by ANN FAWDRY*
Both the degree of competition in the job market and the level of unemployment amongst young graduates serve, moreover, to compound this belief. Whilst the culture dictating that one should have a university degree to progress in life is not necessarily healthy, a major proportion of young Europeans wish to continue to higher education. This motivation was demonstrated last winter by the many high school students in the UK who took to the streets to protest against raising university tuition fees and should not be dampened. Equally objectionable is a return to an elitist system where the income of one’s parents determines whether students can access higher education. As long as a university education remains non-obligatory, universities are not only teaching institutions but also service providers. If European students are willing and able to achieve in both class and in the workplace, then is it Europe’s universities who are responsible for the so-called “gap” between learning and employment?
Inconsistency in teaching style and the level of exigency between universities within a country and between European countries renders transferability of results more difficult and may disadvantage students from certain countries in the eyes of employers. The EU has done well in creating an ever closer union amongst European students who are more mobile and more likely to look for employment in other countries having studied abroad through programs such as Erasmus, which essentially funds young people to explore whether living and working abroad appeals to them. Despite efforts to regularise exam results through the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) there is still disparity between the amount of work required for any given module at any university in any European country. The question of tuition fees also influences university cultures within Europe. Whilst in Germany the relatively low cost of Master courses means that students who don’t complete Master studies are the exception, they are the rule in the UK where Master courses rarely cost less than £10,000. For a future employer familiar only with the university culture in his or her own country, comparison between candidates can be difficult.
The highly theoretical nature of many studies programs has perhaps de-professionalised academic degrees, with the knock-on effect that employers expect graduates to know a little about everything. This is a difficult mix for the young graduate to navigate. Often professors have never worked outside academics and thus the content of degrees often contains little practical training on how to work in the sector one’s degree is concerned with. Even twenty years ago, young people took up studies that directly channelled them into a profession that they had chosen beforehand, such as Nursing or Architecture. Nowadays, the tendency towards thematically specific but professionally open-ended degrees such as Abuse and Outdoor Studies, Palaeobiology and Evolution or Criminological Psychology means that course choices are often made along the lines of “not knowing what you want to do afterwards”. Whilst some students fix their career preferences over the course of their degree, more often than not the cycle of uncertainty perpetuates and students often fall into jobs after graduation that have nothing to do with their studies. The academic culture of teaching tools for learning is so broad and theoretical that it both disallows decision-making on career pathways and fails to provide advanced knowledge and practical skills that make graduates appealing to future employers.
Thirdly, the fallacy that a good education alone will secure graduates good jobs is also perpetuated by courses that fail to effectively support students to gain practical experience. Whilst an internship is mandatory part of an increasing number of courses, these courses remain restricted to certain subjects and feature rarely amongst the most traditional academic subjects such as Law and History. Students who clinch high-flying internships during summer holidays are considered assets to their university, but recruitment networks between university and businesses mainly target graduates. This means that practical training begins for many students at the very time that they are supposed to demonstrate their professional experience to potential employers. Internships are often unpaid and so not formally integrating them into academic degrees can disadvantage poorer students in the labour market. Students should be given the opportunity to undergo professional training whilst they still have access to student loans or grants. Academic knowledge and practical experience has to be a potent mix and thus the framework of university degrees should maximise student’s potential.
As a British undergraduate, studying and working abroad yet soon to graduate, these criticisms are motivated by personal anxieties. The EU, national governments and academic institutions are good at providing financial backing and practical opportunities for enrolled students. These same support networks need to work harder for students, however, to ensure that they do not pull the rug out from under the feet of those new graduates who are still finding them in the job market. A good start is to rethink the ECT System and to integrate greater professional training and accreditable work placements into academic degrees. As long as students pay (increasingly large) amounts to enjoy the privilege of higher education in Europe, they should be allowed access to quality education that will prepare them to succeed in the professional world. Similarly, as long as Europe prides itself on the brains its universities produces, change is in the interest of both policy-makers and higher education institutions.
* Ann Fawdry is Erasmus student at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Policy Thinker at ThinkYoung
By: N. Peter Kramer
