Universities fall short of company expectations

Citation

(2001), "Universities fall short of company expectations", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443bab.007

Universities fall short of company expectations

Universities fall short of company expectations

Keywords: Universities, Industry, Partnering

Universities are doing too little to foster successful partnerships with industry, according to the Department of Trade and Industry innovation unit. Its survey, Business Winning with Higher Education, took a sample of 33 university-industry partnerships, involving companies as diverse as pharmaceuticals businesses and hotels. Contracts that take up to a year to negotiate and university staff who lack commercial awareness were among the frustrating factors cited by companies. Universities are recommended to take a longer-term strategy for business collaboration. Reach-out should become a more integral part of university activity, in everything from the content of teaching programmes to the way departments are organized. Universities are also advised to improve their marketing skills.