Dear all,
A lot is being written on the gap between academia and industry. A search on Google search spews out thousands of articles and views. One such article says, "Currently, there is a wide gap between the acquired knowledge and required knowledge in India. Students acquire qualifications but find it difficult to acquire employment because the expectations and aspirations of the employers are different from the educational institutions."
However, there is a specific trend in the articles written. Almost all the writers or authors blame the education system and give a lecture on the improvements needed in the education system.
Yes, there could be a gap between the expectations of employers and the academic curriculum. However, it would be imprudent to conclude that what is taught in academics is altogether useless. If that were the case, India would not have grown for the last 75 years.
I have been in full-time training and development for the last 15 years. Thousands of engineers and other professionals have attended my training programmes. In the course of my training programmes, occasionally I ask them what is the scope of implementing the knowledge they gained in their 3 or 4-year degree course. The answers vary from 20 to 40 per cent. Later, I ask them, of the 20 to 40 per cent, how much do you actually implement? The reply I get is barely 5 per cent. So what justifies the gap between the scope of implementation and actual implementation? Are the employees only responsible for the creation of this gap? Is there no accountability of the employers?
It is the top leadership's responsibility to use the talent of the employees. When the leaders are unable to use the knowledge or talent the employees possess, they just pass the buck to the academic institutions. Consider the following few examples:
a) In one of the public limited companies from the manufacturing sector, I found that MTBF and MTTR were never measured.
b) Though an important measure, how many procurement professionals measure Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) or how many HR professionals measure Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI)?
c) How many training professionals measure ROI on the training programmes they conducted or organised?
The (a), (b) and (c) above are the basics of functional knowledge. Which academics does not teach them to measure it? For the failure to measure, I do not blame the respective functionaries. A portion of the blame has to be assigned to top leadership as well. If they had made it mandatory, obviously the respective functionary would have measured those ratios.
There is always a scope for improvement and so in academics as well. However, that does not mean that one should berate the education system altogether. What is needed is a balanced approach and not a perennial repetition of one-sided views.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
A lot is being written on the gap between academia and industry. A search on Google search spews out thousands of articles and views. One such article says, "Currently, there is a wide gap between the acquired knowledge and required knowledge in India. Students acquire qualifications but find it difficult to acquire employment because the expectations and aspirations of the employers are different from the educational institutions."
However, there is a specific trend in the articles written. Almost all the writers or authors blame the education system and give a lecture on the improvements needed in the education system.
Yes, there could be a gap between the expectations of employers and the academic curriculum. However, it would be imprudent to conclude that what is taught in academics is altogether useless. If that were the case, India would not have grown for the last 75 years.
I have been in full-time training and development for the last 15 years. Thousands of engineers and other professionals have attended my training programmes. In the course of my training programmes, occasionally I ask them what is the scope of implementing the knowledge they gained in their 3 or 4-year degree course. The answers vary from 20 to 40 per cent. Later, I ask them, of the 20 to 40 per cent, how much do you actually implement? The reply I get is barely 5 per cent. So what justifies the gap between the scope of implementation and actual implementation? Are the employees only responsible for the creation of this gap? Is there no accountability of the employers?
It is the top leadership's responsibility to use the talent of the employees. When the leaders are unable to use the knowledge or talent the employees possess, they just pass the buck to the academic institutions. Consider the following few examples:
a) In one of the public limited companies from the manufacturing sector, I found that MTBF and MTTR were never measured.
b) Though an important measure, how many procurement professionals measure Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) or how many HR professionals measure Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI)?
c) How many training professionals measure ROI on the training programmes they conducted or organised?
The (a), (b) and (c) above are the basics of functional knowledge. Which academics does not teach them to measure it? For the failure to measure, I do not blame the respective functionaries. A portion of the blame has to be assigned to top leadership as well. If they had made it mandatory, obviously the respective functionary would have measured those ratios.
There is always a scope for improvement and so in academics as well. However, that does not mean that one should berate the education system altogether. What is needed is a balanced approach and not a perennial repetition of one-sided views.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar