Figures that count
"Employability" of Young Europeans: job opportunities more important than training opportunities
In each issue we present published statistics that attracted our attention. This time we look at the Flash Eurobarometer on "Perceptions of higher education reforms" a survey among teaching professional of higher education institutions in the 27 EU Member States Croatia Iceland Norway and Turkey (Flash 198) and the Flash Eurobarometer on "Young Europeans" a survey among young people between 18 and 40 years-of-age in the EU-27 (Flash 202).
"Employability" of Young Europeans
European higher education institutions are currently in the implementation phase of the Bologna and Lisbon reforms. As a part of this process flexible and modernised curricula should be created at all levels which correspond to the needs of the labour market and which include training in communication networking entrepreneurship and team working. The Bologna Process also aims to refocus courses to allow greater participation at later stages of the life-cycle. The results of Flash Eurobarometer 198 show that a large majority of teaching professionals in the EU-27 (87%) agreed that universities should be opened up to adult learners. Three out of four teaching professionals also agreed that study and training programmes should encompass more generic competences such as communication teamwork and entrepreneurship and 70% agreed that study programmes need to be changed to answer better to labour market needs. Teaching professionals in the EU-27 seem to support the need to revise curricula in specific disciplines or professions to ensure higher employability and inter-sectoral mobility of graduates.
A somewhat different picture emerges when asking young Europeans about (un)employment and the main reasons for unemployment. In the Flash Eurobarometer on Young Europeans (202) young adults were asked about the most important reason why they might not be able to find a job. The results show that almost four out of 10 respondents said that they would not be able to find a job because there is a lack of job opportunities in their country and 24% think that the main problem would be their lack of practical experience.
On the other hand only 11% of young adults say that the problem would be that they have not received proper job orientation at school and 12% claim there are not enough training opportunities. When it comes to ensuring employability it appears that young Europeans expect more benefits from creating job opportunities in their country than from revising curricula and creating training opportunities.
For the full report of the Flash Eurobarometer on Perceptions of higher education reforms and on Yung Europeans see: ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl198_en.pdf ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_202_en.pdf
