Employers and the system of technical education: In search of optimal interaction

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of changing the system of interaction between higher education institutions and employers with the aim of improving the quality of technical education. It is pointed out that in the face of rapidly changing technologies and equipment used in industrial enterprises, a transition is required from the existing system of training future engineers to a new system that would ensure the development of both the ability to quickly master innovations and willingness to actively participate in their creation. The solution of this problem requires the employer to act not only as a consumer of the professionals produced by higher education, but to actively cooperate with teachers during the whole period of university studies. The empirical sociological studies conducted by the authors in 2014–2016 in the Sverdlovsk region, a large industrial region of Russia, reveal the problems to be addressed during the transition to new forms of interaction between teachers, students, and employers in training highly skilled engineering personnel for the economy of innovation. The study identified the differences in employers’ and students’ understanding of the requirements for such professionals, as well as the employers’ lack of willingness to actively participate in their training. The final part of the article suggests possible solutions for establishing an effective system of cooperation between technical universities and employers in order to accelerate the modernisation of the Russian economy. © 2017, Sociological Association of Serbia. All rights reserved.