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Do higher education institutions make a difference in competence development? A model of competence production at university

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Abstract

This paper proposes a model of competence development required of graduates at work which suggests that universities make a difference when they add value to their students. They add value by ensuring that their modes of teaching and learning, and assessment positively enhance the competencies of their students which are important in the labor market. Our results have clear implications for policy in the Bologna process. One of the main challenges facing higher education institutions in Europe is to transform their current pedagogical practices—the lecture continues to be the dominant teaching method—into competence-based teaching as a response of universities to labor market needs. In this paper, econometric evidence shows that innovative methodologies used by Spanish universities play a key role in competence development. This is consistent with the view that education raises productivity; finding that refutes some theories which suggest that education may be no more than a screening device which allows employers to identify the more able potential employees from the rest. Besides the importance of formal academic institutions, firms appear to be sources of learning and skill formation as well.

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Notes

  1. Further information can be found at http://www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/roa/reflex.

  2. However, the expansion of higher education in the 1990s created a situation in which increasing numbers of graduates were unable to access employment that required and valued graduate skills and knowledge (Elias and Purcell 2004).

  3. Asking them to assess their own level of competence in the 19 domains included in the master questionnaire there is the possibility that graduates are doing an overestimation of their competencies. However, controlling for the possible effects of self-overestimation is not possible in this survey, although there are studies that show that among university graduates there is more honesty in responding and the effect of possible bias is minimal or nonexistent (Schmidt and van der Molen 2001).

  4. Questions on competencies in REFLEX were: A. ‘How do you rate your own level of competence?’; B. ‘What is the required level of competence in your current work?’ Answers to A→Individual’s human capital; Answers to B→Human capital needed for job; Difference A−B: deficit (−) or surplus (+) of competencies.

  5. The discussion here is, of necessity, rather brief and interested readers are urged to consult McKelvey and Zavoina (1975) where the model and estimation procedure are described in detail.

  6. The variable y* is a continuous latent variable which cannot be observed. In reality, what we have is a form of data censoring where parameters called mu have to be estimated alongside the betas and the alphas. See Greene (1997) for further details. The y variable, which is an observed variable, takes, in our case, the values on a seven-point scale given by the surveyed. For the econometric analysis using LIMDEP software, answers were recoded from 0 to 6.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the useful comments given to me by the anonymous referees. I would also like to thank Professor Ken Mayhew, University of Oxford, for his considerable help and advice on an earlier version of this work during my visit at SKOPE.

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  1. Department of Applied Economics, School of Business, University of Granada, Campus of Cartuja, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Manuel Salas Velasco

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Correspondence to Manuel Salas Velasco.

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Salas Velasco, M. Do higher education institutions make a difference in competence development? A model of competence production at university. High Educ 68, 503–523 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9725-1

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