Universities should co-design curricula with employers to improve graduate employability instead of consulting industry leaders only at the end of the process, a dean of graduate studies has said.

Speaking at the ߣߣ��Ƶ Europe Universities Summit in Milan, Carlo Salvato, who is also the deputy rector at the city’s Bocconi University, urged universities to “break the silos” between curriculum design, career services offered by institutions and employer engagement. 

“We professors are fabulous at coming up with a curriculum without asking employers whether they are really interested in what we teach,” he said. 

He described career services as traditionally “downstream”. Employers are consulted only after the courses have already been developed, he explained.

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“Involving employers in the beginning is critical,” he said, acknowledging that it is easier in business, finance and economics fields, but much more difficult in others. “I understand it can be difficult. But it is essential.”

“Co-designing with employers without releasing our responsibility as academics to do research and develop new concepts is integral…Employers should be involved as a sounding board and to future-proof [curriculum],” he added. 

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While employers themselves sometimes do not have clear answers about what skills will be needed in the future, ongoing dialogue between them and universities was crucial, he said.

Levente Kovács, the rector of Obuda University in Hungary, said the rapid pace of changes in the labour market has made it increasingly difficult to adapt course material. “For example, we’re seeing that when freshmen enter university, when they graduate, new jobs will appear that didn’t exist when they first joined the university.”

He added that universities need to “look in the mirror” and determine whether what they are offering is really up to date. “If it’s not up to date, then how fast can you adapt your curriculum? In our case, we adapt it every five years.”

Ulkar Sattarova, director of the State Agency for Science and Higher Education in Azerbaijan, agreed that traditional timelines may no longer be sufficient, adding that a five-year curriculum cycle is “too much” in fields such as IT, computer sciences and “many, many others”. 

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“Sometimes, [academics] are too afraid to change something, as we get used to it. We need to be a little more brave to stop what we have done and try to make it in a different manner,” she added. 

She said her country was piloting programmes that embed entrepreneurial education across a wide range of fields, not just business-related subjects, to boost employability among graduates. 

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com