Švietimo mainų paramos fondas€¦ · Švietimo mainų paramos fondas Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania and Europe Education Exchanges

Darbdavių požiūris į Lietuvoje ir Europoje vykstančius aukštojo mokslo pokyčius

Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuaniaand Europe

Darbdavių požiūris į Lietuvoje ir Europoje

vykstančius aukštojo mokslo pokyčius

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Švietimo mainų paramos fondasEducation Exchanges Support Foundation

education exchanges support foundation

Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place

in Lithuania and Europe

Vilnius, 2010

Prepared by: Education Exchanges Support Foundation

Layout, editing, printing by: UAB Arx Baltica

Print run: 500 copies

Your opinion is important to us! please send your comments about this publication by e-mail: info@smpf.

this publication reflects only the author’s views, and the commission can not be held liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

© education exchanges support foundation, 2010 all rights reserved. please cite source.

Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................4

Research summary .......................................................................................................8

I. Research Report ..................................................................................................... 18

1.1 problem .......................................................................................................... 19

1.2 research goal and objectives ................................................................. 22

1.3 research methodology and methods ................................................. 24

1.4 demographic distributions of respondents ...................................... 29

II. Analysis of research data and recommendations ................................. 32

2.1 significance of the qualification awarded by higher education:

the respondents’ views ............................................................................ 33

2.2 assessment of the Bologna process .................................................... 47

2.3 communication and information awareness ................................... 64

III. Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................... 76

IV. Comments by the Members of the National Bologna

Experts Group ....................................................................................................... 86

Vidmantas tūtlys, Jolita Butkienė – interaction of studies and

business in Lithuania: problems and prospects ..................................... 87

arūnas Mark – analysis of results of the survey “employers’

approach to changes in higher education taking place

in Lithuania and europe” and their comparison with the

opinion of students and graduates ......................................................116

V. Annexes ...................................................................................................................126

5.1 significance of higher education qualification:

respondent views .....................................................................................127

5.2 assessment of the Bologna process ..................................................136

5.3 communication and information awareness.................................144

5.4 Questionnaire for company Managers ............................................152

4

INTRODUCTION

5

higher education today cannot be separated from the world

of work. When analyzing the basic objectives of the Bologna

process – a european higher education area compatibility tool,

it is not hard to notice that besides the internal institutional

changes, more and more attention is paid to the compatibility of

science and market needs.

considering the prevailing tendencies, the education exchanges

support foundation, a Lithuanian national agency assigned the

administration of the Life Long Learning programme along with

other initiatives in the field of educational and vocational training

and financed by the european commission and the republic of

Lithuania, has been implementing project „national Bologna

experts group“ since 2009. this project is aimed at the analysis of

cooperation between employers and higher education sectors.

this ongoing project is supported by the european commission

and administered by the education exchanges support

foundation. the main objective is to spread information on the

guidelines of the Bologna process and to present the methods

aimed at development and improvement of the european higher

education area. in the spring of 2010, the education exchanges

support foundation, together with the public institution

social information and training agency, performed a survey to

assess the attitude of the representatives of the business sector

(including employers, professional organizations, labor unions)

towards the implementation of the Bologna process in europe as

well as relevant fluctuation of the Lithuanian higher education

and study system. it was the first survey of this nature in Lithuania;

6

it revealed the labor market’s perspectives as well as a connection

to higher education.

the publication, presented for your attention, is divided into

two parts: presentation of the results of the survey „employers’

approach to changes in higher education taking place in

Lithuania and europe,“ and analytical articles of the Bologna

experts. the publication is aimed at those who are interested in

higher education and the tendencies of cooperation between

higher education and the business sector.

We hope that you will have use for this information and that it will

give you a wider picture of the tendencies as well as the obstacles

of cooperation between higher education and business.

Daiva Šutinytė

Director

Education Exchanges Support Foundation

7

8

RESEARCh SUMMARy

9

the Bologna process started in 1999, after higher education

ministers from 29 european countries first met in Bologna and

launched the process by signing the Bologna declaration. the

document became a political factor and an impetus within the

framework of higher education systems of these countries in the

attempt to unite previously different higher education systems into

a common european area. the reforms in the sphere of education,

undertaken in Lithuania and the european union, are aimed at

creating a common european area for higher education, which

could ensure training of highly qualified specialists for the labour

market and a close cooperation between the representatives of

the labour sector (employers, professional associations and trade

unions) and higher education institutions. even though significant

attention was given to address these problems, they have not

yet been dealt with in the country. research goal is to assess

the views of labour sector representatives (business employers,

professional associations, trade unions) on the introduction of

the Bologna process in europe and Lithuania, the changes within

the system of Lithuanian higher education and studies related to

the above mentioned process, to submit proposals regarding a

more effective engagement of the labour sector representatives

in the reform of higher education and the type of communication

measures used to attain this purpose.

Mixed research methods were used to conduct the research in

question, following the so-called general plan. it combines both

descriptive and analytical plan elements. for the collection of

empirical data both quantitative and qualitative methods were

used. a representative questionnaire was designed to survey

10

employers (quantitative method). the application of this method

made it possible to analyse the general total of employers,

with the aim of reflecting it with a 5 per cent error (with a total

of 1237 respondents) and focus groups (qualitative method).

in this way employers representing branch organizations of

business companies (Lithuanian confederation of industrialists,

its sectoral branches, company organizations of the service

sector, etc.), representatives of professional associations and

organizations as well as trade unions were surveyed. application

and harmonisation of quantitative and qualitative methods is one

of the main methodological principles underlying this research.

the research started with employer survey by questionnaire. on

the basis of the questionnaire statistically significant and credible

data were collected. Later quantitative data were further analysed

and developed via focus groups.

the Bologna declaration identified how and which tools should

be used to create a common european area for higher education,

that is, via the adoption of a common framework of readable and

comparable degrees based on the creation of a two-step system

of course degrees in higher education, also the introduction of

undergraduate and postgraduate levels in all countries, introduction

of a system of credits, the elimination of remaining obstacles to

the free mobility of students and university teachers, pursuit of a

european dimension in quality assurance and in general promotion

of the european dimension in higher education. in general, it can

be stated that the research highlighted heterogeneous, often

controversial views held by labour sector representatives on higher

education in Lithuania and europe and made an analysis of their

11

interest in the problems of higher education and the Bologna

process. furthermore, assessment was made of respondent

awareness about the subject in question and of the factors exerting

influence on the difference in respondent views on the Bologna

process, its implementation in Lithuania as well as related reforms.

the research also aimed at identifying potential mechanisms of

more actively engaging labour sector representatives into the

implementation of the Bologna process and effective partnership.

the research was focused on the phenomenon of higher

education, which was analysed through the prism of generalized

opinions given by respondents. it would be reasonable to assume

that, alongside with other circumstances, employer interest in

the development and changes of higher education would be

greater if a tangible need for highly qualified graduates were

more perceived in the labour market. however, the data collected

provide proof to the contrary – the majority of employers surveyed

clearly do not identify a shortage of such employees as a problem

(68 per cent). Manufacturing and public sector companies as well

as large companies turned out to more frequently have a demand

for highly qualified persons with tertiary education, accounting

for 32, 25 and 31 per cent, respectively. the research findings

show that at the most about one third of employers claims they

have a demand for highly qualified employees with a certain

tertiary educational background.

strategic documents on the Bologna process and higher

education in Lithuania as well as relevant legal acts highlight the

quality of higher education. research data show that only a small

12

group of employers relate a higher quality of higher education to

a more efficient company performance (15,2 per cent). this factor

is not regarded as crucial for company performance. professional

experience is more frequently regarded as a more significant

factor contributing to company performance. representatives of

the manufacturing sector tend to more frequently (establishing

a statistically significant difference) think that the level of higher

education is important for company performance. a significant

part of respondents claim to have no clear opinion about company

performance, they find it difficult to reflect on the relationship

between education and company performance efficiency.

the research showed that in general employers have quite a

positive opinion on the compatibility between knowledge,

practical skills and general competencies acquired by graduates

of higher educational institutions and the requirements identified

by companies. due to insufficient information, a significant group

of respondents found it quite difficult to assess the compatibility

of higher education obtained abroad with Lithuanian business

needs. only a very insignificant group of representatives of

the manufacturing sector claim that the knowledge acquired

by the Bachelor and Master students at the Lithuanian higher

educational institutions fully meet company needs, whereas in

the service sector the corresponding group of respondents is

much more numerous. the most positive assessment of Bachelor

knowledge came from respondents representing limited liability

companies, cooperative companies, insurance companies and

budgetary institutions, the most negative one from respondents

representing joint stock companies and public institutions.

13

research data showed that employers find it important for a

potential employee to have a diploma awarded by a Lithuanian

higher educational institution (the possession of a diploma is

several times more important for public sector employers). one

fifth of respondents does not find it significant; the majority

of respondents attach no significance to diplomas granted by

eu higher education institutions, let alone to the possession

of a Lithuanian or any other eu member state diploma; the

majority think that the applicant should have experience in his/

her professional field gained in Lithuanian companies, present

good references from other employers and possess good social

skills. respondent responses give proof that most employers are

focused on a whole set of applicants‘ traits. from the point of view

of a transnational aspect, respondents place slightly more priority

on acquiring professional experience in foreign companies rather

than on formal education abroad. Most of them also voice a positive

opinion about the education abroad. according to employers,

studies abroad contribute towards a quality education. they also

believe that a more advanced mentality helps foreign graduates

upon coming home to implement new ideas in Lithuania, including

company level. the employers rejecting the benefit of foreign

education base their sceptical attitude on the opinion that most

Lithuanian students studying abroad settle in a foreign country

and eventually there is little benefit for all parties concerned.

research data highlighted prevailing employer views on various

aspects of the Bologna process. coordinators of this process in

Lithuania should first and foremost consider the fact that one third

of respondents recognized the importance of diploma to their

14

business, that is not on the abstract level. it would be meaningful

to make this statistical indicator public in employer associations

and on the level of education policy, which even today emphasizes

the importance of diploma recognition in Lithuania. employer

awareness and their engagement in the international Bologna-

related discourse is also indirectly reflected by another indicator –

about one third of employers is to a different degree aware of the

confederation of european Business, an active participant of the

Bologna process on the international level.

Quality improvement in higher education and a better match

with labour market needs has been identified by about half of

employers as important. Large companies and organizations

identify it as a priority more frequently than small companies.

employers representing the manufacturing sector are most

frequent in identifying the significance of matching the quality

in higher education with the needs of labour market for their

business. one of the reasons could be the factor that adjusting

or upgrading qualification is comparatively more difficult in

the manufacturing sector than in retail trade, for example. an

assumption could be made that a hunt for suitable employees

with higher educational background today is most relevant in the

sphere of production. the frequency of manufacturing companies

looking for relevant specialists in higher education institutions is

much higher and is statistically significant.

a successful implementation of the Bologna process can

hardly be ensured without a many-sided cooperation with

social partners. research data reflect two more prevalent forms

15

of such cooperation between higher education institutions

and employers – either company employees upgrade their

professional qualification in higher educational institutions

or higher education students have practice placement at the

company (large and medium companies are more frequent in

arranging student practice placement). Quite often company

employees share their professional experience with higher

education students or address higher education institutions in

their hunt for relevant specialists. few companies hold company

presentations in a higher educational institution or arrange

company visits for students. this is natural because such practice

is usually followed by major innovative companies. it should

be noted that manufacturing companies are the most active

partners of higher education institutions. it would serve the

interests of higher education institutions to benefit from such a

comparatively favourable attitude by manufacturing companies

and to promote cooperation with trade and service companies. in

general, the researchers would advise the contracting authority

which commissioned the research to translate the findings related

to cooperation with employers for public use, so that Lithuanian

higher education institutions know what the state of play is.

in terms of further developing the system of higher education, the

following research data might be of interest: only an insignificant

group of employers think that higher education reforms in

Lithuania exert a positive impact on business development,

contribute towards training highly qualified specialists and

promote cooperation between business companies and higher

education institutions in the sphere of research, technological

16

development and other fields. on the contrary, respondents

tend to more frequently claim that higher education reforms in

Lithuania exert a comparatively insignificant impact on business

development. this is accounted for by the following reasons:

higher education reforms are designed and implemented

disregarding business needs, they are restricted to internal

restructuring of higher education system and basically are not

aimed at making the system of higher education more open or

promoting its cooperation with business sector.

the data collected during the research show that half of

respondents is not interested in higher education processes –

regardless of whether they are implemented in Lithuania or

europe. the other half of respondents falls into several subgroups:

one third of respondents who answered the question claimed to

follow the information related to changes in higher education,

an insignificant group are interested in these processes in europe

and one sixth of all respondents is interested in the processes

related to higher education both in Lithuania and europe. this

leads to the conclusion that less than one tenth of respondents is

well informed of the Bologna process. such a situation, alongside

with other circumstances, is undoubtedly related to the flexibility

and efficiency of information provision about higher education

processes in Lithuania and europe – one fifth of respondents

demonstrates a firm willingness to be more informed about the

Bologna process, and another one third of respondents claims

they want to be informed but with an element of doubt. employers

from the manufacturing sector and representatives of large and

medium companies are most frequent among those interested.

17

18

I. RESEARCh REpORT

19

1.1. problem

the Bologna process started in 1999, after higher education

ministers from 29 european countries first met in Bologna and

launched the process by signing the Bologna declaration. the

document became a political factor and an impetus within the

framework of higher education systems of these countries in the

attempt to unite previously different higher education systems

into a common european area. the reforms in the sphere of

education, undertaken in Lithuania and the european union, are

aimed at creating a common area for higher education, which

could ensure training of highly qualified specialists for the labour

market and a close cooperation between the representatives

of the labour sector (employers, professional associations

and trade unions) and higher education establishments.

even though significant attention was given to address these

problems, they have not yet been solved in the country. the

Bologna declaration identified how and which tools should be

used to create a common european area for higher education,

that is, via the adoption of a common framework of readable

and comparable degrees based on the creation of a two-

step system of course degrees in higher education, also the

introduction of undergraduate and postgraduate levels in all

countries, introduction of a system of credits, the elimination

of remaining obstacles to the free mobility of students and

university teachers, pursuit of a european dimension in quality

assurance and in general promotion of the european dimension

in higher education.

20

the analysis of the main goals1 of the Bologna process discloses the overall objective of the phenomenon in question, which is the focus on the internationalization of studies on different levels: student and teacher mobility, competencies relevant to the contemporary market of the european countries, an active interaction among higher education establishments, etc. to a certain extent, the goals of the Bologna process could also be related to the trends of mass higher education, an increased focus on the market needs among them. at its inception, elite higher education highlighted the importance of free arts and trained representatives of merely certain exceptional professions, such as lawyers, priests and physicians, whereas mass higher education seeks to satisfy market needs and train specialists of a very wide range of professions.2

on the articulation level, references towards the interaction of higher education and market are also found in many Lithuanian legal acts and strategic documents regulating higher education. in the course of time, a more pronounced focus on internationalization of studies has been observed in these documents. for the sake of comparison the following examples could be provided – the Law on higher education (2000) and the Law on science and studies (1009). the preamble of the former Law states that “The objective of higher education is to develop an educated personality and society with an aptitude for learning, with knowledge of the latest technologies and cultural values, to create, accumulate and disseminate scientific

1 creating a common area for higher education. ensuring high quality education both for euro-pean citizens and foreign students. promoting competitiveness and attractiveness of the european education system. training highly qualified specialists for the european labour market. promoting teacher and student mobility. fostering the tranparency and flexibility of higher education system.

2 Želvys r. Aukštojo mokslo plėtra ir akademinė didaktika, (development of higher education and academic didactics) in. acta paedagogica ViLnensia. 2005 /14.

21

knowledge and cultural values, and to foster a specific character of

national culture. As an essential precondition of the State’s future

spiritual and material prosperity, higher education shall promote

the creation of new knowledge and cultural values through studies,

research or artistic creation.”

an analogous preamble of the other Law states that The Mission of

science and studies is to help ensure the prosperity of the society, culture

and economy in the country, serve as a point of support and incentive

for the individual to reach a full-fledged life every citizen of the Republic

of Lithuania is entitled to, as well as satisfy an inherent pursuit of

knowledge. The policy of Lithuanian science and studies guarantees the

quality of science and studies, equal rights of all citizens to acquire higher

education and provide conditions for the best graduates to engage in

scientific research and pursue scientific and creative development, seeks

to ensure that the system of science and studies matches societal and

economic needs, supports its openness and integration into international

area for scientific research and higher education. A sustainable system

of science and studies preconditions the development of a knowledge-

based society, growth of a knowledge-based economy and a sustainable

development of the country, a dynamic and competitive economic life of

the country, social and economic welfare; develops a creative, integral,

educated and ethically responsible personality engaged in civic and

entrepreneurship activities; promotes Lithuania‘s civilizational identity,

supports, develops and creates national and global culture traditions.

having compared the above mentioned key legal documents,

most of us would probably agree that during the last decade, at

least on the level of legal articulation, the focus on market needs

22

and internationalization of higher education increased. existing

empirical data suggests that these two aspects are also relevant to

higher education customers. the findings of the research on The

Student Views towards Improving the System of Higher Education,

conducted by the science and studies Monitoring and analysis

centre (Mosta) (2008) reveals students‘ increased interest in the

perspective of a chosen specialty on the jobs market, good material

prospects and potential opportunities to study abroad3.

discussions about the functionality of higher education have

been going on all the time. it goes without saying that employers

could be among the best experts both in assessing the need of

higher education graduates in the market and evaluating the

quality of their training. the above mentioned survey provided

new representative data on both these aspects.

1.2. Research goals and objectives

Research goal is to assess the views of labour sector representatives

(business employers, professional associations, trade unions) on the

introduction of the Bologna process in europe and Lithuania, the

changes within the system of Lithuanian higher education and studies

related to the above mentioned process, to submit proposals regarding

a more effective involvement of the labour sector representatives in

the reform of higher education and to identify which communication

measures should be used to attain this purpose.

3 analysis of education problems: what predetermines the quality of studies: www.smm.lt (condition of education).

23

Research objectives:

evaluate to what extent representatives of the labour sector 1. show interest in the problems of higher education and the Bologna process, by disclosing the reasons of such interest or lack of interest;identify the needs and expectations of labour sector 2. representatives, which are related to higher education and studies, by disclosing the interaction between the above mentioned needs and expectations and the Bologna process (how the implementation of the Bologna process could contribute towards satisfying those needs); define and assess the main factors which exert an influence 3. on the way labour market representatives assess the Bologna process, its implementation in Lithuania and related reforms in one way or another; identify optimal potential ways of a more active engagement 4. of labour sector representatives into the implementation of the Bologna process and development of higher education in Lithuania as well as mechanisms of effective partnership.

Research stages:

developing the system of assessment criteria and indicators 1.

related to the subject under research;

elaborating research instrumentarium, conducting pilot 2.

research, refining the instrumentarium and coordinating it

with the procuring organization;

conducting a representative survey of employers based on 3.

the questionnaire and document analysis;

24

carrying out document analysis, establishing focus groups; 4.

generalizing findings and presenting them in a research 5.

report.

1.3. Research methodology and methods

this research carried out according to the objectives formulated by

the customer and the programme prepared for the competition

is a mixed one by the nature of the so-called general plan: it unites

elements of both a descriptive and analytical plan. Main principles

of the research methodologies, as the whole of theoretical and

empirical procedures, in this research are as follows:

the use and coordination of quantitative and qualitative 1.

methods seeking to implement the objectives of the research.

assurance of reliability procedures required in social 2.

research: selection, collection, storing of data, the use of

descriptive and long-time statistics bringing out tendencies

of the phenomena being analysed and their statistical

significance, etc.

Research methods

When collecting empirical data the following quantitative and

qualitative methods were applied:

a representative questionnaire-based survey of the employers 1.

(quantitative method). When applying this method, the

general total of employers was surveyed seeking to represent

25

it within a 5 per cent error. the respondents of the survey

totalled 1237. reliability of the data selection was ensured by

means of a thorough random selection and reliability of the

data collection – by anonymity, the time necessary to answer

the questionnaire, the design of questionnaires and other

principles.

focus groups (qualitative method). focus group (or a group 2.

interview: 8 - 12 participants) provides the possibility to

collect data about the respondents’ opinions and at the

same time study their interaction. the opinion exchange

conception characteristic of this type of interview determines

a spontaneous response of the participants, and stimulates a

discussion. a group discussion presents more ideas and ways of

solving the problem than an individual conversation. the focus

group provided necessary information seeking to implement,

first and foremost, problems 3 and 4 of the technical task. in this

way, the representatives of branch organisations of business

companies (the Lithuanian confederation of industrialists, its

branch subdivisions, organisations of companies of the service

sector), trade organisations and associations, and trade unions

were interviewed.

the analysis of documents. By means of this analysis the 3.

object under research was operationalized bringing out the

most significant features of the Bologna process and later

interpreting the data from the theoretical point of view.

the application and harmonisation of quantitative and qualitative

research methods is one of the most essential principles of

research methodology. first of all, a questionnaire survey of

26

employers was carried out. it enabled statistically significant and

reliable quantitative data to be collected. Later the quantitative

data were deepened and developed with the help of the focus

groups.

Substantiation of the validity of the research

the validity of the research is usually checked by making the

conceptions, hypotheses, and variables more accurate, by

collecting, analysing, generalising the data and formulating

the conclusions. since the research is aimed at assessing, it is

based not only on theoretical assumptions and deductions but

also on experimental and practical knowledge of the Bologna

process. the validity of selecting the research indicators –

variables under study – is checked according to the criteria

of logic validity (substantiation) – by the assessment made

by specialists and experts or the variables chosen adequately

identify and measure the phenomenon under investigation

and its features. the pilot investigation played a significant

role in determining the (logical) validity of the construct in

which empirical indicators were purified (rejecting the non-

valid ones) and instruments of the experiment were tested.

the internal validity of the research, defining the validity of

the relation between the variables and the analysis, is assured

both at the above-mentioned stage of selection of indicators

and the measurement adequacy and by strictly complying

with the requirements set to the collection and analysis of the

mathematical data.

27

Assurance of reliability of collecting and processing the research data

reliability of collecting the data is assured following the principles

of anonymity, control, and the time necessary to answer to the

questions presented in the questionnaire, etc. highly qualified

interviewers with social education who have received special

instructions carried out the questionnaire survey. the interviewers

explained the questions that were not quite clear in a neutral way

so as to not influence the answers. When checking the reliability

of data collection, a repeated contact is usually established with

a part of the respondents. the principles of respondent selection,

compliance with the requirements set out in the questionnaire

are checked. When assuring the reliability of data processing, a

5 per cent data array was randomly checked at the data coding

stage.

the quantitative analysis of the research data is based on

descriptive and multidimensional statistics. When analysing

primary empirical data by means of methods of descriptive

statistics, characteristics of the data position, central tendencies,

frequency distribution and their interrelation are used. only

the differences with a statistical significance higher than 0.05

are analysed. that is, answers of the respondents belonging to

different groups vary considerably, hence, with the probability

being greater than 95 per cent, it can be stated that the differences

are characteristic of the entire general set. primary empirical data

were processed using spss 17 for Windows (statistical package

for social sciences) programme.

28

Statistical error of the data

When assessing the results, attention is to be paid to a •statistical error. it occurs because selection of the respondents is made rather than a continuous survey is carried out. this error is calculated mathematically. errors with a different number of respondents and the •distribution of answers are presented in the below table.

Table 1.1.1 Errors with different number of respondents and the distribution

of answers

Distribution of answers 50 45/55 40/60 35/65 30/70 25/75 20/80 15/85 10/90 5/95

Sample size

10 31 30.8 30.4 29.6 28.4 26.8 24.8 22.1 18.6 13.530 17.9 17.8 17.5 17.1 16.4 15.5 14.3 12.8 10.7 7.850 13.9 13.8 13.6 13.2 12.7 12 11.1 9.9 8.3 675 11.3 11.3 11.1 10.8 10.4 9.8 9.1 8.1 6.8 4.9

100 9.8 9.8 9.6 9.3 9 8.5 7.8 7 5.9 4.3150 8 8 7.8 7.6 7.3 6.9 6.4 5.7 4.8 3.5200 6.9 6.9 6.8 6.6 6.4 6 5.5 4.9 4.2 3300 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.2 4.9 4.5 4 3.4 2.5400 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.2 3.9 3.5 2.9 2.1500 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.2 4 3.8 3.5 3.1 2.6 1.9600 4 4 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.5 3.2 2.9 2.4 1.7700 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.2 3 2.6 2.2 1.6800 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.2 3 2.8 2.5 2.1 1.5900 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.1 3 2.8 2.6 2.3 2 1.4

1 000 3.1 3.1 3 3 2.8 2.7 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.4

29

1.4. Demographic distribution of respondents

Figure 1.1.1 Distribution of companies by type of activity (in percentage)

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0Manufacturing Trade Services Mixed activities

(manufacturing and trade)

13.617.0

56.6

12.8

Figure 1.1.2Distribution of enterprises by the number of people employed

(in percentage)

40.0

35.0

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0Micro (1-10 employees)

Small (11-50 employees)

Medium (51-250

employees)

Large (>250 employees)

36.6

19.7

24.7

19,.0

30

Figure 1.1.2 Distribution of enterprises by the sector being represented

(in percentage)

private 66 %

public 34 %

Table 1.1.2 Distribution of enterprises by the Company legal status

Legal status %

individual enterprise (iĮ) 7.7

public company (aB) 33.4

private company (uaB) 20.5

agricultural company 2.1

cooperative company 3.5

general partnership 3.7

insurance company 2.4

public institution 9.1

foundation 2.1

Budgetary institution 11.2

subsidiary 2.2

other 2.1

31

32

II. ANALySIS OF RESEARCh DATA AND RECOMMENDATIONS

33

2.1. Significance of the qualification awarded by higher education: the respondents’ views

the countries that signed the Bologna declaration committed

themselves to create the european higher education area and

with that end in view:

to implement the system of grades that is easily •understandable and comparable between the states (making use of the documents of diploma supplements for that purpose) seeking to strengthen competitiveness of the european citizens in the labour market and competitiveness of the european system of higher education in the international space; to implement a two-cycle system of higher education (following •the Berlin communiqué – a three-cycle system) consisting of main (basic) and post-graduate (Master’s, doctoral) studies. the right to the studies of the second cycle should be granted to the individuals who have successfully completed studies of the first cycle that last for at least three years. a degree granted upon completion of studies of higher education of the first cycle must be recognised in the european labour market; to implement the system of credits (similar to that of ects), •as an important measure to support students’ mobility; to support academic mobility; •to support european cooperation ensuring the quality of •science and higher education.

34

the implementation of a three-cycle study system in Lithuania that started more than ten years ago has gained momentum and is understandable to the public. the implementation of a three-cycle study system is not only a formal change and structuring of the duration of studies but it is an internal reform of the study programmes of the european scope, the creation of a common system of graduates’ qualifications recognised in all the countries of the european union, this is coordination of the reforms being carried out in different states. though the greatest progress in Lithuania has been made in introducing the system of cycles, there are still spheres to be improved, as in the system of grades, for moving from one stage to a higher one, as well as the national structure of qualifications. one of ten priorities of improving the european higher education area within the forthcoming decade provided for in the Leuven communiqué (2009) is the employment of the graduates. the countries participating in the process agreed in Leuven that the main objective of the evolution of the european higher education within the immediate decade was the curriculum reform and the renewal of methods oriented towards the student and his/her study attainments. the priority previously given to the characteristics of the study process organisation and the development of academic scientific subjects should be removed and given to the studying individual, his/her needs and capabilities, which are determined by the labour market and the agreement of all partners in the study process. therefore one of the thematic blocks presented in the research analyses whether the existing three-cycle system is clearly understood by the employers, whether it influences the efficiency of company performance and what impact the graduates’ study attainments (knowledge, practical skills, general competencies) exert on it.

35

first of all, the respondents were asked the question whether

a shortage of specialists with higher education was felt in the

branch of business that they represented (see figure 2.1.1). the

answers partly confirmed the opinion that there existed a certain

overproduction of the graduates with higher education in the

country.

Figure 2.1.1 Is a shortage of specialists with higher education felt

in the branch of business represented by the respondents (in percentage)?

Currently there is no shortage of specialists with higher education

There is a shortage of specialists having professional Bachelor’s degree (college, i.e. non-university graduates)

There is only a shortage of specialists with higher university education

yes, there is a great shortage of specialists with higher university or

non-university (college) education

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

68

5

8

17

the comparison of some variables showed that there exist

statistically significant differences according to a number of

demographical features. in some cases, the relation is not only

significant but, as the correlation analysis shows, also strong

enough. for example, 32 per cent of the representatives in

the sphere of manufacture, 9 per cent – in the sphere of trade

and 12 per cent in the sphere of services stated that there was

36

a shortage of specialists with higher education; 80 per cent

of the representatives of the service sphere and 45 per cent of

representatives in the sphere of manufacture stated that there

was no shortage of such specialists (significance of the statistical

relation between the variables is p-0,001).

even more considerable differences were recorded when

comparing the respondents’ answers about a shortage of

specialists according to the size of the company: p-0,001 and

correlation between the variables is clearly noticeable when

measured in the standards of social sciences: r-0,3. hence, 12

per cent of the representatives of small companies and 32 per

cent of the respondents representing large companies stated

that there was a shortage of the said specialists, whereas 88 per

cent of the representatives of small companies and 46 per cent

of the representatives of large companies stated there was no

shortage of such employees. also, the significance of a statistical

relation was recorded with respect to another variable – privacy/

publicity of the company. for example, only 13 per cent of the

representatives of the private sector noted that they lacked

specialists with higher university and non-university education,

whereas only 26 per cent of the representatives of the public

sector shared that opinion. such answers are without doubt to be

valued taken into consideration the labour market of the country,

which has shrunk considerably due to the economic crisis and

the decreased demand for labour force.

the opinion that education of a higher level is almost a self-

contained value is quite common in the community of the

37

educators. from the aspect of economic efficiency it might be

thought that high education helps create production of a higher

value added, of course, if differences between levels of education,

first of all, Bachelor and Master, are really essential and qualitative

rather than “paper” ones. the assumption can be made that a large

part of employers have encountered a problem of this type when

a diploma did not mean any knowledge obtained. therefore a

respective question has been formulated to the employers (see

figure 2.1.2).

Figure 2.1.2 Does the kind of a diploma of higher education (Bachelor,

Master or Doctoral) awarded to the Company employees have influence the results of the Company performance?

(in percentage)

No opinion

Totally irrelevant, has no impact on Company performance

probably irrelevant, because it is not diploma but professional experience that

matters for Company performance

It is a relevant factor, but not one that would determine effective Company performance

Extremely relevant, because higher level education has direct impact on Company’s

successful performance0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

21

7

26

30

15

general distributions seen in figure 2.1.2 show that only a

smaller part of employees regard education of a higher level as

being of great importance to the efficiency of the activity of the

38

company. one can think that such answers are related to several

circumstances. firstly, a larger number of Lithuanian companies

do not create goods and services of very high value added and

higher education in this case naturally is not a great necessity.

secondly, one can think that the answers were influenced by

the already mentioned “rubbing away” of different boundaries

between the levels of education – first between the Bachelor

and Master’s studies. thirdly, professional practical capabilities

and social skills are really very important in present-day

companies alongside formal education. for example, when

looking through the job advertisements one notices that a

large part of employers require from the potential workers

responsibility, the capability to work in a team, to be able to

adapt to a new surrounding, etc., that is, the already mentioned

social skills.

When comparing answers according to demographical variables

of the respondents, several differences have been recorded,

however, only a part of them is statistically significant. for

example, 36 per cent of the representatives of manufacturing/

production enterprises hold the opinion that education exerts

a direct influence on the efficient activity of the enterprise, and

only 14 per cent of the respondents working in the sphere of

trade share this opinion (p>0,05). as little as 8 per cent of the

respondents of small enterprises and 36 per cent of medium-

sized enterprises (p-0,001; r-0,3, respectively) underline such

an influence; 23 per cent of the representatives of the private

sector think that the level of the diploma of higher education

is important, however, it is not a decisive factor; 45 per cent

39

(p-0,01) of the respondents representing the public sector

share this opinion. the group of the respondents, who used no-

opinion or it is difficult to say responses in choice lists, seems to

be rather problematic. one can suspect that they have no clearer

image about the factors influencing the enterprise’s efficiency

if they are incapable of assessing the importance of such a

factor as education. even the answer that education is of no

significance altogether can be understood much better from this

point of view.

though only the minority of the respondents assigned a very

important role to education among the factors determining the

efficiency of the enterprise’s activity, other questions showed

that on the whole the respondents were rather “generous”

in assessing the match between the knowledge, practical

skills and general competences of the graduates from higher

educational institutions and the requirements set to them

by enterprises (see table 2.1.1). Knowledge in the research

questionnaire meant theoretical knowledge in the professional

sphere and general education, as well as their application in

practice when solving specific work-related tasks: practical skills

meant well mastered practical capabilities necessary to perform

tasks of the specific activity (for example, various technical

skills); general competences meant capabilities, value-based

principles or characteristics which are relevant and can be

adapted in different work places, for example, the capability to

communicate information communication technologies, work

in a team, etc.

40

Table 2.1.1 Conformity between the knowledge, practical skills and general

competences acquired by graduates of higher educational institutions and the requirements set by the Company

represented by the respondents (in percentage)

Graduates from Lithuanian higher educational

institutions and/or with work experience in the local

labour market

Graduated from foreign higher educational institutions and/

or with work experience in the foreign labour markets

Know-ledge

practical skills

General compe-tences

Know-ledge

practical skills

General competen-

ces

Bachelor

full conformity 19 2 2 11 6 8

Basic conformity 56 51 71 32 27 24

difficult to say 13 6 10 45 46 53

partial conformity 8 33 16 7 17 15

total non-conformity 4 7 1 4 4 –

Master’s





total conformity 4 6 – 5 5 –

doctoral





total conformity – 7 – 5 5 –

41

first of all, we see that more than a half of the respondents who

answered to the question hold the opinion that graduates of

Bachelor studies of the Lithuanian higher educational institutions

meet in essence the requirements set by the enterprise. the

number of respondents holding such an opinion about the

graduates who received the Bachelor degree abroad is much

smaller, however, it is obvious, and the data also show that a

large part of the interviewed representatives of enterprises have

no knowledge or experience to be able to assess qualifications

that have been acquired abroad – they chose a no opinion

response, ticking the variant of the answer It is difficult to say.

the same situation is recorded in assessing the graduates who

have the Master’s or doctoral degree received while studying

abroad – there is almost no doubt that because of insufficient

information the majority of the respondents again chose a no

opinion response, ticking the version of the answer It is difficult to

say. Most probably for the same reason such an answer prevailed

when assessing the individuals who received the doctoral degree

in Lithuania – the number of people with the doctoral degree at

the country’s enterprises is not so great for many respondents

to be expected to be well informed of their capabilities. Master’s

studies in Lithuania have been assessed more accurately than in

the case of the Bachelor degree, and most often in the positive.

the fact that practical skills of the graduates with the Master’s

degree were assessed comparatively more sceptically should not

surprise anyone. in most cases Master’s studies are not focused on

specific practical capabilities, they are more oriented towards the

development of analytical abilities and theoretical education.

42

When comparing the respondents’ answers according to

demographical variables, statistically significant differences

were brought out. for example, as little as 2 per cent of the

representative of the sphere of manufacture, and 28 per

cent of the respondents from the service sphere pointed out

that knowledge of Bachelor students from Lithuanian higher

educational institutions fully satisfied the needs of enterprises;

42 per cent of the respondents from micro enterprises and

none of the respondents from large enterprises (p-0,000) chose

the same answer. there were no differences according to the

privacy – publicity criteria of an enterprise. there are statistically

significant differences according to the status of the enterprise.

representatives of private companies, cooperative companies,

insurance companies and budgetary institutions assessed the

knowledge of the Bachelor graduates most positively, and the

respondents from public companies and private institutions

assessed it poorly.

according to the sector of institutions, only a small part of

the respondents (fewer than twenty) agreed that practical

skills of Bachelor graduates fully satisfied the needs of

enterprises, however, half of them stated that such skills were

basically sufficient: 48 per cent of the respondents from the

manufacturing/production sector, 62 per cent form the trade

sector, 48 per cent form the service sector, respectively. almost

analogous situation was observed when assessing social skills

of the Bachelor graduates – an obvious minority was of the

opinion that they were quite sufficient, whereas more than half

the respondents from both the manufacturing and trade and

43

service sectors stated that social skills of the Bachelor graduates

were basically sufficient.

statistically significant differences have been recorded with

respect to the graduates from Master students too. for example,

31 per cent of the representatives of small enterprises and 7

per cent of the representatives of medium-sized enterprises

assessed their knowledge as quite sufficient, however, 80

per cent of the latter thought that knowledge was basically

good. practical skills of the graduates from Master studies

fully satisfied only one per cent of the representatives of the

manufacturing sphere and 24 per cent of the representatives

of the service and trade spheres, respectively. such differences

can partly be accounted for by the specificity of these sectors.

the manufacturing sphere most often needs graduates with

technical education who, according to many experts, have a

clearly insufficient scope of apprenticeship in Lithuania at the

present time. it is natural that their initial skills fail to satisfy the

employers from the manufacturing sphere. the representatives

of micro and small enterprises are much more often satisfied

with practical skills of Ma graduates from Lithuanian higher

educational institutions.

the research data diagnose those things quite illustratively,

which are of importance to employers when selecting their

employees. the respondents were given a special question,

which reflected the possible significance of formal education in

Lithuania or abroad, professional experience, recommendations

from previous employers and social skills (see table 2.1.2).

44

Table 2.1.2 Upon employing a person, the respondents attach importance

to the following factors (in percentage)

Statements Assessments

Very impor-

tant

Impor-tant

Unim-portant

Abso-lutely unim-

portant

Difficult to say

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by a Lithuanian higher educational institution

13 63 19 2 3

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by a higher educational institution of the country of the european union

1 19 60 11 8

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by both a Lithuanian higher educational institution and a higher educational institution of another eu country

3 10 56 21 9

a candidate should have experience in the professional sphere acquired in Lithuanian enterprises

21 66 6 4 2

a candidate should have experience in the professional sphere acquired in foreign companies

5 28 33 11 24

a candidate should have good references from other employers 16 55 13 7 8

a candidate should have good social skills 41 41 6 5 6

We see that different qualities of the potential employee are important

to the employer: it is important to many employers that a candidate

should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma awarded by a Lithuanian higher

educational institution, though it is not important to one fifth of the

employers and many employers do not think that diplomas issued by

the higher educational institutions of the countries of the european

union are important, and they do not think that having a diploma

issued by both the Lithuanian and the european union higher

educational institution is important; the majority of the employers

think that a candidate should have experience in the professional

45

sphere gained at Lithuanian enterprises, good references from other employers and good social skills. the respondents’ answers show that the majority of employers orient themselves towards the complex qualities of the candidates and higher education is one of the most favourable learning mediums to acquire them. from the point of view of internationalisation, it can be seen that the respondents find having professional experience gained in foreign companies more important than receiving formal education abroad. the data confirm the above-mentioned supposition about the importance of social skills – that supposition, on the basis of the research data, is obvious. from the point of view of the formation of social skills, the ambitions of the Lisbon process are very important because, for example, communication in foreign languages, in different cultural surroundings, communication skills noticeably improve when studying abroad.

When comparing the values presented in the table according to demographical variables, it became clear that a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by a Lithuanian higher educational institution was more important to the employers in the manufacturing sector – 37 per cent of the respondents from the manufacturing sector and as little as 7 per cent of the respondents from the service sector chose the answer extremely relevant. as could be expected, having a diploma was several times more important to the employers of the public sector. nine per cent of the respondents from the public sector and as much as 25 per cent of the respondents form the private sector chose the answer Irrelevant.

the respondents from large enterprises mentioned several

times more often that practical skills of the graduates were not

46

important to them (17 per cent as compared to 4 per cent of

the representatives of small enterprises). it might be that this is

related to the circumstance that large enterprises more often

have their training basis and at the same time greater possibilities

of continuous training of their employees.

the importance of the prestige of higher educational institutions

was assessed during our research from the employer point of

view (see figure 2.1.3).

Figure 2.1.3 Is the name of a higher educational institution important (rating

of the higher educational institution) in which a candidate acquired a diploma of higher education diploma when selecting

an employee for a job? (in percentage)

Totally irrelevant

Irrelevant

No opinion

Relevant

Extremely relevant

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

8.7

32.625.9

27.65.2

the data clearly showed that the rating of the higher educational

institution was not among the decisive factors influencing

the selection of one or another employee. it seems that the

47

above-analysed professional capabilities, social skills, etc. of the graduates are much more important to the employers. Besides, it might be that the employers of our country have not formed a clear conception of the prestige of a higher educational

institution yet.

2.2. Assessment of the Bologna process

among the key goals of the Bologna process is training highly qualified specialists for the european jobs market. this process does not entail any specific solutions and does not prescribe any particular guidelines for the countries how to implement process provisions. the process merely defines the key spheres of activity, identifies the goals and specifies the objectives in order to reach the goals set. in all the communiqués about the Bologna process, the external dimension is promoted in a direct or indirect way. for example, the Bologna declaration (1999) highlights the need to enhance mobility, european cooperation for quality assurance and the european dimension in higher education; the prague communiqué (2001) urges to enhance the attractiveness of the european higher education area; the Berlin communiqué (2003) calls upon participating countries to improve recognition of academic qualifications; the London communiqué (2007) stresses the importance of maintaining contacts with other continents; the Leuven communiqué (2009) places emphasis on promoting global openness as well as student and teacher mobility.

the questionnaire for employers was developed taking due consideration of the importance of the external (transnational) dimension. several questions related to this dimension were

48

included into the questionnaire. the key objective of the research was to assess the nature of respondents views with regard to the Bologna goals (see table 2.2.1)

the findings of the questionnaire reveal several things. Most respondents do not directly relate european recognition of higher education with the business represented by them. even though there is no comparative research which could indicate the change of such views in the course of five years, the frequency of positive responses (with a third of respondents identifying the recognition of a diploma as important for their business) should be regarded as high enough. these findings show that on the average every third business representative in the country understands the importance of recognizing higher education not on the abstract level but as directly relevant to his/her business.

furthermore, about half of the respondents (by summing up the first and second version of the answers) attach importance to quality improvement of higher education studies and conformity between higher education and labour market needs. a question may arise why the other half of employers have a degree of reserve in assessing such an important factor, that is, a match between higher education and market needs, which seems to be directly related towards business growth. different explanations could be provided to illustrate the point. one of the most convincing is the fact that not all types of business and companies need higher education graduates. for example, the owner of a small household appliance repair shop would probably be much more interested in the conformity between vocational training and labour market needs rather than the conformity related to higher education.

49

Table 2.2.1 Respondent views on the key goals of the Bologna process

(in percentage)

Goals of the Bologna process

This is most topical and relevant to all business

in Lithuania, including

the type of business I represent

This could probably be relevant and

topical for other types of business in Lithuania but not for the type of business I represent

This is pro-bably more relevant for

students, scientific

and study institutions rather than for business

I personally think these

are just nice words,

specific results are not visible

as yet

I have no opinion, I am not

interested in that

recognition of higher education qualifications (diploma/degree) all over europe

30 18 41 5 6

conformity between improvement of higher education studies and labour market needs

38 18 33 6 4

international student recru-itment and integration into eu culture and labour market

21 19 45 7 7

training highly qualified specialists for the european labour market

19 18 47 9 8

enhancing teacher and student mobility

26 13 49 4 7

developing programs to better match labour market needs (following the latest Bologna documents)

39 13 30 6 12

50

With regard to the following two questionnaire questions -

International student recruitment and integration into EU culture and

labour market and Training highly qualified specialists for the European

labour market, response distribution could also be interpreted in a

similar way. given the fact that not only in Lithuania but also in

economically developed european countries small businesses and

individual companies are mostly focused on the domestic market,

common european market is regarded by them as a somewhat

abstract concept. therefore it is only natural for respondents to

relate the importance of these factors to students as the main

beneficiaries from these developments. it goes without saying that

enhancement of student and teacher mobility is most important

for these groups. By the way, one fourth of respondents see such

mobility as important to their business, and the frequency of

response should be regarded as quite high.

the responses based on demographic variables reveal statistically

significant differences, some of which are easier to interpret, whereas

the others need a more hypothetical interpretation. for example,

statistically significant differences (p–0,000) have been observed in

the responses by company size in evaluating one of the objectives

of the Bologna process – training highly qualified specialists for the

European labour market. representatives of medium size companies

are twice as likely (30 per cent) to regard this as an important goal for

Lithuania and their own business compared to small businesses (15

per cent). this fact could be accounted for by an increasing venturing

of medium sized companies into international market. on the other

hand, the responses provided by representatives of large companies

in this case are similar to those of small companies (15 per cent).

51

the necessity of improving the quality of higher education and

enhancing compatibility with labour market needs has been

more frequently indicated and regarded as statistically significant

(p-0,001) by representatives of large companies (59 per cent),

whereas the responses by small and medium companies were 24

and 40 per cent, respectively.

the frequency of responses from medium and large business

entities stating that teacher and student mobility is important

both for Lithuanian and their own business is three time greater

(38 and 36 per cent, respectively, with p - 0,001) than that of

microbusinesses (12 per cent). Large and medium companies

tend to accept students for practice placement more frequently. it

is likewise highly probable that their representatives understand

more clearly the benefit of transnational mobility both for

students and for the businesses.

statistically significant (p-0,000) differences have been observed

in responding to developing higher education programmes which

match labour market needs by the company sector. for example,

the importance of this issue for respondent‘s own business has

been stated by 59 per cent of manufacturing sector and 33 per

cent of trade sector respondents. upgrading once acquired

qualification in the manufacturing sphere is comparatively more

difficult than in the trade sector. this could be the reason why

employers representing manufacturing sphere tend to more

often emphasize the importance of adequacy between higher

education programmes and labour market needs. respondents

from large enterprises stated this as a necessity much more

52

frequently (69 per cent) in comparison to microbusinesses (19

per cent) and small companies (39 per cent). no statistically

significant differences have been observed with regard to

company ownership (depending on whether it represents a

public or private sector).

enhancing the mobility of teachers and students from higher

education institutions is among the most important measures to

promote a transnational dimension of studies. several additional

questions were included for employers to further specify this

important dimension (see figure 2.2.1.).

Figure 2.2.1 How do you assess higher education student and graduate mobility when young people go to study, leave for a study visit or for practice placement in foreign higher education

institutions or companies getting the support from various EU programmes or by other means?

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

10.0positively

In p

erce

ntag

e

Negatively No opinion

54.7

4.3

41.0

53

as is seen, half of respondents’ mobility evaluation is positive.

statistically significant differences have been identified (p-0,001)

by company size: the least number of responses in favour of

mobility are among microbusinesses (32 per cent), whereas

respondents from medium companies account for 79 per cent.

respondents from microbusinesses have also been most frequent

in choosing a no-opinion as their answer. Qualitative research data

also reveal various elements of benefit received due to mobility.

Below we quote some statements made by respondents (the

statements have not been edited for style):

While studying elsewhere students acquire new technological

knowledge, enrich their world-outlook, gain experience...

Studying in other countries they acquire more information,

knowledge, develop competencies and practical skills, which in turn

gives benefit to business...

Such a way of studying helps achieve the level of the old EU members

states, upon coming back these students can share their experience

with other persons, they become more broad-minded...

The acquired experience is much needed in many spheres, particularly

in a transnational company. The skills of communication and foreign

languages are of great importance....

Education in the West is of better quality, it is focused not merely

on theory but also on practical things, thus there is a possibility to

transfer this experience to Lithuania...

54

I think that the majority of higher education programmes in our

country are inflexible. The same applies to the style of teaching and

attitude towards students. In foreign countries students have an

opportunity to gain much better experience...

In service sector it is paramount importance to be able to

communicate. Therefore the experience acquired in foreign countries

is most relevant...this experience allows to develop new competencies

and acquaints them with a quality service culture...

The experience acquired in the countries of strong economy

makes it possible to adjust the knowledge in an innovative way

and to generate new ideas. This can be applied in our business

as well...

the data show that the majority of respondents find it quite

difficult to evaluate the benefit of mobility. as has already

been indicated in the footnote, employers‘ target group are

usually known not to pay empty compliments in praising

a certain phenomenon in question. if they do not have an

opinion about it they are straightforward, much as it would

be tempting to commend transnational teacher and student

mobility. it is likely that the part of respondents having chosen

a no-opinion (it is difficult to say) for an answer either do not

have direct experience/opinion or can both see advantages

and disadvantages related to it. the nature of disadvantages

is reflected in the following negative statements made by

respondents:

55

Students go abroad and never come back, Lithuanian money is just

wasted in this way. I am convinced that this is not needed...

Often good students remain there (in a foreign country – author‘s

note), whereas our business has to satisfy itself with mediocre

students or to look for them abroad...

Students are tempted by foreign countries. Due to dire economic

situation in our country young persons are afraid to take any risk

and want to get everything in no time at all.

Upon coming home student expect the same remuneration as

abroad, even though their experience is the same but for knowledge

of a foreign language...

the role of employer associations within the Bologna context

is of paramount importance. for example, the confederation of

european Business, founded in Brussels and functioning since

1958, unites european employer associations from 34 countries

and is one of the main european union contract supporters and

social partners representing business. Within the context of the

research concerned a relevant question indicates an interest

of Lithuanian businessmen and/or their engagement into the

transnational dimension (see figure 2.2.2). the findings show

that about one sixth of Lithuanian employers is interested in the

activities of the above mentioned organization or take part in its

events.

56

Figure 2.2.2 Have you heard of the European Business Confederation and its

main directions of activity (in percentage)

I do not know this organization

yes, I am involved in its activities and events

yes, I am interested in its activities

yes, I have heard of its existence

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

6.2

8.6

58.0

27.1

as can be expected, it turned out that a statistically significant (p-0,001) frequency has been observed in terms of large company involvement in the activities of the european Business confederation (15 per cent), whereas small and medium companies account for 3 per cent each. in all probability, such differences can be explained by greater possibilities existing for large companies and their human resources capacity.

a successful implementation of the Bologna process is hardly imaginable without a many-sided cooperation among social partners. a comprehensive scale was developed as part of the questionnaire to help identify ways of cooperation between companies and higher education institutions as well as intensity of cooperation (see table 2.2.2). response distribution shows the prevalence of two distinct forms of such cooperation: either company employees upgrade their qualifications in higher education institutions or higher education students are provided

57

practice placements services by companies. research findings also reveal that student practice placement is the most prevalent form of cooperation between employer sector and institutions of higher education. 82 per cent of respondents claim that they provide practice placement services for students, 31 per cent being students from other eu countries. Quite often company employees share their professional experience with students from higher education institutions or address higher educational institutions in search of revelant specialists. few companies hold company presentations at a higher education institution or arrange for them company visits. this is understandable because such practice is usually followed by major innovative companies.

Table 2.2.2 What is the nature of cooperation between companies

represented by respondents and higher education institutions (in percentage)?

Ways of cooperation yes No

company employees upgrade their qualification in higher education establishments 51 49

company employees share their professional experience with students from higher educational institutions 24 76

company employees work as lecturers in higher education institutions 4 96

Joint scientific/research/project-based activities are implemented 4 96

students from higher education institutions have practice placements at the company 47 53

address a higher education institution in the hunt for relevant specialists 20 80

hold company presentations in a higher education institution, arrange company visits for students 11 89

participation in designing and upgrading study programmes 4 96

participation in the management bodies of a higher education institution (related to the activities of the council) 95

58

the analysis of primary data revealed several statistically significant

differences in demographic company variables. first and foremost,

the fact that among the respondents who chose yes as an answer

to the first question in the above provided table, the majority

representing microbusinesses is slightly surprising. the positive

response from this group accounts for 58 per cent, whereas, for

the sake of comparison, the figure from medium companies is

47 per cent and from large companies – 41 per cent, respectively

(p–0,001). an assumption could be made that the representatives

of microbusinesses are more effective when it comes to upgrading

qualifications in higher education institutions. however, it is

possible that large companies have greater possibilities (for

example, their training centres) or choose alternative ways of

qualification upgrade. as mentioned below, representatives of

large companies tend to more sceptically assess the potential

of higher education in Lithuania and its strategic (non-strategic)

direction.

it is also noteworthy to mention a significant difference with

regard to the second statement within the table. representatives

of the manufacturing sector are clearly more frequent in stating

that company employees share their professional experience

with students from higher education institutions (45 per cent).

trade and service sector representatives accounted for 2 and

21 per cent, respectively. it is only logical that student practice

placements are mostly arranged in manufacturing companies - 70

per cent respondents from this group chose yes as their answer,

whereas the positive response among respondents from the trade

sector accounted for 30 per cent. as was expected, statistically

59

significant level of frequency (p-0,000) was determined for student

practice placement to be arranged with large companies. 71 per

cent of respondents in this group gave positive answers, whereas

student placement with medium, small and microbusinesses

accounted for 64, 41 and 23 per cent, respectively. statistically

significant differences were also determined in comparing public

and private sectors. 51 per cent respondents of the private sector

claimed that students from higher education institutions have

practice placements at their companies, whereas the answers by

the public sector accounted for 37 per cent (with p–0,000). given

the situation, it is slightly ironic that the institutions of higher

education (the majority of them being public institutions) seem

to have better agreements with private institutions rather than

public ones.

research data show a statistically significant difference (p-0,001)

in the frequency of manufacturing companies addressing the

institutions of higher education in the hunt for relevant specialists.

Within this group, 44 per cent of respondents indicated the version

of the answer that they address a higher education institution

looking for specialists, whereas the percentage in trade and

service sectors are 5 and 19 per cent, respectively. furthermore,

representatives of large companies more frequently look for

specialists at the institutions of higher education, whereas the

representatives of medium, small and microbusinesses account

for 42, 13 and 9 per cent, respectively.

the companies representing the manufacturing industry seem to

be much more active in establishing relevant contacts with higher

60

education institutions. for example, 43 per cent of respondents

from this group claimed that they hold company presentations

in higher education institutions and offer excursions for students

at their company. only 11 per cent of employers in the trade

sector and 5 per cent of those in the service sector indicated

being involved in such activities. in general, a summary of

several variables leads to a rather daring presumption that the

manufacturing sector is more active in maintaining contact with

the institutions of higher education.

the distribution of answers with regard to joint scientific/

research/project based activities seems to be very problematic.

it would be quite difficult to imagine a serious technological

breakthrough in Lithuania given the fact that only a few per

cent of companies are engaged in such activities (statement

2.2.2 in table 4).

research data determine a very insignificant employer

involvement in designing and developing higher education

curricula, if any at all. for example, in case of vocational

programmes employers are much more active, with various

employer associations submitting proposals to the Ministry of

education and science and vocational schools on programme

development. the overall impression is that employers are not

involved in the development of a higher education curriculum. it

has to be stated, though, that during the recent years, attempts

have been made to rectify the situation on the legislative level

(first and foremost via the Law on science and studies, enforced

in 2009). one might question to what extent these attempts

61

been have justified. the research in question provides relevant

information about the employers views on higher education

reform from the perspective of its relationship with business.

one can hardly assess cooperation between businessmen and

their associations with the institutions of higher education

without taking due consideration of the overall situation in

higher education and the measures undertaken to improve it.

the attempts made in this sphere are a matter of controversial

evaluation. By and large, one can hardly achieve the efficiency

of the Bologna process in Lithuania unless progress is made in

the overall development of higher education.

the distribution of employer opinions (see figure 2.2.3) helps

to establish at least several obvious facts. firstly, a significant

part of respondents take a no-opinion choice about the

interaction between higher education and business world.

on the one hand, this could indicate an insufficient employer

interest in the development of higher education. on the other

hand, which is highly probable, this could mean that the

authorities implementing a higher education reform and the

institutions of higher education fail to suitably articulate the

goals and activity outcomes. the collected data give sufficient

proof that only an insignificant group of employers share

the opinion that higher education reforms implemented in

Lithuania exert a positive influence on business development,

contribute towards training highly qualified specialists

for business, promote the cooperation between business

entities and institutions of higher education in the field of

research, technological development and other spheres. on

62

the contrary, respondents tend to more frequently state that

higher education reforms implemented in Lithuania exert an

insignificant positive impact on business development. this

is accounted for by the following reasons: higher education

reforms are designed and implemented disregarding business

needs. they are restricted to internal restructuring of higher

education system and basically are not aimed at making

the system of higher education more open or promoting its

cooperation with business sector.

research findings determine statistically significant differences

in assessing the information represented in figure 2.2.3.

respondents from the manufacturing sector are more likely

to very positively assess the impact of higher education on

business development. for instance, 43 per cent of respondents

from this sample group fully agree with the statement that

higher education reforms implemented in Lithuania exert a more

positive impact..., whereas only 1 per cent of respondents

from the trade and service sector each agreed with it,

respectively. among this group the number of respondents

completely disagreeing with this statement was the highest

(33 per cent).

63

Figure 2.2.3 Employer views on the impact of higher education reforms

implemented in Lithuania on business and business development (in percentage)

Due to lack of strategic orientation and changes in goals, higher education reforms

implemented in Lithuania exert a more negative than positive influence on business

development. These reforms do not allow higher education institutions to focus more

on the quality of studies, etc.

higher education reforms in Lithuania exert a rather negligible impact on

business development, because these reforms are implemented in isolation from

business needs, are restricted to internal restructuring of higher education system

and basically do not contribute towards opening up higher education system for

cooperation with business

higher education reforms implemented in Lithuania have a positive impact on business development, because

they help to ensure the availability of highly qualified specialists for business

development, encourage the cooperation between companies and higher

education institutions in the field of research, technological

development and other fields

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

49

71418

11

331

18

4

417

20

27

43

Fully agree Agree Disagree

Totally disagree It is difficult to say

5

research data show that in general the respondent assessment

of the development of higher education and its relationship with

business is characterised by a rather „scattered“ distribution. as

has been mentioned, quite a significant share of respondents

from the manufacturing sector positively assess the functionality of higher education with regard to business needs.

64

however, 44 per cent of respondents from this group agreed with

another statement – The reforms of higher education implemented

in Lithuania exert a comparatively insignificant positive impact on

business development due to the fact that the reforms are introduced

disregarding business needs and do not contribute towards opening up

of the system and promoting cooperation with business. furthermore,

21 per cent of respondents from this sample tend to agree that

due to the lack of clear strategic guidelines and changeable goals the

reforms of higher education implemented in Lithuania exert a more

negative than positive impact on business development; such reforms

do not allow higher educational institutions to prioritize the quality of

studies, etc. such a difference in respondents’ opinion shows that

the development of higher education and its policy innovations

have not yet been widely approved by employers.

2.3. Communication and information awareness

in the previous chapters, relevant information was provided (for

instance, on the ways of cooperation between institutions of

higher education and employers and the intensity of cooperation)

which leads to suspicion that the level of information provided

to employers about the Bologna process is hardly sufficient. a

separate block of questions was included into the questionnaire

to address this issue. to start with, respondents were asked several

more general questions about the provision of information

on higher education, since awareness in this sphere should be

regarded as an important contextual factor vis-à-vis the potential

of the Bologna process.

65

Figure 2.3.1 Do the respondents follow the news about higher education

reforms in Lithuania and Europe? (in percentage)

60

50

40

30

20

10

0yes, I follow

the news and I am interested

in higher education reform in Lithuania

yes, I follow the news and I am interested

in higher education reform in

Europe


in higher education

reform in both Lithuania and

Europe

I have no interest

whatsoever in these issues

29

6

14

50

as is seen from the data collected, the answers fall into two equal groups: half of the respondents show no interest whatsoever in the reform of higher education – the same applies both to the Lithuanian and european context. the other half is broken down into several subgroups – those who follow the changes in higher education in Lithuania (about one third of all respondents who indicated their answer), an insignificant part are interested in the relevant processes in europe and one sixth of all the respondents claim to be interested in such changes both in terms of Lithuanian and european higher education.

the analysis of primary data highlighted several statistically significant differences in the demographic employer variables. as has been determined in quite a few other aspects under investigation, the

66

respondents from the manufacturing sector turned out to be the

most active in the sample (see figure 2.3.2). it has already been

concluded that this group of respondents is the most active in

maintaining cooperation with the institutions of higher education,

holding in them company presentations, etc. an absolute majority

of respondents from this group claim to be interested in the reform

of higher education in Lithuania, whereas trade and service sector

representatives accounted for merely one-third and one-fourth of

positive answers, respectively. More than half of respondents in this

group claim to show no interest whatsoever in this issue. it should

be noted that the differences observed are not only statistically

significant (p–0,000), but a significant correlation from the perspective

of social sciences (r-0,4) has also been determined, showing the

dependence between such interest and the type of employer activities.

Figure 2.3.2 Do the respondents follow the news about higher education

reforms in Lithuania? (in percentage by type of activities)

Manufacturing sector Trade sector Service sector

100908070605040302010

0yes, I follow

the news and I am interested

in higher education reform in Lithuania


in higher education reform in

Europe

yes, I follow the news and I am interested in

higher education reform in both Lithuania and

Europe

I have no interest


3333

33

1214

8

25

66

30

1

86

67

differences have been observed depending on the company size. representatives of medium companies turned out to be the most actively interested in the reform of higher education (41 per cent), whereas small companies and microbusinesses accounted for 32 and 23 per cent, respectively. the difference, established for respondents representing public and private sectors, was somewhat surprising - 13 per cent of respondents from the public sector and 39 per cent from the private sector claimed to show interest in the development of higher education in Lithuania. a preliminary assumption would be to expect a potentially greater interest expressed by the public sector. however, the facts established during the research are contrary to such belief.

Yet another question was aimed at identifying the ways regarded by employers as the most convenient to be informed about

higher education reform.

Figure 2.3.3 The most convenient ways, as identified by respondents, to get

the information about higher education reforms (in percentage)

Conversations with colleagues, family members and the like

Other websites (unrelated to science or education)

Internet websites of scientific and educational institutions

presentations in conferences, seminars

Leaflets, posters

Specialized publications (brochures, books and the like)

Radio, television, press

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

10

42

14

11

30

66

24

68

the data show that most respondents identify the radio,

television and press as priority information channels. this is only

natural due to media outreach, enabling it to reach the majority

of consumers with a certain type of information. nevertheless,

this type of information communication is to a certain extent

restricted if the impact exerted by the media is non-systemic.

for example, it is problematic to provide concise information

about higher education reforms (the most sophisticated level

of education) during a comparatively short time period of tV

broadcasts. a series of such programmes is needed to ensure a

systematic provision of information, which is usually related to

high costs. therefore, the researchers have come to conclusion

that public institutions, seeking to inform citizens and employers

in particular about the changes in higher education, should resort

to specialized webpages of educational and scientific institutions

as well as specialized publications, the potential benefit of

which has also been prioritized by respondents. it goes without

saying that a combination of different information channels is

always desirable. furthermore, even though the publication of

leaflets is quite popular in Lithuania, it has not been identified by

respondents as a priority information channel.

no statistically significant differences have been observed in the

demographic variables, that is, respondent assessment of information

channels is approximately equal depending on the company type,

size, type of activities as well as private / public status.

response distribution pattern in the case of questions related

to the Bologna process is similar to the pattern for information

69

awareness about higher education. half of respondents in the

sample (slightly more than one half ) know nothing about the

Bologna process. furthermore, a significant part of respondents

(about one third) have only fragmentary information on the

subject. in general, only less than one tenth of interviewed

employers can be regarded as well informed on the subject.

Figure 2.3.4 Are the respondents familiar with the Bologna process and to what extent are they familiar with the process? (in terms of its

goals, documents, achievements, etc.)? (in percentage)

I have exhaustive information about the Bologna process

I have a sufficiently good understanding

I am well aware of certain issues, but do not have any knowledge of other issues

I have heard about it, but not much

I do not know anything

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

4

4

8

26

58

as could be expected during the analysis of respondent

information about the system and development of the Lithuanian

higher education, statistically significant differences have also

been observed in this case depending on the nature of company

activities. the majority of employers with no awareness about

the Bologna process are represented by the service sector (66

per cent), in trade and manufacturing sectors the corresponding

figures were 52 and 45 per cent, respectively.

70

Both the comparison of several variables and other questions in

the questionnaire lead to conclusion that certain obstacles can

be identified in information accessibility. the data in figure 2.3.5

below show that so far the radio, tV, press, presentations heard

during seminars and conferences have been regarded as the main

information channels. a hearsay source is also comparatively often

indicated as an information channel. it is not accidental that part of

respondents ticked the answer – I heard just something about it. the

data also show that comparatively poor use has been made of web

pages, though they are given an obvious priority by respondents.

Figure 2.3.5 Where did respondents get information about the Bologna

process from? (in percentage)

hearsay information


Involvement in practice placement of students from Lithuanian and other

EU higher education graduatesJob interviews with candidates who

are graduates of higher education institutions


Websites of scientific and educational institutions


Leaflets, posters

Specialized publications on the Bologna process


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

18

10

2

11

7

25

2

3

7

30

71

certainly, the issue under discussion cannot be expected to

become a subject of great interest to the whole employer

population all of a sudden. however, the level of information

awareness is obviously insufficient. Moreover, other research data

reveal that quite a significant group of respondents would like to

get more information about the Bologna process.

Figure 2.3.6 Are the respondents interested in getting more information

about the Bologna process? (in percentage)

probably yes 30 %No opinion

34 %

Definitely, yes18 %

Definitely not 6 %

probably not 12 %

the data in the above presented table show that one fifth of

respondents demonstrate an unambiguous willingness to find out

more information about the Bologna process, whereas another

one third give a positive answer but with an element of doubt.

about the same number of respondents finds it difficult to answer

the question. the number of respondents firmly manifesting lack

of any interest in the Bologna process is less than one tenth.

72

given the above mentioned statistical differences, one

should no longer be surprised at a greater activity shown by

representatives of the manufacturing sector observed in this

case as well. the response Definitely, yes was chosen by 45 per

cent of respondents from this group, whereas trade and service

sectors accounted for 12 per cent each. it has to be stated,

though, that the highest incidence of Definitely not answers

was also established for the manufacturing sector (14 per cent),

whereas trade and service sectors accounted for 1 and 5 per

cent, respectively.

differences have also been determined depending on the

company status. for instance, 13 per cent of respondents from the

private sector show a positive willingness to find out more about

the Bologna process, in comparison to 28 per cent of respondents

from the public sector. response Definitely not pattern is 9 per

cent of respondents from the private sector and 3 per cent from

the public sector, with p–0,001, r-0,3.

statistically significant differences have been observed depending

on the company size (see figure 2.3.7). representatives of large

and medium companies show greater interest in the Bologna

process, which is reflected by a greater frequency of Definitely,

yes or probably, yes (p–0,002).

73

Figure 2.3.7 Are the respondents interested in getting more information

about the Bologna process? (in percentage)

60

50

40

30

20

10

0Definitely, yes probably yes No opinion probably not Definitely not

27

34

18

35

45

27

52

29

38

6

19

139

0

9

0

11

1

21

2

Micro Small Medium Large

one of the reasons accounting for a greater interest in the Bologna

process among large and medium companies could be a more

active engagement of such companies with international business,

which in the old eu Member states is an active participant of the

process under discussion (for example, represented via business

associations). however, validation of such an assumption should

be based on additional data, which the current research does not

dispose of.

interpretation of the distributions might lead to the conclusion

that in general the number of employers willing to be more

informed about the Bologna process is comparatively high.

furthermore, one could assume that even among those who seem

74

to be indifferent towards this question (choosing a no-opinion

as a version) there is a potential group of interested persons

who are dependent on the provision of relevant and accessible

information. the channels of providing such information are

described below (see figure 2.3.8).

Figure 2.3.8 In your view, which information channels would be most

convenient and beneficial to get information about the Bologna process? (in percentage)

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0Links sent by e-mail,

publications and the like

One com-prehensive

webpage on the Bologna

process

Information meetings, seminars

Specialized radio,

television broadcasts

Specialized press issues, for example,

brochures

15

27

12

60

21

the importance of specialized webpages has already been

highlighted in this chapter. the data in the figure above reflect

an unambiguous priority of respondents given to a specialized

webpage on the Bologna process. from the point of view of an

ordinary user, this is by far the simplest way to quickly obtain

systemic information without time-consuming efforts of searching

in the total array of information. this should be particularly relevant

for the group of employers, for whom time is precious.

75

in terms of research applicability, some of the statistically

significant differences described below could be important for

provision of information about the Bologna process:

employers representing manufacturing and trade sectors •prefer to get information via e-mail, accounting for 35 and 33 per cent, respectively, whereas the service sector accounts for 19 per cent (p- 0,005).respondents from all sectors identify a comprehensive •webpage on the Bologna process as a relevant channel of information.specialized press publications are most appealing to •respondents from the service sector, accounting for 33 per cent, whereas the corresponding figures for trade and manufacturing sectors are 24 and 1 per cent (p-0,001), respectively.specialized tV and radio broadcasts are most highly rated •among employers representing trade sector, accounting for 43 per cent, whereas the corresponding figures for service and manufacturing sectors are 6 and 3 per cent (with p-0,5, which means that the difference is relevant only for this research). Links sent via e-mail and publications are mostly prioritised •among respondents representing small companies, accounting for 39 per cent, whereas the corresponding figures for micro, medium and large businesses are 10, 23 and 24 per cent, respectively. representatives of the private sector find a specialized •webpage on the Bologna process much more attractive than their counterparts from the public sector, accounting for 66 and 45 per cent (p–0,001), respectively.

76

III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

77

the above described research was conducted using the so-

called descriptive approach, which allowed researchers to

assess important aspects of the attitude identified by labour

sector representatives, first and foremost by employers, towards

implementation of the Bologna process in Lithuania and europe.

in general, the research highlighted heterogeneous and at times

controversial attitudes identified by labour sector representatives

towards higher education in Lithuania and europe, their interest

in the problems of higher education and the Bologna process

as well as other important characteristics of the subject under

investigation. the conclusions of the research listed below

generalize the most significant research data and in certain cases

make it possible for researchers to formulate recommendations

which could be applied in practice.

the research was focused on the phenomenon of higher 1.

education, which was analysed through the prism of

generalized opinions given by respondents. it would

be reasonable to assume that, alongside with other

circumstances, employer interest in the development and

changes of higher education would be greater if a tangible

need for highly qualified graduates were more perceived in

the labour market. however, the data collected provide proof

to the contrary – most employers clearly do not identify a

shortage of such employees as a problem. Manufacturing and

public sector companies as well as large companies turned

out to more frequently have a demand for highly qualified

persons with tertiary education. the research findings show

that at the most about one third of employers claims they

78

have a demand for highly qualified employees with a certain

tertiary educational.

strategic documents on the Bologna process and higher 2.

education in Lithuania as well as relevant legal acts highlight

the quality of higher education. research data show that few

employers relate a higher quality of higher education with

a more efficient company performance. this factor is not

regarded as crucial for company performance. professional

experience is more frequently regarded as a more

significant factor contributing to company performance.

representatives of the manufacturing sector tend to more

frequently (establishing a statistically significant difference)

think that the level of higher education is important for

company performance. a significant part of respondents

claim to have no clear opinion about company performance,

they find it difficult to reflect on the relationship between

higher education and company performance efficiency.

the research showed that in general employers have 3.

quite a positive opinion on the compatibility between

the knowledge, practical skills and general competencies

acquired by graduates of higher educational institutions and

the requirements identified by companies. due to insufficient

information a significant group of respondents found it quite

difficult to to assess the compatibility of higher education

obtained abroad with Lithuanian business needs. only a very

insignificant group of representatives of the manufacturing

sector claim that the knowledge acquired by the Bachelor

and Master students at the Lithuanian higher educational

institutions fully meet company needs, whereas in the service

79

sector the corresponding group of respondents is much

more numerous. the most positive assessment of Bachelor

knowledge came from respondents representing limited

liability companies, cooperative companies, insurance

companies and budgetary institutions, the most negative

one from respondents representing joint stock companies

and public institutions.

research data showed that employers find it important for a 4.

potential employee to have a diploma granted by a Lithuanian

higher educational institution (the possession of a diploma is

several times more important for public sector employers).

one fifth of respondents does not find it significant; the

majority of respondents attach no significance to diplomas

granted by the eu higher education institutions, let alone to

the possession of a Lithuanian or any other eu member state

diploma; the majority of respondents surveyed think that the

applicant should have experience in his/her professional field

gained in Lithuanian companies, present good references

from previous employers and possess good social skills.

respondent responses give proof that most employers are

focused on a whole set of applicants‘ traits. from the point

of view of a transnational aspect respondents place slightly

more priority on acquiring professional experience in foreign

companies rather than on formal education abroad. Most

of them also voice a positive opinion about the education

abroad. according to employers, studies abroad contribute

towards a quality education. they also believe that a more

advanced mentality helps foreign graduates upon coming

home to implement new ideas in Lithuania, including

80

company level. the employers rejecting the benefit of

foreign education base their sceptical views on the opinion

that most Lithuanian students studying abroad settle in a

foreign country and eventually there is little benefit for all

parties concerned.

Lithuanian higher educational institutions keep increasing 5.

their focus on social self-advertising, university ratings

are announced in press, members of society are also often

engaged in public discourse debating the problems related

to the prestige of a higher educational institution. however,

research data clearly indicate that the rating of a higher

educational institution is not among the crucial factors

exerting influence during the candidate selection process.

employers are more interested in graduate professional

competencies and social skills.

research data highlighted prevailing employer views on 6.

various aspects of the Bologna process. coordinators of this

process in Lithuania should first and foremost consider the

fact that one third of respondents recognized the importance

of a diploma to their business, that is not on the abstract

level. it would be meaningful to make this statistical indicator

public in employer associations and on the level of education

policy, which even today emphasizes the importance of

diploma recognition in Lithuania. employer awareness and

their engagement in the international Bologna-related

discourse is also indirectly reflected by another indicator –

about one third of employers is to a certain extent aware of

the confederation of european Business, an active participant

of the Bologna process on the international level.

81

Quality improvement in higher education and a better match 7.

with labour market needs has been identified by about half of

employers as important. Large companies and organizations

identify it as a priority more frequently than small companies.

employers representing the manufacturing sector are most

frequent in identifying the significance of matching the

quality in higher education with the needs of labour market

for their business. one of the reasons could be the factor that

adjusting or upgrading qualification is comparatively more

difficult in the manufacturing sector than in retail trade,

for example. an assumption could be made that a hunt for

suitable employees with higher educational background

today is most relevant in the sphere of production. the

frequency of manufacturing companies looking for relevant

specialists in higher education institutions is much higher

and is statistically significant.

a successful implementation of the Bologna process can 8.

hardly be ensured without a many-sided cooperation

with social partners. research data reflect two more

prevalent forms of such cooperation between higher

education institutions and employers – either company

employees upgrade their professional qualification in higher

educational institutions or higher education students have

practice placement at the company (large and medium

companies are more frequent in arranging student practice

placement). Quite often company employees share their

professional experience with higher education students or

address higher education institutions in the hunt for relevant

specialists. few companies hold company presentations in

82

a higher educational institution or arrange company visits

for students. this is natural because such practice is usually

followed by major innovative companies. it should be

noted that manufacturing companies are the most active

partners of higher education institutions. it would serve the

interests of higher education institutions to benefit from

such a comparatively favourable attitude by manufacturing

companies and to promote cooperation with trade and

service companies. in general, the researchers would advise

the customer which commissioned the research to translate

the findings related to cooperation with employers for public

use, so that Lithuanian higher education institutions know

what the state of play is.

Judging by the research data, no joint scientific / research / 9.

project based activities are conducted by higher education

institutions and companies today. identification of potential

reasons for that was not among the aims of the research.

the authors of the research in question can only voice their

opinion that the absence of such joint activities within the

context of the Bologna process should be regarded as a

serious shortcoming on the part of Lithuania, which should

be made public and debated on the level of public policy.

the same applies to another research finding, namely that

practically no employer engagement in designing and

developing higher education curricula has been observed.

in terms of further developing the system of higher 10.

education, the following research data might be of interest:

only an insignificant group of employers think that higher

education reforms in Lithuania exert a positive impact on

83

business development, contribute towards training highly

qualified specialists, promote cooperation between business

companies and higher education institutions in the sphere

of research, technological development and other fields. on

the contrary, respondents tend to more frequently claim that

higher education reforms in Lithuania exert a comparatively

insignificant impact on business development. this is

accounted for by the following reasons: higher education

reforms are designed and implemented disregarding

business needs, they are restricted to internal restructuring

of higher education system and basically are not aimed

at making the system of higher education more open or

promoting its cooperation with business sector.

the data collected during the research show that half of 11.

respondents is not interested in higher education processes –

regardless of whether they are implemented in Lithuania

or europe. the other half of respondents falls into several

subgroups: one third of respondents who answered the

question claimed to follow the information related to changes

in higher education, an insignificant group are interested in

these processes in europe and one sixth of all respondents

is interested in these processes related to higher education

both in Lithuania and europe. this leads to the conclusion

that less than one tenth of respondents is well informed of

the Bologna process. such a situation, alongside with other

circumstances, is undoubtedly related to the flexibility and

efficiency of information provision about higher education

processes in Lithuania and europe – one fifth of respondents

demonstrates a firm willingness to be more informed about

84

the Bologna process, and another one third of respondents

claims they want to be informed but with an element of

doubt. employers from the manufacturing sector and

representatives of large and medium companies are most

frequent among those interested.

With regard to improving information about the Bologna 12.

process, it is advisable to design a specialized web page.

the opportunities provided by the television, press and

specialized publications should also be used to their full

potential. the majority of employers identify a specialized

web page as a priority information channel for the Bologna

process. the authors of the research also think that such a

way of information provision could help those interested to

quickly find relevant and systematic information.

85

86

IV. COMMENTS By ThE MEMBERS OF ThE NATIONAL BOLOGNA ExpERTS GROUp

87

Vidmantas Tūtlys, Vytautas Magnus University

Jolita Butkienė, ISM University of Management and Economics

Interaction of studies and business in Lithuania: problems and prospects

interaction of studies and business in Lithuania has always been

and remains a subject of public discussions which is of particular

relevance. however, so far this interaction has been analysed

and evaluated on a rather one-sided and sporadic basis, there

is a lack of a systematic approach which would be based on the

consideration of the current results and prospects of the reform

of the system of studies in Lithuania.

this article aims at disclosing the problems and prospects of

the interaction between the system of studies and business by

evaluating the following aspects: economic (quantitative and

qualitative aspects of the interaction of supply and demand of

qualifications and competencies), institutional (institutional

cooperation between business and higher education

establishments) and legal-political (reform of higher education,

changes in the legal framework). this objective is pursued by:

disclosing the structure and content of the interaction 1.

between the system of studies and business by performing

a theoretical introductory analysis, defining the concept of the

interaction of the system of studies and business and discussing

the main elements and parameters thereof;

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describing the trends in changes in the supply and demand 2.

of specialists with higher education (whether there are

enough specialists with higher education for the purposes of

business) and the implications thereof to the development

of the interaction of the system of studies and business;

evaluating the trends in conformity of the knowledge, 3.

practical skills and general competencies of graduates from

the establishments of studies to the needs of jobs and the

impact of these trends on the development of the interaction

between the system of studies and business;

disclosing the attitude of business towards the significance 4.

of a diploma, the name of a higher education establishment

and the graduates’ experience upon taking up employment.

What is the impact of this attitude of employers on the

interaction of the system of studies and business?

evaluating cooperation between business enterprises and 5.

higher education establishments and the potential impact

thereof on the reform of the higher education system and

business development.

this article is based on the results of a study ‘employer Views on the

changes in the sector of higher education in Lithuania and europe’

carried out by Bologna experts of the education exchanges support

foundation together with the social information and training

agency. the objective of this study is to evaluate the attitude of

representatives of the labour sector (business employers, professional

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organisations, trade unions) towards the implementation of the

Bologna process in europe and Lithuania and the changes in the

system of higher education and studies of Lithuania related thereto

as well as provide proposals as to how to draw the attention,

efficiently, of representatives of the labour sector to the reforms of

higher education and what means of communication are to be used

to achieve that. a survey of Lithuanian companies has been carried

out by using a structured questionnaire.

Structure and content of the interaction between the system of studies and business

for the purposes of this study, the system of studies shall be

defined as the field of interaction between institutions responsible

for planning, regulation and implementation of higher education

studies, participants of these processes and the processes of

studies characterised by the institutional and personal aspects.

a business system may be understood quite widely – as a system

of activity, or a world of labour, i.e. as a system which creates

the foundation of economic welfare of society wherein human

capital is realised, namely knowledge, skills, competencies and

experience. from this point of view one of the most important

functions of the system of studies is to create human capital which

is necessary and is realised in the business system. this is one of

the main reasons for the necessity of the interaction between the

systems of studies and business.

While analysing the interaction between the two systems, it is

necessary to note certain most relevant social and economic

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processes which have a major impact on this interaction. With

the help of scientific literature we may highlight the following

processes:

development and globalisation of the knowledge-based •economy;globalisation of the market of higher education and growth •in popularity of higher education;globalisation of the market of resources of highly •qualified people and the human resources strategies of organisations.

according to Brown, green and hesketh, recently, the political

discourse and the media increasingly stress the argument that

the development of the knowledge-based economy requires

more and more employees with higher education. this has

a major impact on the growth of the number of students in

higher schools no only in strong economies but also in rapidly

developing ones. currently, the number of students in higher

education establishments in china is higher than that in the usa

and this gap will only increase. even though the quality of higher

education in developing countries is very varied, asia currently

trains more engineers and specialists of science than the usa

and europe taken together (Brown, p., ashton, d., Lauder, h.,

tholen, g., 2008).

another important trend is the globalisation of the market of

higher skills-intensive labour, which manifests itself in various

phenomena ranging from more intense migration of highly

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qualified specialists to transfer of jobs requiring high qualification

to other countries. this promotes the formation of a lower-cost

international market of higher skills. in this case, the winners

are the countries which are able to offer highly qualified human

resources for a more attractive price. growth in popularity of

higher education is conducive to this phenomenon since it

increases competition among highly qualified specialists in

the labour market and thus reduces the rates of labour of such

specialists. this phenomenon is also helped by the so-called

‘digital taylorism’ whereby the creation of knowledge is converted

into the adaptation of knowledge at work by extracting, codifying

and transforming the knowledge into software products which

can be used by employees of lower qualification in various jobs

(Brown, p., ashton, d., Lauder, h., tholen, g., 2008). this, in turn,

limits the demand for employees with the highest qualifications,

creativity, initiative and the level of responsibility and promotes

the need for medium-level specialists with comparatively high

qualifications.

growing supply of specialists with higher education in the labour

market intensifies their competition for quality jobs and at the same

time promotes competition among companies for “talents” in order

to attract and keep specialists with the highest qualifications who

meet the requirements of the competition strategy. the studies

show that representatives of international corporations forecast

the growth in the demand for specialists with higher education,

however, they also highlight that this growth will be highly

differentiated and will depend on the functions, competencies and

quality of work of these specialists.

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globalisation of the market of resources of highly qualified people

and the human resources strategies of organisations promotes

the emphasis on comparative advantages of higher education

establishments and the development of the system of rating of

higher schools because that becomes an important reference

point in the area of search for and hire of new highly qualified

specialists. universities seek to attract the best scholars, lecturers

and students.

the analysis of the impact of these processes on the interaction

between the system of studies and the system of business raises

significant questions. What is the difference between the position

and priorities of business and those of the state in the area of

training of highly qualified specialists? how do the state policy of

higher education as well as strategies and activity of higher schools

meet the requirements of business for highly qualified specialists?

Whether, in this area, business is an active partner expressing its

needs, helping to form the demand for highly qualified specialists

and actively contributing, by its human resources development

strategies, to the quality of training of these specialists and

creation of new jobs requiring high qualifications? or whether

the business only passively contributes to the rhetoric of the state

policy about the knowledge economy and about the demand

for highly qualified employees promoted by the knowledge

economy, however, the human resources development strategy

of the business, due to its passivity and reliance on reactive

attitudes, is not in conformity with the content of this rhetoric?

Whether the growing number of highly qualified specialists

declared by business companies and organisations means the

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growth in employment quality and qualification requirements or

it only hides the growing rate of re-training of new employees

with higher education?

the analysis of the structure of the process of interaction

between the systems of studies and business at the level of

business organisation leads to significant interactions of business

organisation strategies and the external business environment in

the area of human resources management and development.

as companies and organisations choose competition

strategies between competition in price and cheap labour and

competition in quality and innovations, the influencing factors

are the general social and economic context and, in particular,

the operating socio-economic models of capitalism. Brown

and hesketh (2004) distinguish the impact of two models of

capitalism – shareholder capitalism and stakeholder capitalism –

on the human resources development. the shareholder

capitalism model is dominated by safeguarding and protection

of economic interests of owners and shareholders of business

companies, most often through short-term and rapid profit

from investment and rapid maximisation of the value of shares

which requires optimisation of production costs, most often by

refusing any more significant investment into human resources

development and widely using such means of provision of

human resources as headhunting for qualified employees of

competitors. stakeholder capitalism is based on long-term

interest of business owners in business development and

close cooperation between the representatives of employers

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and employees in developing business and activities of a

company as well as creating and implementing strategies of

organisations. the stakeholder capitalism model is dominated

by competition strategies based on quality and innovations

which, in turn, require continuous and significant investment

into human resources. competition in terms of quality and

innovations promotes the development of open, horizontal and

flexible forms of work organisation which manifests through the

growth in employees’ independence and delegation of many

decision-making functions and responsibility to operators in

workplaces in order to use to the maximum the competencies

possessed by all employees (development of team work, set up

of expert working groups, etc.). the design of the content of

activity in such organisations is based on the enrichment of the

content of activity and the growth in qualification requirements

imposed on the activity which is performed. functions and

tasks requiring creativity and independent decision-making

are distributed much more equally among various jobs and

the categories of employees. therefore, such organisation of

work requires the use of proactive and long-term strategies of

human resources management which are based on agreement

between employees and employers as well as the participation

of their representatives in the creation and implementation

thereof. human resources development and continuous

training of employees in such organisations is also geared

towards proactive forecast of future needs of human resources

and is treated as investment into the future development of

an organisation. this promotes the formation of expansive

and democratic cultures of employees’ teaching and learning.

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the human resources development strategies seek a rational

balance between external employment of highly qualified

specialists (especially graduates of higher schools) and training

of such specialists from the available human resources by using

various means of continuous education. competition in prices

and low labour costs requires the organisation of work which

is based on taylorism, is prescriptive and strictly hierarchical,

leaves much less discretion, independence and initiative to

the individual performing a particular activity and strictly

distinguishes between creative and decision-making employees

and ordinary operators (Brown, green, Lauder, 2001; grugulis,

2007; Zarifian, 2009). therefore, the design of the content of

activity in such organisations often promotes the process of

polarisation of employees’ skills and competencies where due to

such organisation of work ‘operators’ of tasks rapidly lose skills

and knowledge of higher level while creative, decision-making

and leading employees (comprising a minority of all employees)

may avail of the most beneficial conditions for improvement

of their qualification. human resources management is, in

particular, geared towards the current instantaneous needs of

human resources and is characterised by a particularly strict

vertical hierarchy. the development of human resources and

continuous training of employees in such organisations is

reactive, i.e. it responds to the needs and requirements of jobs

that have already manifested themselves and is treated only as

a source of costs. the human resources development strategies

are quite closed and organisations either do not cooperate with

higher schools in the area of search for and development of

human resources or their cooperation is very weak.

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Figure 1Process of the interaction between the systems of business and

studies at the level of an organisation

competition strategies:

competition in price versus quality /

innovations

human resources manage-ment strategies: op-

tions of search for highly qualified employees and ‘raising’ thereof

changes in work

organisation

design of the content of

activity

Learning culture of

organisations

training and human resources

development

Qualitative and quan-titative development of human capital in

organisations

Measures of the state policy of education and human

resources aimed at quality higher education and the

development of higher skills human resources

Quantitative and qualitative conformity of qualifications

and competencies of higher school graduates to

business needs

Measures of the state policy of education and human resources

aimed at quality higher education and the development of higher

skills human resources have a direct impact on the quantitative

and qualitative conformity of qualifications and competencies

of higher school graduates to business needs and the human

resources management strategies of companies as companies

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choose between search for highly qualified employees and ‘raising’

such employees by using means of continuous teaching. on the

other hand, the human resources management strategies of

companies, existence and level thereof, dominant choices between

search for highly qualified employees and ‘raising’ such employees

make a significant contribution to the quantitative and qualitative

conformity of qualifications and competencies of higher school

graduates to business needs and have an impact in forecasting,

designing and implementing the measures of the state policy of

education and human resources aimed at quality higher education

and the development of higher skills human resources.

Trends in changes in supply and demand of specialists with higher education and implications thereof to the development of the interaction of the system of studies and business

analysis of trends in changes in supply and demand of specialists

with higher education inevitably leads to the said phenomenon

of the popularity of higher education studies typical of many

countries. What about the popularity of studies in Lithuania and

how it affects the trends in changes in supply and demand of

specialists with higher education?

assessment of the situation of the last decade in this area shows

a major quantitative advantage in flows of students of higher

schools in comparison with students of vocational training

establishments, and Lithuania in this area stands out quite

strikingly against other european countries (see table 1).

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Table 1Learning in vocational schools and higher schools in Europe in

2003 (Masson, 2009)

Situation in 2003

Number of students in

vocational training establishments

exceeds 2/3 of the number of students in schools of general

education


vocational training establishments comprises from 1/3 to 2/3 of the

number of students in schools of general

education


vocational training establishments

is lower than 1/3 of the number of students in

schools of general education

number of students in higher schools exceeds 2/3 of all population of 20–24 years of age

slovenia greece, Latvia, finland, sweden Lithuania, estonia

number of students in higher schools comprises from ½ to 2/3 of all population of 20–24 years of age

Belgium, the netherlands

denmark, france, poland italy, portugal

number of students in higher schools is lower than half of all population of 20–24 years of age

czech republic, slovak republic, croatia, austria

germany, Luxembourg,

Bulgaria, romania, turkey

Malta, cyprus

according to the department of statistics of Lithuania, in 2008–

2009 there were no material changes in quantitative domination

of students of higher schools in comparison with students of

vocational training establishments (chronicle of statistics of

Lithuania, 2009):

the ratio of the number of students of vocational schools with •that of students of schools of general education was 0.09; the ratio of the number of students of higher schools with •that of students of schools of general education was 0.45;

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the share of students of higher schools in the population •age group of 20–24 comprised about 77 per cent.

the mismatch of such a situation and the needs of economy

has been continually highlighted by employers since business

and civil service do not create as many jobs requiring higher

education as the number of graduates of higher schools which

comes to the labour market. therefore, a part of individuals with

higher education emigrate and some graduates of higher schools

are forced to take up jobs whose qualification requirements are

lower than the qualification they gained.

this situation is also reflected in a survey of employers. the

majority of respondents note that currently they have no shortage

of specialists with higher education.

Figure 2 Is there a shortage of specialists with higher education in the

business area represented by respondents? (in per cent)

At the moment there is no shortage in specialists with higher education

There is a shortage of specialists with a professional bachelor’s degree

(graduates of colleges)

There is a shortage of specialists only with higher university education

yes, there is a major shortage of specialists with higher university and

non-university (college) education

68

5

8

17

0 20 40 60 80

Survey “Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania and Europe”, 2010.

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the largest shortage in specialists with higher education has been

indicated by employers engaged in the area of manufacturing (32

per cent), smaller shortages have been identified by respondents

engaged in trade (12 per cent) and services (9 per cent). this can

be easily explained because traditionally manufacturing is an area

of activity that generates and implements most innovations and

requires more specialists with higher skills than the area of services.

Moreover, so far the labour market exhibits a shortage of graduates

of engineering and science mostly felt by the industry.

Figure 3 Is the performance of a company affected by the level of

diplomas of higher education (bachelor’s, master’s or maybe PhD) held by the company’s employees? (in per cent)

Difficult to tell

This has no importance at all and has no impact on a company’s

performanceMost probably, this has no importance because it is not a diploma but the pro-

fessional experience that affects the employee’s efficiency in a company

This is quite important but it is not a factor determining the performance of

a companyVery important – education of higher

level directly affects the success of a company

21

7

26

30

15

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

the breakdown of employers’ opinions shows certain changes in

their attitude towards the level of employees’ higher education.

a difficult economic situation, more intense migration of labour,


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sudden quantitative and qualitative changes in the supply of labour and other factors motivate many employers to look for employees with more professional experience who would be more responsible, loyal, etc. decrease of financial possibilities of many companies also forces employers to reconsider employment priorities and choose the ones which are the most necessary for particular jobs and best meet the requirements of the chosen competition strategy. therefore, the importance of the level of higher education in the process of hire gives place to other criteria which are more related to

the requirements for a particular activity or job.

Trends in conformity of the knowledge, practical skills and general competencies of graduates from the establishments of higher education to the needs of jobs and the impact of these trends on the development of the interaction between the system of studies and business

this project focused on knowledge and skills which were important in seeking a qualification degree and were closely related to specific knowledge of a subject of study as well as the general competencies typical of any programme of studies. the general competencies include the ability to learn, make decisions, work in a group, analyse and systematise, communicate in a foreign language, etc. in a society which is constantly changing, these general competencies become very important because they ensure more opportunities to get a job. the communication from the european commission, ‘new skills for new Jobs’ (2010), highlights that education systems should respond more flexibly to changes and be more open to the world, that it is necessary to improve programmes of studies by focusing more on

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the development of practical and transferable skills and that there is a need for closer interaction of subjects of study as well as the interdisciplinary dimension on agendas of studies and research. employers wish to hire graduates who have adequate intellectual abilities and are able to adapt in a rapidly changing environment, i.e. have competencies which used to be characteristic of the elite group of graduates (harvey et al, 1997). today graduates have less time for integration into the working environment and are expected to produce rapid results; usually only large and seldom – medium companies invest sufficiently into the graduates’ adaptation and training; often graduates are required to have certain specific abilities related to an organisation and a job while attributes of behaviour or attitude, e.g. the employees’ motivation, are classed as general competencies thus transferring certain functions of a company’s division of personnel to higher schools.

studies of the needs of the labour market are an integral part of self-analysis of every higher school. these studies examine how the competencies developed under the programmes of studies meet the employers’ expectations, and the results thereof are used to amend and improve the programmes of studies. and even though today, in the discourse of higher education, we often hear about the dissatisfaction of the labour market with the performance of the higher education system, the study has shown that a major part of employers appreciate the competencies acquired by graduates: 19 per cent of respondents believe that in Lithuania, the knowledge of graduates with a bachelor’s qualification degree very well meets the requirements of a company the respondents represent, 56 per cent – meets in principle and only 4 per cent of the individuals surveyed indicate that the acquired knowledge, skills and general competencies do not meet the needs at all (see table 2).

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Table 2Conformity of the knowledge, practical skills and general

competencies of graduates of higher schools to the requirements of a company represented by respondents (in per cent)

Graduates from Lithuania’s higher schools and / or ha-ving work experience in a

local labour market

Graduates from foreign higher schools and / or

having work experience in labour markets of foreign

countries

Know-ledge

practical skills

General compe-tencies

Know-ledge

practical skills

General compe-tencies

Bachelor’s

Meet very well 19 2 2 11 6 8

Meet in principle 56 51 71 32 27 24

difficult to tell 13 6 10 45 46 53

Meet only partially 8 33 16 7 17 15

do not meet at all 4 7 1 4 4 –

Master’s





do not meet at all 4 6 – 5 5 –

phd





do not meet at all – 7 – 5 5 –


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it should be noted that graduates’ practical skills and general

competencies are somewhat less appreciated: only 2 per cent

of respondents indicated that graduates’ practical skills and

general competencies met the requirements very well, 51 per

cent and 71 per cent of surveyed individuals stated that these

competencies met the employers’ needs in principle. even though

the difference is minor (6 per cent and 8 per cent) but employers

better appreciate the practical skills and general competencies of

graduates from foreign higher schools.

such results of the study may be explained by the fact that

Lithuania’s higher schools are only starting to gear their

programmes of studies towards the results of studies. the colleges

have more experience in running the programmes of studies

based on competencies while the universities are only starting

to re-focus on the study programmes based on the results of

studies. therefore, many study programmes of universities are

too focused on the lecturer and on the transfer and content

of knowledge but not on the competencies acquired, these

programmes do not highlight interdisciplinary links, too little

attention is paid to active learning which trains analytic, creative

and systemic thinking, social skills (ability to work in a group,

ability to communicate, ability to adapt to a new environment,

etc.) and personal qualities (independence, responsibility, etc.),

the student is often required to remember the information but

not to apply the acquired knowledge in a creative and practical

way. in addition to the knowledge of a chosen speciality, learning

must encompass various skills which need to be mutually

compatible.

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according to the study, the majority of employers appreciate

the knowledge, skills and general competences of graduates

of the master’s programmes. 12 per cent of respondents rated

their knowledge as very well meeting the needs of a company,

65 per cent – as meeting those needs in principle. however, only

9 per cent of respondents rated the knowledge of graduates of

the second cycle as very well meeting the needs of a company.

the study of employers’ opinions once again confirmed that

more attention must be paid to the development of the general

competencies of the second cycle. at the same time, there rises

a question as to the split of responsibility between the higher

school and the student in the area of the general competencies,

especially during the studies of the second cycle where more

attention must be paid to the specialisation of studies and

further development of previously acquired special knowledge

and skills.

the comparison of the respondents’ replies according to

demographic variables shows that only 2 per cent of the

representatives of the manufacturing sector note that the

knowledge of graduates of bachelor’s programmes of Lithuania’s

higher schools very well meets the needs of companies while

the share of respondents from the services sector who chose this

answer was 28 per cent, and the share of respondents from micro

enterprises – 42 per cent. Managers of the major companies in this

respect were more critical than managers of the small enterprises

and none of them indicated that the knowledge of graduates

with a bachelor’s qualification degree very well met the needs

of a company. such replies may be explained by the specific

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requirements that the companies of the manufacturing sector and

the major companies set for highly qualified specialists: in many

cases the operation of manufacturing companies is characterised

by more specialised technological and organisational features

than that of the companies of the services sector and organisation

of work in the major companies is also more specialised and

differentiated than that of small and medium-sized enterprises.

therefore companies of the industry sector, especially major

ones, are rather looking for highly qualified specialists trained for

particular jobs and are less inclined to hire employees of wide

education and provide them with a possibility to acquire the

lacking competencies at the workplace. While small and medium-

sized enterprises, especially in the services sector, usually need

employees who are more universal and of wider education.

the results of the study of the knowledge, skills and general

competencies of graduates of master’s programmes are as

follows: the representatives of the manufacturing sector gave the

worst assessment of their practical skills with only 1 per cent of

the representatives of the manufacturing sector and 24 per cent

of the representatives of the services sector saying that their

practical skills fully met the needs of a company. graduates usually

have enough theoretical knowledge but they often lack practical

skills and experience in the application of that knowledge. this

is a result of the lack of a closer dialogue between business and

science. new models of development of practical skills can not

be realised only in the environment of higher education, master’s

students should develop their practical competence while

conducting research in a real business environment, however, to

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achieve that, business, science and higher schools communities

need to be consolidated and the government needs to put more

effort in promoting this process.

Attitude of business towards the significance of a diploma, the name of a higher education establishment and the graduates’ experience upon taking up employment

Table 3Upon hiring employees respondents find important the

following (in per cent)

Statements Assessment

Very impor-

tant

Impor-tant

Not impor-

tant

Not im-portant

at all

Difficult to say

a candidate should have a bachelor’s, master’s or phd diploma awarded by a higher school of Lithuania

13 63 19 2 3

a candidate should have a bachelor’s, master’s or phd diploma awarded by a higher school of a european union country

1 19 60 11 8

a candidate should have a bachelor’s, master’s or phd diploma awarded by a higher school of both Lithuania and another eu country

3 10 56 21 9

a candidate should have professional experience in Lithuanian companies 21 66 6 4 2

a candidate should have professional experience in foreign companies 5 28 33 11 24

a candidate should have good references from other employers 16 55 13 7 8


the study has confirmed that the main requirements for

candidates for hire are higher education, work experience, good

references and social skills: 63 per cent of respondents note that a


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diploma of a bachelor’s, master’s or phd qualification awarded in

Lithuania is an essential condition in order to get a job, however, it

is difficult to know which level of education – bachelor’s, master’s

or phd – is preferred by employers. students of higher schools

and higher schools themselves need to know whether graduates

of master’s studies may expect jobs which would allow them to

work in an independent and responsible manner, to propose

initiatives and create innovations.

the results of the study show that respondents prefer work

experience gained in foreign companies to a qualification degree

(61 per cent of surveyed employers indicated that they would not

prefer a qualification acquired abroad). it should be noted that the

study did not distinguish between a qualification degree acquired

abroad by citizens of Lithuania and that acquired abroad by all eu

citizens looking for employment opportunities in this country.

the comparison of the assessment given in the table according to

demographic variables shows that a bachelor’s, master’s or phd

diploma awarded by a higher school of Lithuania is preferred by

employers of the manufacturing sector – 37 per cent have chosen

the reply very important while only 7 per cent of employers from

the services sector have chosen that reply.

though employers appreciate experience and even 66 per cent

of respondents have indicated that experience is important

upon hire, achievements of studies in a higher school also tell

quite a lot about the individual’s personality. ability to learn,

responsibility, accuracy and diligence are always appreciated

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in the labour market. the study has shown that representatives

of the major companies, more seldom than those of small

enterprises (4 per cent and 17 per cent respectively), have

indicated that experience is important. the major companies

more highly appreciate personal qualities and are prepared to

train young specialists or they do not want the specialists to bring

‘old’ experience which does not correspond with the company’s

culture, values and attitudes.

Figure 4In the process of selection for a job, do you attach importance

to the name of an educational establishment where the candidate received a diploma of higher education

(the rating of a higher school)? (in per cent)

Not important at all

Not important

Difficult to say

Important

Very important

8.7

32.6

25.9

27.6

5.2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

though is has been more than a decade since the start of the

practice of rating of Lithuanian higher schools, the results of the

study have shown that more than a quarter of the respondents do

not have an opinion regarding the importance of the rating and

the name of a higher education establishment in the selection of

employees. More than 41 per cent of respondents have noted that


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they do not link the quality of studies with the place of a higher

school on a rating table, however, 33 per cent of the surveyed

employers consider this information important.

Cooperation between business enterprises and higher education establishments and the potential impact thereof on the reform of the higher education system and business development

the communication from the european commission, ‘delivering

on the Modernisation agenda for universities: education,

research and innovation’ (coM, 2006) of May 2006, highlights the

establishment of structural partnership between universities and

business enterprises in order to ensure that universities become

important players of economy able to better and more rapidly

adapt to the market requirements and develop the partnership

promoting scientific and technological knowledge.

as the number of students decreases due to demographical factors,

continuous education could become one of most important areas of

activity of higher schools, however, to achieve that, closer cooperation

with business needs to be pursued in order to be able to establish

and meet a need for new skills. it is important that the lifelong

learning concept is comprehensively integrated into the strategy

and mission of higher schools and is developed in cooperation

with business organisations – universities will not manage to create

and implement it on their own. however, today higher schools

make up only a very small share of the market of continuous

education in Lithuania. successful involvement of business requires

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various support structures, and most importantly – a change in

the institutional culture of a higher school: the system is geared

towards a student of sequential studies who has just graduated

from secondary school, the academic year and the schedule are

strictly regulated. the process of studies of higher schools does not

suit business in terms of business requirements for the content, form

and results of the programmes of studies while personal initiatives

of academic staff in the development of partnership with business

are not sufficiently acknowledged and appreciated, there is a lack of

flexibility and entrepreneurship even though we hear a lot about the

student-centred teaching. Learning results acquired informally and

through experience are still seldom recognised today.

currently, there are various eu partnership programmes (mobility

between educational institutions and business) which could help

reduce cultural differences between the areas of higher education

and continuous education while developed partnership

between the higher school and business may become a strategic

advantage and exceptional feature of a higher school and a

business company.

the results of the study demonstrate that today a more popular

format of cooperation of business and higher schools is ‘passive’

which may be characterised in terms of a ‘buy–sell’ relationship: more

than a half business companies are buying teaching services and only

4 per cent actively participate in the development and improvement

of the programmes of study and conduct joint scientific, research and

project activities (see table 4). it is these activities which are directly

related to the improvement of the quality of studies.

112

Table 4Nature of the cooperation of the companies represented by

respondents and the higher school (in per cent)

Forms of cooperation yes No

employees of a company upgrade their professional qualifications in higher schools 51 49

employees of a company share their professional experience with students of higher schools 24 76

employees of a company work as lecturers in higher schools 4 96

Joint scientific / research / project activity is conducted 4 96

students of higher schools carry out traineeships in a company 47 53

approach a higher school looking for the necessary specialists 20 80

run presentations of one’s company in a higher school, organise guided tours for students in one’s company 11 89

participate in the development and improvement of the programmes of studies 4 96

participate in the management of a higher school (activities of councils) 5 95

traineeships are an integral part of the process of studies; during

traineeships, students of higher schools may acquire practical

skills in a real business environment and strengthen their

understanding about the future professional activities. students

also find out what theoretical knowledge and practical skills are

expected by their future employers, which motivates them to

continue their studies in a higher school and pursue professional

development. as was expected, students more often carry out

traineeships in large companies (71 per cent) and, respectively,

in medium-sized – 64 per cent, small – 41 per cent and micro –

23 per cent. an interesting point here is that 51 per cent of

representatives of private companies note that students of higher

schools carry out traineeships in their companies while in public

sector such companies comprise 37 per cent.


113

Manufacturing companies are much more active in pursuing

relations with higher schools: 43 per cent of respondents of this

group state that they conduct presentations of their company in

higher schools and organise guided tours for students in their

companies. only 11 per cent of employers in the trade sector and

5 per cent of employers in the services sector participate in such

activities. stronger interest of companies of the manufacturing

sector in such cooperation is determined by a growing need for

highly qualified specialists (especially in the areas of technologies

and engineering) and a comparatively low popularity, among

students, of certain specialities that are on demand (e.g. in the

area of engineering and science).

CONCLUSIONS

the development of the system of studies and business is closely

related. this interaction is determined by business competition

strategies and their impact on the human resources development

trends of companies, on measures of the state education and

human resources policy and on quantitative and qualitative

conformity of qualifications and competencies of higher school

graduates to business needs.

a major trend in changes in the demand and supply of specialists

with higher education in Lithuania is quite considerable and stable

surplus of the supply of these specialists which is determined

by popularity of higher education and quantitative domination

of higher school students in comparison with students of

vocational education establishments. this increases competition

114

of graduates of higher schools in the labour market and the level

of their unemployment and re-training.

the results of the study show that the knowledge of graduates meets

the needs of jobs quite well, certain problems, however, are caused

by non-conformity of these needs with practical skills and general

competencies. the lack of graduates’ practical skills, competencies

and experience highlighted by employers should encourage higher

schools and employers to cooperate more actively in the process

of studies, from the preparation of regulations and programmes of

studies to the organisation of traineeships for students.

comparatively high flows of graduates of higher schools to the

labour market and quite great freedom of choice for employers

enabled the raising of the requirements of hire related to a

higher school diploma. however, the economic situation, the

non-conformity of the qualification held by graduates of higher

schools to the needs of jobs have determined the fact that

work experience is becoming an increasingly more important

criterion for the hire of graduates. the business of Lithuania so far

is not playing ‘a game’ of creation and maintenance of prestige

with higher schools, therefore, the rating of the schools is not a

particularly significant criterion of hire.

today the dominant format of cooperation between business

and higher schools is ‘passive’ which may be described as a

‘buy–sell’ relationship. the interest of business in cooperation in

the process of studies is mostly determined by a lack of highly

qualified specialists in certain sectors.

115

Bibliography

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prepared for the european commission, Brussels, 2010.

access http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catid=88&langid

=lt&eventsid=232&furtherevents=yes

Brown, p., ashton, d., Lauder, h., tholen, g. (2008) towards 2.

a high-skilled, Low-Waged Workforce? a review of global

trends in education, employment and the Labour Market.

Monograph no.10. esrc funded centre on skills, Knowledge

and organisational performance

cardiff and oxford universities. 3.

Brown, p., hesketh, a. (2004) the Mismanagement of talent. 4.

oxford university press. oxford.

Brown, p., Lauder, h., green, a. (2001) high skills. oxford 5.

university press. oxford.

communication from the commission to the council and 6.

the european parliament. delivering on the Modernisation

agenda for universities: education, research and innovation,

Brussels, 10.5.2006 com(2006) 208 final.

Masson, J.r. (2009) Vocational education and training and 7.

higher education in the transition countries / european

Journal of Vocational training, no. 46 (2009-1), cedefop,

thessaloniki, pp. 89-113.

Zarifian, p. (2004) Le modèle de la compétence. trajectoire 8.

historique, enjeux actuels et propositions, editions Liaisons,

rueil-Malmaison.

116

Arūnas MarkPresident of National Union of Student Representations of Lithuania

Analysis of results of the Survey “Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania and Europe” and their comparison with the opinion of students and graduates

the analysis of the data of the survey “employers’ approach

to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania and

europe” and the comparison thereof with the students’ opinion

allows to identify clearly several key problems due to which, in

Lithuania, there is a certain attitude of the labour market to higher

education and students. Quite often employers’ opinion about

Lithuania’s higher education or graduates of higher education is

negative and/or not positive exactly due to a lack of information

and real cooperation with the establishments of education

and studies or with students. the attitude towards students

and educational establishments is rather based on stereotypes

because employers, in fact, seldom meet the participants of the

higher education system in their business – only 4 per cent of

respondents indicate that they conduct joint scientific, research

or project activities together with higher education institutions

and only 47 per cent of employers state that students carry out

traineeships in their enterprises. this indicator is particularly

important for students. it reiterates the results of the survey of

students showing that there is a general lack of practical sessions

117

during their studies and, in particular, a lack of scientific, research

and project activities conducted together with companies.

Lithuanian higher education institutions of seldom provide

conditions for business entities to contribute to the research

activities they conduct and the supply of such activities is very

specific and not suitable for many Lithuanian companies. such

practice does not promote cooperation between the labour

market and the sector of higher education, therefore, it causes

problems which are relevant to all the society such as a lack

of entrepreneurship and innovative business ideas, limited

possibilities of development of business entities, increasing

investment into the upgrading of competence of human

resources of companies, etc. the consequences of a lack of wider

cooperation between the sectors of business and higher education

are growing unemployment, emigration and decreasing social

welfare in the state.

the attitude of employers towards the system of education and

students, as potential future employees, is especially important

for students. the students’ future and their job depend on that

attitude. Moreover, according to the survey of businessmen of

Vilnius city and Vilnius county carried out by Macroscope Ltd.

upon assignment of the employers’ confederation, only 3 in 10

graduates believe that entrepreneurship is a positive feature and

that they will try to start a business, which makes it possible to

state that the attitude of employers and investment of time and

resources into students become an ever important factor with

regard to career of young people and the development of the

118

country. Wider opportunities to carry out traineeships according

to the speciality in business companies would give a chance to

students to start practical application of their knowledge before

they finish their studies. at the same time, students would acquire

more experience, would learn to be entrepreneurial and would

improve their social skills.

the assessment of the attitude of employers towards the

knowledge and skills acquired by graduates of higher education

institutions makes it possible to note that due to a lack of

information employers know too little about foreign higher

education institutions and the knowledge and skills gained there,

therefore, they have more confidence in the knowledge acquired

in Lithuania. such a situation is the result of a lack of information

about the development of the european higher education area

as well as the qualification frameworks, qualitative achievements

and indicators of the quality of higher education in various

countries. this information is easily found by students wishing

to study abroad. thus such information is available, therefore, we

need to look for solutions as to how to disseminate it more widely

to employers so that they are able to become familiar with the

quality of education acquired abroad and have a more objective

view of the knowledge of candidates to a certain position.

analysing the attitude of employers to the education of graduates

it can be stated that employers mostly lack information to assess

graduates of phd (3rd cycle of studies). the reason has been

multiple times mentioned in the survey – the lack of co-operation

of business and science institutions in research, project and other

119

activities. employers, lacking real information and/or having no

contacts with the activities of phd students, cannot assess their

knowledge or the quality of their skills as well.

comparing the opinion of employers as to the assessment of

knowledge and skills of students of all three cycles with the

opinion of the students themselves it can often be seen that the

opinions are identical – students themselves would emphasise

in the course of the survey that they especially lack practical

knowledge, that the knowledge and skills gained in Lithuanian

higher education institutions often mismatch the needs of the

time and the labour market, that information on state-of-the-art

technologies and trends is lacking.

the survey results that show that only a smaller part of employees

consider education of the highest level possible to be very

important for the effectiveness of the performance of the

company are at variance with the general trend predominant in

the country when graduate job-seekers are faced with excessively

high requirements as to their education even when they seek jobs

where such education will not be necessary in reality. such results

also are inconsistent with the data of table 2.1.2 (survey “employers’

approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania

and europe”, 2010) that show that 62 per cent of the respondents

find it important for the candidate to have a Ba, Ma or phd diploma

issued by a Lithuanian higher education institution and additional

13 percent believe it to be very important. the opinion of employees

that the highest possible education is not of particular importance

to the performance of companies would be extremely favourable

120

to students, as they expect in the course of studies that their future

employer will look at their knowledge and practical skills rather

than their diploma (or the number of diplomas). in order to ensure

the clarity of employment criteria, employers should more often

emphasise that their major criteria are, indeed, skills, knowledge

and general competencies when employing a young employee

rather than a diploma of the higher education institution (cycle,

number of diplomas). transparency in this situation would help

in tackling a large degree of miscommunication and eradicating

stereotypes that in order to find a good job in Lithuania at least

the Master’s degree and several higher education qualifications are

necessary.

on the other hand, it is surprising that as much as 56 per cent of

employers claim that they find it irrelevant whether the candidate

is a holder of a bachelor’s, master’s or doctor’s diploma issued

by both a Lithuanian higher education institution and a higher

education institution of another eu Member state. such an

attitude shows that, possibly, the advantages of broader education

are underestimated. although each case is particularly special;

however, individuals having acquired education in several countries

often possess broader skills, knowledge, general competencies

and entrepreneurship features. an adverse attitude of employers

towards education obtained outside Lithuania is revealed by the

results of the study showing that 54.7 per cent of respondents find

that mobility is positive, when students and/or graduates leave to

study, to engage in traineeships or internships to foreign higher

education institutions and companies. such differences in attitudes

are likely to arise due to lack of information about knowledge and

121

skills acquired at foreign establishments of research and education

and also due to the fact that information about opportunities to

engage in exchange programmes is easily accessible to the public,

but students have far more opportunities to engage in exchange

programmes than undertake foreign studies.

students should be concerned about the fact that 87 per cent of

employers consider that the most important thing is professional

experience of an applicant for a certain position working in

Lithuanian companies (66 per cent - important, 21 per cent -

very important), and for 71 per cent of respondents the most

important thing is references from other employers. given the

existing level of youth unemployment in Lithuania, inefficiency

of the systems of internship and deficiencies in coordination of

employment and studies, such an attitude and requirements

may only deepen youth unemployment problems because only

a minor part of graduates have actual and quality practical job

experience in their profession.

the attitudes of employers and students mostly coincide when

it comes to evaluating the name or ranking position of the

higher education institution. such an evaluation is natural as the

rankings of Lithuanian higher education institutions are not yet

sufficiently objective and reliable, and qualitative information

about individual higher education institutions is not accessible

to the public. such an evaluation is also affected by the fact that

there is no definition of quality of studies in place and no quality

requirements for higher education institutions meeting european

standards have been adopted in Lithuania.

122

When analysing the attitude of business sector representatives to

the Bologna process as a whole or parts of it, the results that are

most representative of the opinion of students show that 38 per

cent of employers consider that improvement of the studies of

higher education and developing them to meet the needs of the

employment market is very relevant and necessary for all types

of business in Lithuania, and that study programmes should be

responsive to market needs (39 per cent of respondents). such

results suggest that both students and employers perceive major

gaps in the Lithuanian system of higher education, i.e. the quality

of studies that requires improvement and a break from market

needs and those of the time caused by the lack of analyses of

the need for specialists and economy of the state, as well as lack

of cooperation among employers, higher education institutions

and social partners.

the factor of insularity of the business sector is also obvious.

the majority of employers note in the survey that business does

attach importance to the attraction of foreign students and to

the integration into the eu culture and its labour market, to the

training of highly skilled specialists for the european labour market

and the promotion of the mobility of teachers and students. such

approach limits the development of the labour market and the

formation of the knowledge society, leading business sector

becoming local and less attractive to eu member states in terms

of investments and export. the “brain drain”, which is in particular

relevant in Lithuania, has no leverages to attract brain and this can

lead to problems in the future related to the search for qualified

employees and the development of business itself.

123

students most often inform the public about their attitude to the

changes taking place in the system of higher education using

the instruments of human resources and the media. Most of the

employers also find out the news related to higher education

from the media, nevertheless, the data of this survey show that

targeted specific knowledge is lacking to allow forming a personal

opinion or take a stand in respect of higher education. it can be a

result of insufficient interest or of too complicated presentation

of information (in particular, about the Bologna process), when

specific knowledge is necessary to fully understand a piece of

news. such presentation of news on higher education complicates

the understanding and dissemination of information, in this case –

between employers and students. for students, as for employers

as well, it would be easier to access news on the Bologna process

on one specialised internet portal.

rather “fragmented” opinion of employers on the impact of

the reform of higher education implemented in Lithuania on

business development supports the concerns of students about

the lack of strategic direction of the undertaken reform, unclear

objectives and inconsistency with the needs of the state. such

approach to the reform results from unduly closed decision-

making, intolerance to discussions and failure to identify the real

needs of the state and business (economy). higher involvement

of employers in the processes of planning reforms in the state

by organising discussions, making suggestions and expressing

constructive criticism would help state authorities to make better

quality decisions and would strengthen the role of social partners

in public governance.

124

review of the results of the surveys eurostudent iii (2007) and

eurostudent iV (2009) and their comparison with the attitude

of employers to young employees and to the entire system of

higher education makes it possible to conclude that the overall

labour market situation does not change in the state also due to

the fact that developments are lacking in individual segments

of the market. While studying, students most often work in the

public sector and the objective of work is to earn funds for their

studies. since employers often treat a working student only as

cheap labour, business partnership with higher education or

involvement of individual students into the development of

enterprises or institutions is, in principle, impossible. students

lack motivation to work in a quality manner and seek enterprise

development or the future of the state for the sake of knowledge,

because the assessment of their work and/or contribution does

not match their expectations.

it can be seen from the overview of the survey results and the

opinions of different interests that the lack of co-operation is

the major gap in the evolution of the state and business in the

implementation of the Bologna process in Lithuania. insufficient

co-operation of employers and participants of the system of

higher education is detrimental to both employers themselves

and the state. it would be expedient for research contractors to

publish information about the co-operation of these different

sides, collected in the course of carrying out this survey, and take

initiative in holding round table discussions in order to improve

the co-operation of employers and participants of the system of

higher education.

125

126

V. ANNExES

127

5.1. Significance of higher education qualification: respondent views

Table 5.1.1 Assessing the shortage of specialists with higher education

Statements %

Yes, there is a great shortage of speccialists with higher university and non-university (college) education

17.5

there is a shortage of specialists only with higher university education 8.1

there is a shortage of specialists with professional Bachelor‘s degree (colle-ge graduates)

4.7

there is no shortage of specialists with higher education at present 68.4

other 1.2

Figure 5.1.1 Distribution of responses assessing the shortage of higher education specialists by the type of activity of represented

companies

90.0

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0

35.2

21.417.1

1.93.6 1.8

14.3

2.6 4.8

44.6

59.3

80.7

51.4

32.1

9.312.4

Manufacturing Trade

In p

erce

ntag

e

Services Mixed activities (manu-facturing and trade)

yes, there is a great shortage of

specialists with higher university

education and non-univer-sity (college)

education

There is only a shortage

of specialists with higher university education

There is a shortage of

specialists with professional

Bachelor‘s degree (college

graduates)

Currently there is no

shortage of specialists

with higher education

128

Figure 5.1.2 Distribution of response on the shortage of higher education

specialists by company size

100.090.080.070.060.050.040.030.020.010.0

0.0

31.422.4

1.3

16.0

1.0 3.7 9.9

1.5 5.8

88.7

54.7 66.3

46.8

6.011.8

27.7

Micro (1-10 employees)

Medium (51-250 employees)



In p

erce

ntag

e

yes, there is a great shortage of speci-alists with higher university educa-tion and non-uni-versity (college)

education






graduates)

Currently there is no shortage of specialists with higher education

Figure 5.1.3 Distribution of response on the shortage of higher education

specialists by the represented sector

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0

5.0 13.5 5.4 3.5

75.2

56.0

13.1

25.9

In p

erce

ntag

e

private public

yes, there is a great shortage of

specialists with higher university

education and non-univer-sity (college)

education






graduates)

Currently there is no shortage of specialists with

higher education

129

Table 5.1.2 In your views, is the level of Company employee diplomas certifying the completion of higher education studies and

acquisition of a profession (Bachelor‘s, Master‘s or Doctoral degree) relevant to Company performance results?

Statements %

extremely relevant – higher level education has a direct impact on a succes-sful company performance

15.2

Quite relevant, though this is not the factor determining effective perfor-mance

30.5

Likely to be irrelevant – most often it is not a diploma but the competencies and professional experience of an employee that exert impact on the effici-ency of their work at the company

25.9

totally irrelevant, it has no impact on company performance whatsoever 7.2

no opinion 21.3

Figure 5.1.4 Assessing the match between the knowledge possessed by

graduates of Lithuanian higher educational institutions and/or having work experience in domestic labour market and

Company requirements

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0Bachelor’s Master’s

In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral

Completely satisfies

Satisfies only partially

Largely satisfies No opinion

Does not satisfy at all

19.5

55.8

13.2 7.83.7

12.1

65.0

13.6

5.7 3.7

13.4

22.5

59.8

4.4

130

Figure 5.1.5 Assessing the match between the knowledge possessed by

graduates of foreign higher educational institutions and/or the knowledge of graduates having work experience in foreign

labour markets and Company requirements

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0


In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral





11.4

32.3

45.0

7.14.1 3.9

34.0

53.4

4.1 4.6

11.616.2

62.9

4.2 5.1

Figure 5.1.6 Assessing the match between the practical skills possessed by

the graduates of Lithuanian higher education institutions and /or having work experience in the domestic labour market and


70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0


In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral





2.4

51.3

6.3

33.0

6.9

17.3

38.3

16.322.0

6.1 5.9

15.9

60.5

10.4 7.4

131

Figure 5.1.7 Assessing the match between practical skills possessed by

graduates of foreign higher educational institutions and/or having work experience in foreign labour markets and Company

requirements

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0


In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral





5.6

27.0

45.7

17.5

4.1 5.1

25.5

59.9

4.94.6

5.9 10.6

70.2

8.2 5.1

Figure 5.1.8 Assessing the match between general competencies possessed by graduates of Lithuanian higher education institutions and/

or having work experience in domestic labour market and Company requirements

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0


In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral



Satisfies to a large extent No opinion


2.4

71.3

10.0

15.6

0.79.1

61.8

19.9

8.90.3

9.5

25.8

62.6

1.7 0.3

132

Figure 5.1.9 Assessing the match between the general competencies

possessed by graduates of foreign higher education institutions and/or having work experience in foreign labour markets and


80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0


In p

erce

ntag

e

Doctoral





7.8

24.3

52.6

15.3

2.7

23.2

57.1

16.7

0.35.9 11.0

71.0

11.6

0.4

Figure 5.1.10 Upon employing a person, it is important for the candidate to

have a Bachelor‘s, Master‘s or Doctoral degree/diploma awarded by a Lithuanian higher education institution

Not important19 %

Totally unimportant2 %

No opinion3 %

Very important13 %

Important 63 %

133

Figure 5.1.11 Upon employing a person, it is important for the candidate

to possess a Bachelor‘s, Master‘s or Doctoral degree/diploma awarded by a higher education institution in one of the

European Union member states

Totally unimportant 11%

Important 19 %

Very important 1 %

No opinion8 %

Not important 61 %


have a Bachelor‘s, Master‘s or Doctoral degree/diploma awarded both by a Lithuanian higher education institution and a higher

education institution of the EU member state

Totally unimportant 22 %

Important 10 %

Very important 3 %

No opinion 9 %

Not important 56 %

134

Figure 5.1.13 Upon employing a person, it is important for the candidate to have experience in the professional field gained in Lithuanian

companies


Important 67 %

Very important 21 %

No opinion 2 %

Not important 6 %

Figure 5.1.14 Upon employing a person, it is important for the candidate

to have experience in the professional field gained in foreign companies


Important 28 %

Very important 5 %

No opinion 24 %

Not important 33 %

135


provide good references from other employers


Important 55 %

Very important16 %

No opinion9 %

Not important 13 %


possess good social skills

Totally unimportant6 %

Important 41 %

Very important 41 %

No opinion 6 %

Not important 6 %

136

Figure 5.1.17 Is the prestige of a higher education institution (the rating of

a higher education institution) in which the candidate was awarded a higher education diploma relevant during the

selection procedure?

Totally irrelevant

Not relevant

No opinion

Relevant

Extremely relevant

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

32.6

27.6

25.9

8.7

5.2

5.2. Assessment of the Bologna process

Figure 5.2.1 Assessing the mobility of higher education students and

graduates

60. 0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0positively No opinionNegatively

41.0

4.3

54.7

In p

erce

ntag

e

137

Table 5.2.1 Assessing the mobility of higher education students and

graduates (in percentage) – distribution by the type of activity of represented companies

Assessment

Type of company activity

Manufacturing/production Trade Service

provision

Mixed activity (both trade and manufacturing/

production)

positive 64.8% 56.3% 51.7% 57.1%

negative 14.3% 1.6% 3.2% 3.8%

no opinion 20.9% 42.1% 45.0% 39.0%


graduates (in percentage) – distribution by the size of represented companies

AssessmentCompany size





positive 32.2 % 56.6 % 78.7 % 65.2 %

negative 6.3 % 10.1 %

no opinion 61.5 % 33.3 % 21.3 % 34.8 %


graduates (in percentage) – distribution by the represented sector

AssessmentSector

private public

positive 52.5 % 57.8 %

negative 6.4 % 0.7 %

no opinion 41.1 % 41.5 %

138

Figure 5.2.2 Do employers arrange practice placements for students?

yes 82 %

No 18 %

Table 5.2.4 Do employers arrange practice placements for students?

(in percentage) distribution by the type of activity of represented companies

Statements



provision


production)

Yes 97.3% 65.3% 85.3% 71.4%

no 2.7% 34.7% 14.7% 28.6%

Table 5.2.5 Do employers arrange practice placements for students? (in

percentage) distribution by Company size

StatementsCompany size





Yes 72.5% 71.6% 92.6% 96.2%

no 27.5% 28.4% 7.4% 3.8%

139

Table 5.2.6 Do employers arrange practice placements for students? (in

percentage) distribution by the represented sector

StatementsSector

private public

Yes 84.3% 77.7%

no 15.7% 22.3%

Figure 5.2.3 Do employers arrange practice placement for students from

other EU member states?

No 69 %

yes 31 %

Table 5.2.7 Do employers arrange practice placement for students from

other EU member states? (in percentage) distribution by the type of activity of represented companies

Statements



provision


production)

Yes 32.1% 18.8% 39.0% 8.6%

no 67.9% 81.2% 61.0% 91.4%

140

Table 5.2.8 Do employers arrange practice placement for students from other EU member states? (in percentage) distribution by Company size

StatementsCompany size





Yes 28.9% 17.4% 42.0% 32.7%

no 71.1% 82.6% 58.0% 67.3%

Table 5.2.9 Do employers arrange practice placement for students from other EU member states? (in percentage) distribution by the

represented sector

StatementsSector

private public

Yes 27.1% 37.7%

no 72.9% 62.3%

Figure 5.2.4 Are the employers aware of the Confederation of European

Business (BUSINESS EUROPE) and its main directions of activity? (in percentage)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

58.0

6.2

8.6

27.1

I do not know this organization

yes, I am involved in its activities and events

yes, I am interested in its activities

yes, I have heard of its existence

141

Figure 5.2.5 Employer views on the recognition of acquired higher education

qualification (a diploma/degree) all over Europe

45.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0

It is very relevant and

necessary for business in Lithuania,

including the business sector that I

represent

It is probably relevant for some busi-

ness sectors in Lithuania, but not for

the business sector that I

represent

It is probably more relevant for students, scientific and educational institutions,

but not to business

In my opinion,

these are nice words, but so far there are no tangible

results

No opinion, not

interested

30.0

18.1

40.8

5.3 5.9

Figure 5.2.6 Employer views on the improvement of the quality of higher education studies and a match with the needs of the labour

market (in percentage)

40.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0




represent




represent


but not to business

In my opi-nion, these

are nice words, but so far there are no tangible

results

No opinion, not

interested

38.1

18.4

33.1

6.5 4.0

142

Figure 5.2.7 Employer views on the international student recruitment and

integration into the EU culture and labour market (in percentage)

50.045.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0




represent




represent


but not to business



results

No opinion, not

interested

21.3 19.1

44.6

7.4 7.5

Figure 5.2.8 Employer views on training highly qualified specialists for the

European labour market (in percentage)

50.045.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0

It is extremely relevant and



represent




represent


but not to business



results

No opinion, not

interested

18.7 17.8

46.7

9.0 7.8

143

Figure 5.2.9 Employer views on promoting teacher and student mobility

(in percentage)

60.055.050.045.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0




represent




represent


but not to business



results

No opinion, not

interested

26.5

12.8

49.1

4.17.5

Figure 5.2.10 Employer views on designing the programmes

matching the needs of the labour market (following the latest Bologna documents) (in percentage)

45.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0




represent




represent


but not to business



results

No opinion, not

interested

38.8

13.0

30.2

5.6

12.4

144

5.3. Communication and information awareness

Figure 5.3.1 Do Company Managers follow the information about the reforms

of higher education in Lithuania and Europe? (in percentage)

60.055.050.045.040.035.030.025.020.015.010.0

5.00.0


higher educa-tion reform in

Lithuania



Europe



both Lithuania and Europe

I have no interest


29.2

5.914.5

50.4

Table 5.3.1 Do Company Managers follow the information about the reforms

of higher education in Lithuania and Europe? (in percentage) distribution by the type of activity of the represented Company

Statements

Type of Company activity

Manufac-turing/

productionTrade Service

provision


production)

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in Lithuania

85.6% 33.3% 18.9% 13.3%

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in europe

2.9% 29.7% .6% 1.0%

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education both in Lithuania and europe

2.9% 12.3% 13.9% 31.4%

i take no interest in these issues 8.7% 24.6% 66.5% 54.3%

145

Table 5.3.2 Do Company Managers follow the information about the reforms

of higher education in Lithuania and Europe? (in percentage) - distribution by the size of the represented Company

Statements

Company size





Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in Lithuania

22.7% 32.5% 40.8% 23.6%

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in europe

1.0% 26.3% 2.0%


12.0% 3.8% 35.3% 2.7%

i take no interest in these issues 64.3% 37.5% 23.9% 71.6%

Table 5.3.3 Do Company Managers follow the information about the

reforms of higher education in Lithuania and Europe? (in percentage) - distribution by the represented sector

StatementsSector

private public

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in Lithuania 38.1% 12.8%

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of higher education in europe 1.3% 14.5%


8.0% 26.6%

i take no interest in these issues 52.6% 46.1%

146

Figure 5.3.2 The channels of information identified by employers as the

most convenient ways of providing information about higher education reforms

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Other



Internet websites of scientific and educational institutions


Leaflets, posters

Special publications (brochures, books and the like)


1.4 %

4.9 %

7.1 %

20.9 %

12.2 %

5.7 %

14.9 %32.9 %

Figure 5.3.3 Are the employers personally familiar with the Bologna process (its goals, documents, achievements and the like) and to what

extent (in percentage)?

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

Other

I have exhaustive information about the Bologna process

I have a sufficiently good understanding about the whole Bologna process

I am well aware of certain issues, but do not have any knowledge of other issues

I have heard about it, but not much

I do not know anything

0.2

3.6

3.9

8.2

26.3

57.8

147

Figure 5.3.4 Where did the employers get the information related to the

Bologna process from?

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0

Other

hearsay information


Involvement in practice placement of students from Lithuanian and other EU higher education graduates

Job interviews with candidates who are graduates of higher education institutions


Websites of scientific and educational institutions


Leaflets, posters

Special publications on the Bologna process


0.2

1.9

8.7

15.7

9.3

5.8

6.0

1.7

2.7

26.4

21.7

Figure 5.3.5 Would the employers like to find out more about the Bologna

process?

Definitely not 6 %

No opinion 34 %

probably, yes 30 %

Definitely, yes 18 %

probably not 12 %

148

Figure 5.3.6What ways would be the most convenient and useful for

employers to receive information on the Bologna process? (%)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Other

Specialized radio, television broadcasts

Specialized press issues, for example, brochures

Information meetings, seminars

One comprehensive webpage on the Bologna process

Links sent by e-mail, publications and the like

0.2 %

11.2 %

20.1 %

8.8 %

43.8 %

15.9 %

A List of Companies in which the Survey was Conducted

private company Plastmasės fabrikas uaB (Vilnius)

public company Achema aB (Jonava)

public company Ukmergės gelžbetonis aB (ukmergė)

public company Klaipėdos baldai aB (Klaipėda)

public company Utenos trikotažas aB (Vilnius, utena)

public company nordic sugar aB (Kėdainiai)

cooperative Padegsnys (Molėtai)

consumer cooperative of the ukmergė region

149

private company Saustos prekyba uaB (Šiauliai)

private company uss enterprises uaB

individual enterprise Intelektualios technologijos iĮ (iintellectual

technologies ii)

private company Informatikos ir ryšių technologijų centras (center

for computer and telecommunication technologies) uaB

private company eLsis uaB

private company aaa Wrislit uaB

private company Baltic clipper uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,

panevėžys, Mažeikiai, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, alytus)

private company tez tour uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,


private company Novaturas uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,


public company rst – Rytų skirstomieji tinklai (eastern

distribution networks) (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, alytus)

public company Lietuvos energija aB (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda,

panevėžys, Kaišiadorys)

private company Vilniaus energija uaB (Vilnius)

private company Čili holdingas – matinimo paslaugos uaB

(chili holding - catering services) (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda,

druskininkai)

150

private company g4s (group 4 securicor)

countryside tourism homestead Medžiotojų sostinė (Kėdainiai)

individual enterprise senamiesčio dental clinic (Vilnius)

private company infomedia uaB

private company Bitė Lietuva uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,


private company Eugesta uaB

public company Klaipėda stavedoring company aB (KLasco)

private company Baltic clean – cleaning services uaB

Lithuanian national road carriers’ association LINAVA

private company sta Logistics uaB

public company teo Lt aB (subdivisions in Vilnius, panevėžys,

Mažeikiai, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, alytus)

individual enterprise g.Kašinskos pĮ

private company Kemi (subdivisions in Vilnius, panevėžys,

Marijampolė)

private company Transimeksa uaB (Šiauliai, Vilnius)

organic cattle breeding farm of d.Vaitelis (village of Žostautai)

private company riVi Logistics uaB

private company Oldvila uaB

151

public company Ūkio bankas aB

private company IRONGE uaB

Budgetary institution social services center (Vilnius, Kaunas,

panevėžys)

private company Naujos inžinierinės technologijos

(new engineering technologies) uaB (Vilnius, Kaunas)

private company palink (iKi) uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,

panevėžys, Mažeikiai, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, alytus and other)

private company RIMI Lietuva uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,


private company Lietuva Statoil uaB (subdivisions in Vilnius,


private company echo stamp uaB (Vilnius)

private company SBA baldai uaB

private company Lindab uaB (Vilnius)

private company fiLter uaB (Kaunas)

private company adr 8 uaB

individual enterprise Vosinta iĮ

private company Draginta uaB

private company sMc pneuMatics uaB

private company Geo Systems Baltija uaB

152

5.4. Questionnaire to company representatives related to human resource management and organization development

dear colleagues,

a group of sociologists from the agency for social information

and training is conducting a sociological research on Employers’

approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania

and Europe. the research was commissioned by the education

exchanges support foundation. the reforms in the sphere of

education, undertaken in Lithuania and the european union, are

aimed at creating a common area for higher education, which

could ensure training of highly qualified specialists for the jobs

market and a close cooperation between the representatives

of the labour sector (employers, professional associations and

trade unions) and higher education establishments. even though

significant attention was given to address these problems, they

have not yet been solved in the country. therefore, it is of utmost

importance to identify any obstacles hindering the pursuit of

effectice results in the development of higher education and to

highlight all the factors contributing towards achieving more

effective results.

it is of great value to us to know what you think. Your answers will

help us identify the problems encountered in order to achieve

the above mentioned objectives.

153

there are no right or wrong answers. You are requested to provide

your answer or indicate the version of the answer which best

reflects yout attitude. it is of utmost importance that you answer

aLL questions listed in the questionnaire.

The questionnaire is anonymous, therefore you do not have to provide your name and contacts while completing it.

WE extend our thanks for taking time and effort to be part of this study and providing us with your views and insights.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and genuine answers!

RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATION

Is there a shortage of higher education specialists in the 1. business sector represented by you?

Yes, there is a great shortage of specialists with higher 1.

university and non-university (college) education

there is a shortage of specialists only with higher university 2.

education

there is a shortage of specialists with professional Bachelor‘s 3.

degree (college graduates)

there is no shortage of specialists with higher education 4.

presently

154

other (please provide your comments).........................................5.

..............................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................

2. Is the level of company employee diplomas certifying the completion of higher education studies and acquisition of a profession (Bachelor‘s, Master‘s or Doctoral degree) relevant to Company performance results?

extremely relevant – higher level education has a direct 1.

impact on a successful company performance

Quite relevant, though it is not the factor determining 2.

effective performance

Likely to be irrelevant – most often it is not a diploma but the 3.

competencies and professional experience of an employee

that exert impact on the efficiency of their work at the

company

totally irrelevant, has no impact on company performance 4.

whatsoever

no opinion5.

any other answer (please provide comments)............................6.

..............................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................

155

3. please assess the match between the knowledge, practical and general competencies possessed by higher education graduates and the requirements of your company. Short clarification:

1. Knowledge in this particular case means knowledge in the

professional field and theoretical knowledge in general education

as well as its practical application while dealing with specific tasks

at work.

2. Practical competencies are well mastered practical skills relevant

for the performance of specific work-related tasks (e.g., various

technical competencies).

3. General competencies are relevant skills, ethical values or personal

characteristics and can be applied at work.

156

Table 2.1.1 Conformity between the knowledge, practical skills and general

competences acquired by graduates of higher educational institutions and the requirements set by the enterprise

represented by the respondents (in percentage)

Graduates from Lithuanian higher educational institu-

tions and/or with work experi-ence in the local labour market

Graduated from foreign higher educational institutions and/

or with work experience in the foreign labour markets

Knowl-edge

practical skills


Knowl-edge

practical skills


Bachelor





total non-conformity 4 7 1 4 4 -

Master’s





total conformity 4 6 - 5 5 -

157

doctoral





total conformity - 7 - 5 5 -

4. Upon employing a person you attach importance to the following factors (in percentage):

(please tick the answer in every row)

Statements Assessments

Very impor-

tant

Impor-tant

Unim-portant

Abso-lutely unim-

portant

Difficult to say

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by a Lithuanian higher educational institution

13 63 19 2 3

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by a higher edu-cational institution of the country of the european union

1 19 60 11 8

a candidate should have a Ba, Ma, phd diploma issued by both a Lithu-anian higher educational institution and a higher educational institution of another eu country

3 10 56 21 9

a candidate should have experience in the professional sphere acquired in Lithuanian enterprises

21 66 6 4 2

a candidate should have experience in the professional sphere acquired in foreign companies

5 28 33 11 24

a candidate should have good refe-rences from other employers 16 55 13 7 8


158

5. Is the prestige (rating) of a higher education institution in which the candidate was awarded a higher education diploma important to you during the candidate selection process?

extremely important1.

important2.

no opinion3.

not important4.

totally irrelevant5.

TRANSNATIONALITy

6. how do you assess higher education student and graduate mobility when young people go to study, leave for a study visit or for pratice placement in foreign higher education institutions or companies getting the support from various EU programmes or by other means?

1 positively, because (please specify):

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

159

2 . negatively, because (please specify):

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

3. no opinion

7. Do you arrange practice placement for students at your Company?

Yes1.

no2.

8. Do you arrange practice placement at your Company for students from other EU member states?

Yes1.

no2.

9. Are you aware of the Confederation of European Business (BUSINESS EUROpE) and the main directions of its activity?

Yes, i have heard of its existence1.

160

Yes, i am interested in the activities of this organization 2.

(please provide more comment specifying the type of

activities):

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

Yes, i am involved in the activities of this organization and 3.

take part in the events organized by it

i am not familiar with this organization4.

10. A list of the key goals related to the Bologna process is provided. please express your view by simply ticking the answer that fits most closely in every row.

Goals of the Bologna process

This is most topical and relevant to all business

in Lithuania, including

the type of business I represent

This could probably be relevant and

topical for other types of business in Lithuania but not for the type of business I represent

This is pro-bably more relevant for

students, scientific

and study institutions rather than for business

I personal-ly think

these are just nice words, specific

results are not visible

as yet

I have no opinion, I am not

interested in that

recognition of higher education qualifications (diploma/degree) all over europe

30 18 41 5 6

conformity between impro-vement of higher education studies and labour market needs

38 18 33 6 4

161

international stu-dent recruitment and integration into eu culture and labour market

21 19 45 7 7

training highly qu-alified specialists for the european labour market

19 18 47 9 8

enhancing teacher and student mo-bility

26 13 49 4 7

developing pro-grams to better match labour market needs (following the latest Bologna documents)

39 13 30 6 12

COMMUNICATION

11. Do you follow the news on higher education reforms in Lithuania and Europe? please choose one answer and provide your comments.

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in higher education 1.

reform in Lithuania

please list the main sources of information

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

162

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in higher education 2.

reform in europe


......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

Yes, i follow the news and am interested in the reform of 3.

higher education both in Lithuania and europe


......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

i take no interest in theses issues4.

12. What is the most convenient form for you to be informed about the reforms in higher education?

(please tick all the answers that apply)

radio, television, press1.

specialized publications (brochures, books, etc.)2.

Leaflets, posters3.

163

presentations in conferences and seminars4.

Web pages of educational and scientific institutions (for 5.

example, the Ministry of education and science, institutions

of higher education, etc.)

other web pages (not related to education and science)6.

conversations with colleagues, family members, etc.7.

other (please specify) 8.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

13. Are you personally familiar with the Bologna process (its goals, documents, achievements, etc.), and to what extent?

i have not heard anything about it (skip question no 14) •

i have heard just something about it •

i am quite well aware of some issues/activities/fields related •to the Bologna process but not familiar with some other

aspects

i have a rather comprehensive view on the Bologna process•

164

i am very familiar with the Bologna process•

other (please provide comments)•......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

14. Where did you get the information about the Bologna process from?

(please tick all the answers which apply)

radio, television, press1.

specialized publication about the Bologna process 2.

(brochures, books, etc.)

Leaflets, posters3.

presentations during conferences and seminars4.

Web pages of educational and scientific institutions (for 5.

example, the Ministry of education and science, institutions

of higher education and the like)

other web pages (not related to education and science)6.

interviews with higher education graduates upon employing 7.

them

165

engagement in practice placement for graduates from 8.

Lithuanian higher educational institutions and other eu

higher educational institutions

conversations with colleagues, family members, etc. 9.

hearsay information10.

other (please provide comment) 11.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

15. Would you like to find out more about the Bologna process?

definitely, yes1.

probably, yes 2.

no opinion3.

probably not 4.

definitely not (skip question no 16)5.

166

16. What forms are the most convenient and beneficial for you to get information anout the Bologna process?

Links sent via e-mail, publications and the like1.

a comprehensive web page on the Bologna process2.

informative meetings and seminars3.

specialized press publications, for example, brochures4.

specialized radio and television broadcasts5.

other (please provide comments) 6.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

COOpERATION WITh hIGhER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

17. What is the nature of cooperation between your company and a higher education institution?

(tick all the answers that apply)

company employees upgrade their qualification in higher 1.

education establishments

167

company employees share their professional experience 2.

with students from higher educational institutions

company employees work as lecturers in higher education 3.

institutions

Joint scientific/research/project-based activities are 4.

implemented

students from higher education institutions have practice 5.

placements at the company

address a higher education institution in the hunt for 6.

relevant specialists

hold company presentations in a higher education 7.

institution, arrange company visits for students

participation in designing and upgrading study programmes8.

participation in the management bodies a higher education 9.

institution (related to the activities of the council)

other (please specify) 10.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

168

18. how do you assess the impact of higher education reforms implemented in Lithuania on business and its development?

(please tick the answer that fits most closely in each row)

Statements Assessment

Fully agree Agree I do not

agreeTotally

disagree

It is difficult

to say

higher education reforms imple-mented in Lithuania have a posi-tive impact on business develop-ment, because they help to ensure the availability of highly qualified specialists for business develop-ment, encourage the cooperation between companies and higher education institutions in the field of research, technological devel-opment and other fields.

higher education reforms in Lithuania have a rather negligible impact on business develop-ment, because these reforms are implemented in isolation from business needs, are restricted to internal restructuring of higher education system and basically do not contribute towards open-ing up higher education system for cooperation with business

due to lack of strategic orienta-tion and changes in goals, higher education reforms implemented in Lithuania exert a more negative than positive influence on busi-ness development. these reforms do not allow higher education institutions (and do not provide an impetus for them) to focus more on the quality of studies, to promote the cooperation with business enterprises in designing the cur-ricula, enrolling students, arranging student practice placement as well as assessing the competencies acquired by the students.

please specify your comments on this issue (if you consider that

a certain aspect of the problem which you regard as important

169

and which has not been touched upon in the above mentioned

statements)

19. According to the type of activity your Company is involved in:

Manufacturing/production1.

trade2.

service provision3.

Mixed activity (both trade and manufacturing/production)4.

20. According to the number of employees your Company is:

Micro (1-10 employees)1.

small (11-50 employees )2.

Medium (51-250 employees)3.

Large (>250 employees)4.

21. The sector represented by your Company:

private1.

public2.

170

22. The legal status represented by your Company:

individual enterprise1.

public company (aB)2.

private company (uaB)3.

agricultural company4.

cooperative company5.

general partnership6.

insurance company7.

public institution8.

foundation9.

Budgetary institution10.

subsidiary11.

other (please specify12.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

If you have any other additional comments, please specify......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

Documents

Švietimo mainų paramos fondas€¦ · Švietimo mainų paramos fondas Employers’ approach to changes in higher education taking place in Lithuania and Europe Education Exchanges