Reasons of the Gap between Outcome Characteristics of Private Higher Education, and Job Requirements of the Private Sector in Egypt (Reasons Related to Universities)

Abstract

Universities present one of the main sources that society rely upon  to get the qualified staff which represents the source of human power needed for achieving the society's goals. So, higher education recently receives an exclusive concern all over the world, especially in Egypt. Nowadays, Egypt is highly concerned about increasing the number of Universities, especially the private ones, because they play a great role in establishing qualified humans. Also, it cares about developing and updating academic courses and teaching techniques in universities to cope with the new era requirements that are rapidly changed, and development in all fields.

As for the important role of universities in preparing and qualifying the human resources, it was also important to find out the reasons that hinder universities from performing their effective role, which leads to their failure to fulfill the labor market requirements. The exploratory research has shown that the reasons which are related to university could be divided into five groups:

1. Reasons related to the policies of the higher education system.

2. Reasons related to the qualifications of the academic staff member.

3. Reasons related to the higher educational techniques.

4. Reasons related to the availability of resources and capabilities.

5. Reasons related to the fit between the academic courses and labor market requirements.

The current research is designed to measure reasons of the gap (misfit) between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and the job requirements in the private sector in Egypt. The study will be applied in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport in the following colleges: (a) College of management and technology (b) College of engineering and technology (c) College of maritime transport and technology.

Based on the interviews with the academic staff members and some businessmen, the study concluded that regarding the effect of the policies of the private higher education system on the gap between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and job requirements in the private sector in Egypt, the main causes for the above mentioned gap are the admission method, which is based on high school grades only, and the major selection method. With respect to the qualifications of the academic staff members, it was observed that the isolation of the academic staff members when they establish the academic courses from the labor market, and the weakness of communication between the academic staff members and the students are also considered as causes of the gap.

Concerning the higher education techniques and tools, it was found that the inability to use modern methods of education and the dependence on the traditional methods of lecturing are considered as causes of the gap. With respect to the availability of resources and capabilities, this was not considered among the causes of the gap. For the fit between the academic courses and the labor market requirement, it was observed that the inconvenience of educational materials to the labor market requirements, the concentration on theoretical issues more than applications, and the use of old materials are considered causes of the gap.