Methods to Adapt the University Curricula to the Market Demand in the Civil Engineering Sector

The present paper aims to identify whether the business environment is an important factor in the design of the university curricula because it is the place where the supply and demand of the workforce meet. The literature review revealed a gap between the competencies the graduates posess and the competencies the market demands. The surveys showed that the managers are interested both in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the graduates in the employment process. Therefore, we proposed an interdisciplinary module system, where the practitioners coming from the companies involved in the study teach courses and applications in the domains where they have expertise. During the second phase of the experimental study, the students perform internships and apprenticeship in the organizations subjects of this research, after which they are evaluated and are given recommendation for their performance. We used the employability skills model to find that mix of competencies which will help the graduates meet the market demands. This innovative method serves universities, students and companies as well: the prestige of a university is quantified by the experts delivered to the labor market; companies will have well prepared employees in their specific area, with less costs; students will find jobs which will match their expectations, giving them motivation to perform. The limitation of the present research is that the study refers only to the Civil Engineering specialization of the Technical University Cluj-Napoca Romania. Further experiments will be focused on other specializations.