A Survey of the Relationship between Quality Assurance and Employability for Graduates of Japanese Engineering Programs

Transcription

1 A Survey of the Relationship between Quality Assurance and Employability for Graduates of Japanese Engineering Programs Minoru Nakayama Human System Science / CRADLE Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan

2 Introduction Japanese University education (OECD 2009) Adapt to the needs of fulltime students enrolling directly from secondary school and ill-suited to the needs of working adults Higher education institutes were expected by firms to signal the aptitude of graduates, rather than impart specific skills necessary for entry to the firm. The key signal of graduate aptitude for learning was provided by the institution in which the student enrolled: the more selective the institution, the higher the graduate s underlying ability for learning, and the more likely they were to obtain the most highly coveted positions in large firms recruiting in the graduate labour market (MEXT, 2006) MEXT: Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, S &T Development of employability Labour market dramatic changes including working and professional life for both working adults and university graduates 2

3 Purpose of this presentation Engineering faculties Have been providing significant engineers to support high level of economical growth in Japan Address situations surrounding university Current situations of HE institutions in Engineering Quality assurance for teaching / graduates Development of performance evaluation for graduates Career education requirement 3

4 Current HE in Japan Second World War High Growth of The Economy Economical crises 4

5 Graduates selection Bachelors / Masters The N of universities increased in 1990 s Capacity of Master s course grew in 1990 s 5

6 Employment in Industries Bachelors / Masters Many engineers in manufacturing come from the Master course since 1990 s 6

7 Job application Two way of applications for company With recommendation from the department Apply without the recommendation In Engineering Area, many students applied to with the recommendation, recently slightly decreased Period for applying companies Mean period (month) for the job hunting Departments Since the first session with a company Since the first application submission Engineering Social science Total average Source: JILPT report (2005) 7

8 Quality issue in Eng. Education APEC impact (1995) WTO (World Trading Organization) established APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) promoted engineer s mobility Engineer s Qualification issue over countries was pointed out JABEE was established in 1999 Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education JABEE has been inspecting HE institutes for Eng. education JABEE approved by Washington Accord in Leading Universities coalition since 1996 Curriculum reforming, Engineering design courses were created Ex. Robot contest Measuring student s achievement performance 8

9 Bachelor s achievement To observe performance of undergraduates for both Bachelor programs and Master s programs Human performance Degree of recognition requirement and self-evaluation for global engineers Technical competence Degree of understanding for 100 essential keywords in a specific area of Engineering education Feedback to faculty members All survey results are feedback to each organization from the coalition office of 8 universities 9

10 Items of Human performance Keywords Mathematics / Physics and Chemistry / ability to identify new problems / ability to derive solutions / interdisciplinary understanding / identify a method of finding a solution / contribute effectively as a member of a team / communicate in English / coping with different cultures in an international team / technical writing / communicate in mother tongue / presentation skills / gather the information necessary to solve a problem / engineer's ethics / CPD Continuing Professional development / learning habits 10

11 Human performance Recognition required performances and selfassessment using 5-points scale Recognition of essential performance Self assessment Nakayama et al. (2005) 11

12 Technical competence Self-assessment for understanding key knowledge in each engineering area 5 points scale for 100 key words and topics Example of comparison between two universities Mechanical engineering area Source: 8 university coalition for Engineering Education reforming 12

13 Specialized programs Competitive Funding for educational development and improvement by MEXT Establishment for COE: Center for Excellence Main aim : Human resource development Development of diversities in postgraduate schools Development of educational programs for graduated students GP: Good practice Main aim : enhancing educational functions Faculty development program, unique programs for students Promote collaboration faculty members and universities 13

14 University quality assurance All universities are approved by accreditation institutes since 2004 Inspection for university teaching activity by audits Faculty training for writing syllabus, teaching skills and evaluation,, and course assessments by the participated students Peer reviewed for Education and Research activity for all national universities (2009) To strengthen organisational and management foundamentals in order to improve educational and research functions 14

15 Career education Individual career development Corporations have come to put less emphasis on long-term employment, and individuals are increasingly responsible for establishing their own careers (MEXT, 2006) University introduces education and services Invite industrial people to provide practical courses Internships at companies are recommended for students Support for job finding, guidance, matching with industry Various projects to promote student s job hunting Supported by MEXT, some cases were summarized Collaboration with regional government and industry 15

16 Discussion Various factors affecting HEIs, students, & companies How to develop employability for students? How to maintain the quality of university s functions as well as by providing students the employability? 16

17 Summary Current situations of HEI in Japan Engineering Graduates employment, Job application Quality issues in Engineering Education Some measures for Bachelor s achievement in ENG. Quality Assurance for University Various evaluations for universities have been conducting for the global universities Factors surrounding HEIs are discussed To establish a system providing employability for students. 17

18 Thank you very much for Your kind attention!! 18