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    Academic John Brennan Asks Whether Universities Should Leave On-The-Job Training To Employers

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    Huỳnh Ngan Anh
    The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of universities versus employers in preparing graduates for the workforce. It argues that universities should focus on developing lifelong transferable skills rather than specific job skills, and that employers are better equipped than universities to provide training for initial job requirements. Developing capacity for change and adaptation is important for graduates' long-term careers.

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    Academic John Brennan Asks Whether Universities Should Leave On-The-Job Training To Employers

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    Huỳnh Ngan Anh
    43 views2 pages
    The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of universities versus employers in preparing graduates for the workforce. It argues that universities should focus on developing lifelong transferable skills rather than specific job skills, and that employers are better equipped than universities to provide training for initial job requirements. Developing capacity for change and adaptation is important for graduates' long-term careers.

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    The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of universities versus employers in preparing graduates for the workforce. It argues that universities should focus on developing lifelong transferable skills rather than specific job skills, and that employers are better equipped than universities to provide training for initial job requirements. Developing capacity for change and adaptation is important for graduates' long-term careers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    43 views2 pages

    Academic John Brennan Asks Whether Universities Should Leave On-The-Job Training To Employers

    Uploaded by

    Huỳnh Ngan Anh
    The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of universities versus employers in preparing graduates for the workforce. It argues that universities should focus on developing lifelong transferable skills rather than specific job skills, and that employers are better equipped than universities to provide training for initial job requirements. Developing capacity for change and adaptation is important for graduates' long-term careers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    The passage below consists of four sections marked A, B, C and D.

    For questions 1-10, read


    the passage and do the task that follows. Write your answers (A, B, C or D) in the
    corresponding numbered spaces provided.

    LIFTING HIGHER EDUCATION TO LOFTIER HEIGHTS?

    Academic John Brennan asks whether universities should leave on-the-job training to
    employers.

    A There is a lot of emphasis nowadays placed on the need for universities and business groups to
    get graduates “work ready” through vocational workplace training. This is to be welcomed but it
    is also to be questioned – about what it should mean in practice and how it should be applied.
    The concept is nothing new. I remember some years back being at a meeting about higher
    education and employment, attended by a number of employer representatives. I recall one
    employer remarking that of the many thousands of graduates that he had hired what he really
    wanted and expected was for each of them to have changed the nature of the job by the time they
    had left the role.

    B Rather than being concerned with how recruits would fit into existing organisational
    arrangements and master existing ways of doing things, here was an employer who expected
    graduates to change existing arrangements and ways of working. Who, rather than focusing on
    whether graduates had the right kinds of skills and competencies, acknowledged that he didn’t
    know what skills and competencies his workers would need in a few years’ time. The very point
    of hiring graduates was that he hoped to get people who would themselves be able to work out
    what was required and be capable of delivering it and a bold new future.

    C Of course, starting any job requires some work-specific knowledge and capability and when
    recruiting staff, graduate or non-graduate, employers have a responsibility to provide suitable
    induction and training. The responsibilities of higher education are different. They are about
    preparing for work in the long term, in different jobs and, quite possibly, in different sectors.
    This is preparation for work in a different world, for work that is going to require learning over a
    lifetime, not just the first few weeks of that first job after graduation. Current initiatives set out a
    perfectly reasonable set of objectives for the ways in which higher education can help prepare
    students for their working lives. But much will depend on the interpretation and on recognising
    who – higher education or employer – is best equipped to contribute what.

    D In the rush to focus on “vocational training to improve graduate employability” academics


    need to remember that all higher education is vocational in the sense that it can help shape a
    graduate’s capacity to succeed in the workplace. In this way higher education is about life skills,
    not just job skills. Many years ago, Harold Silver and I wrote a book entitled A Liberal
    Vocationalism. It was based on a project we had just completed on the aims of degree courses in
    vocational areas such as accountancy, business and engineering. The book’s title intentionally
    conveyed the message that even vocational degree courses were about more than training for a
    job. There were assumptions about criticality, transferability of skills, creating and adapting to
    change and, above all, an academic credibility.
    E Degree courses in subjects such as history and sociology are preparations for employment as
    much as vocational degrees such as business and engineering. But the job details will not be
    known at the time of study. Indeed, they may not be known until several years later. Thus, the
    relevance of higher education to later working life for many graduates will lie in the realm of
    generic and transferable skills rather than specific competencies needed for a first job after
    graduation. The latter competences are not unimportant but the graduate’s employer is generally
    much better equipped than a university to ensure that the graduate acquires them. Work
    experience alongside or as part of study can also help a lot. Higher education is for the long term.
    Universities, employers and students should realise that.

    In which paragraph is it stated that

    1. new proposals require an appropriate level of scrutiny? ______

    2. academic subjects have benefits beyond their syllabuses? ______

    3. business is investing in an unknown quantity in the pursuit of an uncertain goal? ______

    4. responsibility for service provision needs to be correctly allocated? ______

    5. educators need to make sure that they don’t lose sight of an important point? ______

    6. the issues discussed are a recurring theme that is yet to be agreed upon? ______

    7. beliefs about the key topics of a study were alluded to in the heading of a publication? ______

    8. industry is better suited to cover some issues than educational institutions? ______

    9. original thinking is key in finding solutions to future challenges? ______

    10. while obligations vary, they are still present for both parties? ______

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