Bridging Industry-Academia Gap through Work Placement

 

Bridging Industry-Academia Gap through Work Placement

Mubashir Husain Rehmani

The writer teaches Computer Science at Munster Technological University (MTU), Ireland.

 

This column is published in Pakistan Today Newspaper on 05th Nov 2021.

Link: https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/11/05/bridging-industry-academia-gap-through-work-placement/ 

 

The interview panel of a renowned company is taking interviews for candidates in multiple locations including Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi. Tens of candidates (fresh graduates) vigorously appeared in the interview, but none of those were selected. The interview panel finally decided to avoid hiring fresh graduates and instead giving preference to experienced candidates. This dismal situation is normal for fresh graduates in Pakistan. While some students may find their place in companies, for many this is unexpected and results in disappointment.

 

The undergraduate curriculum of universities in Pakistan comprises of state-of-the-art subjects focusing recent technologies and it develops skills set. Moreover, state-of-the-art pedagogical material for assessment is used (at least in theory). Foreign trained PhD faculty is teaching these courses and above all, Higher Education Commission (HEC) ensures to revise the curriculum time and again through National Curriculum Revision Committees (NCRCs). On top of it, accreditation bodies such as Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) also plays a pivotal role and ensures quality within the programmes offered. They do so by maintaining teacher-student ratio, resource provisioning, and a systematic check and balance system is prevailing in undergraduate programmes in universities. 

 

The question is what's wrong with the undergraduate curriculum of Pakistani universities? Are these universities intellectually barren? Why fresh graduates cannot be appointed by the top-notch companies? One reason could be the industry-academia gap and work placement is inevitable to bridge this gap. This is work placement i.e., four months training of students in companies or industry, which gives student confidence and enables them to understand the needs of the industry. Though trend of work placement is increasing among students during their undergraduate studies (summer vacations) but there is a dire need to include work placement as an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum.

When we look at the four years undergraduate curriculum of any engineering university, we can say that undergraduate students normally take 40 courses in four years engineering programme i.e., roughly 5 courses in each semester. In the starting semesters, fundamental courses are delivered and as students progress towards higher semesters, more specialized courses are delivered to them. However, during their course of studies, they don’t get enough understanding to the need of the industry.

In the final year, students are required to undertake a final year project (FYP) which last during two semesters. However, there is no requirement to associate your FYP to any industry. Similarly, students are not required to do any work placement. In fact, work placements are not the part of curriculum of undergraduate studies. In contrast, if we look at the curriculum of undergraduate studies in developed countries, mostly work placement is mandatory for students.

Much has been written on advantages of work placement but we highlight few apparent ones. With work placement, students get some remuneration. This will give confidence to the students that they have started earnings even during their undergraduate studies and may help students to achieve financial self-sustainability and autonomy. Additionally, work placement will help them to map what they have learned during their first three years of undergraduate studies to the actual problem faced and how to use their knowledge in practical scenario.

After returning from work placement, students see the world in a different manner. When taking new courses in last semesters, they will take more interest and try to relate what they will learn to the actual problems i.e., applications of that subject/course to the real life problems. Students will also be able to make their contacts in the companies/organizations/industry. This will then help them to secure jobs after finishing their studies.

This work placement will introduce the students about the real implementation of tools and techniques they learn in industry. This will also enable them to understand about industry and help in developing problem solving skills. It will also help them to meet deadlines and organize themselves and work as a team member. It will enhance their written and communication skills.

From the perspective of industry, it will also get benefit from these work placements both in regional socio-economical development and to solve the problems they are facing. More precisely, first, if industry solves the same problem by hiring any individual they may have to pay higher as compared to these work placement students. Second, in some start-ups, it is not feasible to hire at early stage dedicated employee to solve the problem they are facing. Thus, this four month work placement can help them to alleviate such problems quickly and with less cost. Third, work placement will enable industry to train students well in advance so that once they finish their studies; they are ready to start directly on the assigned job.

Finally, work placement will reduce the gap between industry and academia and thus help the regional growth and promote local talent. In the context of Pakistan, there is a need to design undergraduate programmes specifically catering the needs of the industry and work placement is one such need. This could be realised by industry-academic liaison committee which investigates the need of the industry and provide input during the curriculum revision. The reputation of Pakistani universities will be sullied if such actions will not be taken place.

Students may take elective courses if they are not interested in pursuing work placement but this should be discouraged. However, in exception circumstances, if student still want to take electives, then those courses somehow should enable students to get similar experience of work placement. Such courses may include entrepreneurship, a project, and any other related modules that develop the same skill set in students.

 

The writer teaches Computer Science at Munster Technological University (MTU), Ireland.

Twitter: @MRehmani