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Are engineering graduates ready for R&D jobs in emerging countries? Teaching-focused industry-academia collaboration strategies

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  • Borah, Dhruba
  • Malik, Khaleel
  • Massini, Silvia

Abstract

Most Engineering and Technology (E&T) graduates in emerging countries are not educated to the same quality level as E&T graduates in advanced countries, and this may require firms to make significant on-the-job training investments to prepare these graduates for R&D positions. In this paper, we present research findings from a study of 10 firms located in India (both multinationals and local firms), through 65 interviews and extensive secondary data, to establish how these firms form teaching-focused collaborations with universities to train students with the pre-requisite skills necessary for R&D operations while simultaneously reducing on-the-job training investment. We suggest the viability of teaching-focused industry-academia (I-A) collaborations as a talent recruitment strategy in emerging countries. We also demonstrate the potential of such collaborations to provide an alternative to the traditional graduate recruitment and development model: ‘on-the-job training’. Through the identification of different forms of teaching-focused I-A collaborations aimed at enhancing both theoretical knowledge and industry and firm-specific practical and applied skills in graduates, along with their associated drivers and challenges, this paper strengthens a much-neglected dimension of the I-A collaboration literature: the role of collaborative activities for teaching between industry and university.

Suggested Citation

  • Borah, Dhruba & Malik, Khaleel & Massini, Silvia, 2019. "Are engineering graduates ready for R&D jobs in emerging countries? Teaching-focused industry-academia collaboration strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:48:y:2019:i:9:37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2019.103837
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    Cited by:

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    2. Assefa, Dawit Z. & Liao, Ching T. & Misganaw, Bisrat A., 2022. "Unpacking the negative impact of initial informality on innovation: The mediating roles of investments in R&D and employee training," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
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    4. Borah, Dhruba & Ellwood, Paul, 2022. "The micro-foundations of conflicts in joint university-industry laboratories," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

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