Search

Graduates' employability has emerged as a measure of institutions' success since recent higher education (HE) reforms and massification. A variety of strategies have been designed and implemented to ensure the smooth transition of graduates into the labour market. Our research compares the actions taken by two local higher education institutions (HEIs) to address the employability agenda in Portugal. The goal is to discuss whether these institutions have implemented a fully integrated employability strategy. Additionally, it explores the perceptions of local employers regarding the role of HEIs in mitigating their skill needs. The empirical analysis draws on qualitative data gathered through interviews with the academics responsible for employability actions and a sample of local employers in this specific regional setting. The findings suggest that HEIs have designed and implemented a varying set of employability actions and practices and are facing important challenges. The employers recognise HEIs' endeavours, but still refer to barriers for further collaboration. Academics face challenges to implement a mostly externally driven employability agenda, even in those that essentially cater to the local labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance covers a comprehensive analysis of how higher education is governed. Governance comprises a complex set of aspects such as the legal framework, the features of the institutions, the form of relationship with the whole system, the funding model, as they are being held accountable on how money is spent and the less formal structures and relationships that affect behavior. The radical changes in the university environment, has imposed changes within the higher education institutions (HEIs). The massification of education and the reduction of the company's willingness to fund the decrease in government funding and increasing institutional autonomy have forced universities to adopt new forms of manageme In Portugal, the Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES) sought to promote meaningful change and a paradigm shift in the governance of these institutions in Portugal. The main objective of this article is to understand the consequences that the new regulations had in the governance of HEI and in the adaptation of processes, in a context of reduction of higher education funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]