Bridging The Gap Between Academia And Industry To Focus On Proactive And Capable Workforce: Here's How

Under the new governmental initiatives, such as Aatmanirbharbharat and Make In India, the Indian industry is now focusing on having a proactive and capable workforce to meet international standards

By Maj. Gen. V. S. Ranade

The persistent gap between academia and the corporate world is an ongoing challenge that both parties acknowledge needs to be addressed. The industry dynamics of today's world, characterised by Industry 4.0, bring specific demands for young graduates, including fluctuating financial scenarios, unstable economies, pandemic impacts, varying demand and supply, and the integration of automation and artificial intelligence. In such a scenario, the employment landscape does not look very encouraging, and job security has become a major concern due to economic recessions.

Under the new governmental initiatives, such as Aatmanirbharbharat and Make In India, the Indian industry is now focusing on having a proactive and capable workforce to meet international standards. This calls for fresh graduates to possess suitable skills to tackle the emerging industrial challenges. However, academia faces constraints due to its theory-based curriculum, making it difficult to keep pace with the rapidly changing industry needs.

The foundation phase of a student's education is heavily theory-based, with limited practical exposure to relevant skills. The National Education Policy 2020 has highlighted concerns regarding the fragmented educational ecosystem in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), which often focus on traditional subjects rather than skill development. The finishing phase, where students concentrate on specialisation, still relies heavily on classroom teaching, and internships, once considered vital for capacity building and industry exposure, have lost their relevance.

Identifiable gaps between academia and industry:

Curriculum Gap: The curriculum falls short of industry requirements in the fast-paced and challenging dynamics of today's world.

Internship Gap: Internships are sometimes merely perfunctory exercises, failing to offer skill-based exposure to students.

Faculty Gap: Both faculty and syllabus fall behind the requirements of the industry, leading to a lack of convergence between academia and industry.

Skill Gap: Students often lack technical and soft skills, as finishing schools do not cater to skill development adequately.

University-Industry Interaction Gap: There is limited interaction between universities and industries, leading to outdated syllabi that do not align with industry needs.

Expectations Gap: Students often have unrealistic expectations about the industry, relying solely on their degrees and lacking essential skills and initiative.

Today industry is changing and the markets are looking out towards international intervention. Industry requires skilled hands.

To bridge these gaps, certain steps need to be taken:

Encouraging Out-of-the-Box Thinking: Students should be motivated to think creatively and take a hands-on approach to develop the requisite skills. Few of the activities which need to be conducted is college fests, mock start up with business angle, hackathon Etc. 

Syllabus Interaction: Universities and industries must collaborate to identify industry needs and incorporate practical field exercises into the course curriculum.

Innovative Internship Programmes: Industries should institute internships that include research and fieldwork to provide valuable workplace expertise.

Skill Development Integration: Beyond classroom learning, syllabi should focus on enabling students to develop capacity and enhance their capabilities.

Knowledge Upgrade Ecosystem: Create an ecosystem that facilitates knowledge exchange between faculty and students, and allows flexibility in incorporating cognitive skills in the curriculum.

Industry-Sponsored Skill Development Centres: Collaborative efforts between industry and universities can establish multi-disciplinary skill development centres.

Faculty-Industry Interaction: In addition to student internships, faculty interactions with industries are essential to understanding their requirements.

Overall, it is essential to recognise the persistent gap between academia and the corporate world and work towards bridging it. Simply possessing qualifications is not enough; students must acquire practical skills and industry-relevant knowledge to become employable. In the context of bridging the gap between academia and industry, this means providing students with ample opportunities for hands-on experiences, practical training, and exposure to real-world scenarios. The analogy of teaching someone to catch fish perfectly captures the essence of the problem – involvement and practical experience are essential for effective learning. As Benjamin Franklin wisely put it, "Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember, Involve me and I learn".

We need to set realistic goals practical and achievable. More often than not our curriculum gets entangled under mindless documentation of accreditation process. We are missing the forest for trees. A holistic review of course curriculum is required to include adequate inclusion of practical skill based training to bridge the gap.

The writer is the director at Army Institute of Management, Kolkata.

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