovative methodologies used by Spanish universities play a key role in competence development. This is consistent with the view that education raises productivity; finding that refutes some theories which suggest that education may be no more than a screening device which allows employers to identify the more able potential employees from the rest. Besides the importance of formal academic institutions, firms appear to be sources of learning and skill formation as well.
ISSN:0018-1560
1573-174X
DOI:10.1007/s10734-014-9725-1