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Clashing institutional interests in skills between government and industry: An analysis of demand for technical and soft skills of graduates in the UK

Cacciolatti, Luca, Lee, Soo Hee, Molinero, Cecilio Mar (2017) Clashing institutional interests in skills between government and industry: An analysis of demand for technical and soft skills of graduates in the UK. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 119 . pp. 139-153. ISSN 0040-1625. (doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2017.03.024) (KAR id:61405)

Abstract

Technological knowledge and skills provide a basis for developing national competitiveness. However, there is an emerging clash of interests in the UK labour market between employers and policy makers. The former requests highly skilled workers who often jealously train in house for their specific operations while the latter aims to reduce unemployment through the expansion of vocational training to lower skilled workers. Universities need to find their strategic position in the knowledge economy characterised by radical technological change and shifting occupational structure by meeting the future skills demand while balancing between the clashing institutional interests. This study analyses 510 job advertisements in the supply chain management area, using a combination of OMDS and HCA techniques. The advertisements are categorised by means of six dimensions according to the skills, duties and job type. This study analyses not only employers' needs in skill types according to job roles but also emerging institutional clashes in the job market and their implications for skills training policy and curriculum development.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.03.024
Uncontrolled keywords: Skills demand; Technical skills; Soft skills; Education policy; Innovation policy; Technological knowledge; Multidimensional scaling
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Leadership and Management
Depositing User: Soo Hee Lee
Date Deposited: 20 Apr 2017 12:22 UTC
Last Modified: 10 Dec 2022 08:16 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/61405 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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