University: Autonomy Versus the Labor Market Darka Podmenik, Phd. & Ivana Čančar, PhD. candidate Institute for Developmental and Strategic Analyses, Ljubljana, Slovenia

1st FOCUS: EMPLOYERS DEMANDS  INCREASED, mainly due to the higher number of graduates (increased competition) and economic crisis  Employers introduced new tools for assesing job aplicants (˝extra skills˝, aptitude tests)  Risk of ˝job mismatch˝ (Halaby 1994, Wolbers 2002)  Masification of higher education (over qualification and fragmentation of academic disciplines)

2nd FOCUS: BOLOGNA REFORM- objectives and results  Should : (affect graduates‘ employement sucess, harmoise 2-stage structred study, increase int. Mobility, reduce gap between uni and non-uni higher education, transform HEI atitudes toward graduates employement)

3rd. FOCUS: ADAPTION: youth unemployement is one of the possible results of maladjusment  In EU new mwmber states HEI Increased demand n the labor market Diminished demand n the labor market

Paper...  is based on the long-term documentation about the failure or inadequacy of Slovenian higher education institutions outputs  tries to illustrate some of the reasons for negative trends in Slovenian HEI system  highlights the tension between the labor market demands in times of crisis and the HE institutions difficulties with adapting to demands while maintaining autonomy  analyses Slovenian HE institutions and their expansion before and after state independence.

Unilateral flexibility  One of the main reasons for the resulting tensions, in addition to the socio-economic crisis can be identified in unilateral flexibility of HE institutions – they in fact quite rapidly and appropriately adapt to increased demands for graduates in the labor market, meanwhile inadequate while adapting reducing to the demands.  This situation enables mainly state funding of the HE institutions; selectivity criteria for financing regarding long-term needs for graduates, and on the general level absence of a national economic plan as oriented to investment in skills.  The surplus of graduates in the labor market is not only an accompanying phenomenon of the economic crisis, but also long-term relationships mismatches between the main stakeholders of HE education system

Students preparing to enter in labour market educators, educational programs Graduates – first job seekers employers and their demands after (extra)knowledge and skills labour market segmentation, fleksibilisation Graduates‘ job preformance outcomes - FALLS Appropriate employement: - Unapropriate employement: + Unemployement : + national regulations Options of transitions to employment and stakeholders in the transition process 1. education – job seeking... stabile employement – end of transition 2. education – job seeking … temporary employement... unemployement … further education … temporary employement... - end of transition 3. education – job seeking and temporary employements… unemployement - end of transition (Iedema in drugi, 1997, str. 37).

Trends of increase /decrease of students (000) graduates (000) and the young generation of years (estimate - the proportion of the population) in the period (SLOVENIA)

The relationship between "input" and "output" of slovenian HEI, regarding to study fields: enrolled students, graduates and young unemployed graduates by fields of higher education , 2006 and 2012

Adaptive mechanisms of higher education institutions (HE) to the changing requirements on the labor market Since the employers have introduced new tools for graduates’ competences and begun to request additional skills and knowledge which may not have been a part of the formal curriculum which in some aspects (C 111/6 EN Official Journal of the European Union ; BEEPS, 2008) even exceeded those applied to traditional academic education, especially on the “soft” education fields (Reimer et al, 2008) HE have been adapting to theese challenges:  With structural reforms - Bologna  Internal institutional and curriculum diversification and specialsation  With intensifying demands for state suppors (financial and other)  In some academic fields by adapting curriculum contents  Also in some academic fields by restricting entry and an increased proportion of part-time students (i.e. Slovenia)  With introducing special programes for students´ employment skills  empowerment and so called career centres  With establishing contacts with employers

Thank you...