The spanish universities and the employability of its graduates: the strategies to improve it

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The labor market has been changed in the last years, which also widespread debate has arisen about the employability and the university can’t stay away. Building on the importance that has taken the term employability, we propose to know what’s meant by employability and how the Spanish universities can optimize it to their graduates, focusing on two strategies: the design of new curricula and the provision of the career guidance services. The methodologies used to achieve this goal have been the literature review and the websites of Spanish universities review, moreover developing a questionnaire to survey to the heads of the career guidance services at the universities. The results indicate that employability is a complex and dynamic term, with a number of dimensions that influence it, concluding that must be understood as a responsibility shared by the individual, employers, governments and educational institutions. In the design of new curricula, Spanish universities have considered the importance of acquiring skills, promote workplace practice and adjust the degrees to the demands by the employers. However, the real adjust can’t be known until the next years. To support the students in their transition from the academic environment to the labor, the results indicate that the most of the Spanish universities offer career and vocational guidance services to their students. We conclude that incorporate employability as a strategic line in all university activities remains a priority activity.