GRADual: Increasing Students/Graduates Employment Readiness Erasmus Project

Project Title

GRADual: Increasing Students/Graduates Employment Readiness

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

Given the unprecedented unemployment challenge in the EU and multiple commitments to get back European youth into work, it is of utmost importance of closing the skills gap between learning provisions and the universe of work. This would assist both, enterprises to employ new hires having relevant knowledge/skills and students in making their bumpy road from education to employment less challenging. In this light, a better cooperation between universities and businesses through provision of innovative education, international mobility, knowledge transfer, entrepreneurial education and secured placements is considered a cornerstone for the modernisation of higher education in Europe.

The objective of the Project was to maximise intermediary organisations (IOs) impact in terms of speed, quality and innovative services provided to universities and business for improving employment readiness (students and graduates internships schemes and other measures).

The Strategic Partnership brought together partners from EU-15 having solid experience in promoting university and business cooperation/entrepreneurial education and EU-25 that were “breaking ice” in the same areas only for a couple of years and ensures well calibrated geographic balance (Spain, UK (Scotland) and Lithuania) to employ in-house knowledge and skills for achieving the articulated objective. The partners engaged were previously cooperating in bilateral formats.

The Strategic Partnership was established between:
1) 3 intermediary organisations (Fundación Universidad-Empresa-FUE (Madrid), Saltire Foundation (Glsgow) and LPK/Partners 4 Value (Vilnius) being prominent actors in promoting business and universities cooperation, early investment in human capital for business leadership in their respective countries,
2) Universities (UCJC – the Spanish university that has a solid experience in developing academic modules for graduate internship programme jointly delivered with FUE and 5 lead Lithuanian universities that were willing to learn from good practices on how to prepare Curriculum for graduate programmes to be delivered jointly with “Partners 4 Value” under the financing instruments programmed at national level);
3) Global Lithuanian Leaders – the NGO that was willing to learn and share on how to best engage professionals from diaspora to investing in young talents (placements/mentoring services).

The joint work was organised for:
a) creating a learning/experience/expertise exchange network to interact, codify and exchange information on good practices;
b) producing tangible outputs to address common challenges/promote expansion of effective practices
v) building closer working relationships that will go beyond the Project.
The Guidelines on Establishing and Effectively Running Student/Graduate Internship Programmes are being used for knowledge transfer and fueling national/EU level debates and facilitating evidence based policy making.

Main planned activities were:
1) Preparation of peer learning methods on graduate internship framework and IOs roles;
2) Delivery of the Joint Staff Training Event and the Intensive training Programme for participating Lithuanian universities’ teaching staff;
3) Development of Guidelines on Establishing and Effectively Running Students/Graduates Internship Programmes;
4) Identification of Lithuanian Business needs for graduates skills;
5) Preparation of Curriculum as an integral part of graduate internship programme to be launched in Lithuania.

Triangular cooperation modality resulted in:
A. The established and operationalised learning/knowledge exchange and management platform for promoting greater students/graduates employment readiness through intensified university-business cooperation.
B. Codified practices on students/graduates internship schemes. Intellectual outputs developed that will be used for knowledge transfer purposes.
C. Strenghtened capacity of participating organisations to provide quality and innovative services that would increase graduates employment readiness.

The Project highly impacted on advanced professional development of the staff of participating organisations, modernised organisations to effectively address the challenge of skills gap by developing Curriculum that is responsive to current and emerging labour market needs nationally and across Europe.

In the long run, the project will impact on improved students employment prospects and job satisfaction contributing to more competitive Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 150396 Eur

Project Coordinator

LIETUVOS PRAMONININKU KONFEDERACIJA & Country: LT

Project Partners

• FUNDACION UNIVERSIDAD EMPRESA
• CENTRO DE ENSENANZA UNIVERSITARIA SEK SA
• The Saltire Foundation
• KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS
• VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS
• KLAIPEDOS UNIVERSITETAS
• Viesoji istaiga “Global Lithuanian Leaders”