Journal number 2 ∘ Murtaz Kvirkvaia ∘ Vasil Kikutadze ∘ Natia Daghelishvili ∘ Tamar Tavkhelidze ∘ Givi Gujaraidze ∘
Cooperation between Higher Education Institutions and Employers in Georgia[1]

10.36172/EKONOMISTI.2021.XVII.02.Kvirkvaia.Kikutadze.Daghelishvili.Tavkhelidze.Gujaraidze

Abstract. Cooperation between higher education institutions and employers is at an early stage of development in Georgia. Inadequate level of cooperation leads to the difficulties in the employment of graduates and meeting the demands of the labor market. The current practices of cooperation need to be improved and some of the other aspects of effective cooperation should be perfected. The study revealed that different visions and incentives, the level of bureaucracy and insufficient time serve as hindering factors for cooperation. The study also confirmed that in some cases cooperation is not systematic; in addition, sometimes it is just a formality and cannot provide desirable outcomes. Although in Georgia there are some examples of successful multifaceted cooperation between higher education institutions and employers as well, the number of such cases is quite small and cannot affect the quality of cooperation across the country. A review of the scientific literature, study of foreign experience and a survey of higher education institutions, employers and graduates within the frameworks of the research showed that the importance of collaboration is widely understood by all stakeholders. Cooperation in the field of education and science, mutually beneficial to higher education institutions and employers, should be deepened through joint research, involvement in the development of academic programs, lifelong learning and other activities that represent a solid foundation for socio-economic development of the community. 

Keywords: vertical and horizontal mismatch; forms of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers; employment of graduates; student practice and internships; knowledge transfer; joint studies and projects; theoretical and practical knowledge and skills. 

Introduction 

Cooperation between higher education institutions and employers is an important and topical issue for any society. In case the quality of such cooperation is high, the graduates of higher education institutions easily get employed according to specialty they acquired and employers, in turn, have more opportunities to find qualified staff they need. Effective cooperation can largely contribute to the introduction of innovations, implementing joint projects and researches, providing lifelong learning and developing educational programs tailored to the demands of the labor market. 

In Georgia's reality, important activities have been permanently carried out for the development of the higher education system and the labor market for the last three decades. Primarily, this aims at promoting the training of competitive, skilled workforce for the labor market, while, on the other hand, this contributes to improving the compliance of the education system with the challenges of the modern labor market. However, there are still many unsolved problems and obstacles in these areas that need to be identified, evaluated and require solution mechanisms. 

Georgian legislation[2] in the field of education requires from higher education institutions to provide students with appropriate practical and theoretical education in the field of education taking into account the requirements of the labor market. However, for various reasons, this requirement is only partially implemented. Very often, educational programs offered by higher education institution and the number of program graduates are not in line with the requirements of the labor market and fails to take into account the current and future requirements of the employer. The studies[3] of separate demand components in the labor market confirmed that there is no matching between the labor market and the higher education system[4]. 

It is unanimously agreed in Georgia, that adaptation of higher education institutions to the labor market is of high importance. In addition, it is clear that inadequate cooperation between higher education institutions and employers contributes to some extent causes the problems associated with high levels of youth (including the graduates) unemployment[5], vertical[6] and horizontal[7] mismatch between the knowledge and qualification of the graduates and job requirements, as well as the long period the graduates of higher education institutions need for professional adaptation, etc. 

Various stakeholders, including employers, higher education institutions, graduates and regulatory bodies unanimously recognize the importance of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers in Georgia (as partially confirmed by the present study). 

Due to the urgency and importance of the issue, the aim of the research is to study the forms of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers, as well as to evaluate the results of cooperation and to identify the forms and directions of mutually beneficial cooperation. The research was carried out in several stages and both desk and field research methods were applied. Initially, scientific literature and the studies conducted in different countries around the world were reviewed. International experience of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers was analyzed at the same stage. Field research methods were used for conducting three authentic surveys of higher education institutions, employers, graduates of higher education institutions; semi-structured and preliminary created  questionnaire were applied for collecting complete data (using Google Forms platform). At the final stage of the research, the collected data was processed and a unified database was created. As a result, conclusions were made and recommendations were developed. The research area covered private and public higher education institutions, employers and graduates of higher education institutions in Georgia. 

Literature review

The authors, who study collaboration between higher education institutions and employers, discuss the issue in a broader context. In particular, from the point of employment, adaptation to labor market, labor productivity, innovation and many other areas. Researchers often point to the insufficient level of collaboration and the possible outcomes that can be achieved as a result of deepening the collaboration. The literature review assures us that the problem of inadequate cooperation between higher education institutions and employees is not unique to Georgia. For example, in their paper Ansell and Gingrich (Ben Ansell; Jane Gingrich 2017)[8] from Oxford University explain the causes of mismatch between higher education and labor market institutions and note that in some countries, especially in southern European countries, many new graduates are likely to be unemployed, while some of them will be able to find low-paying jobs. The same authors emphasize vertical and horizontal mismatch in the labor market, which is also linked to inadequate cooperation between higher education institutions and employers. A group of researchers (Will Barttlett; Milica Uvalic; Niccolo Durazzi; Vassilis Monastiriotis;  Tanguy  Sene. 2016)[9]provide an interesting study on higher education and labor market requirements in the Balkan countries, where according to their estimates only 13 out of every 100 students enrolled in higher education will be able to find a job relevant to the skills acquired. The authors therefore consider it necessary to encourage cooperation between higher education institutions and employers. Therefore, the authors consider it necessary to encourage cooperation between higher education institutions and employers. In their view, the government should play the role of an independent catalyst to facilitate the development of beneficial partnerships between both higher education institutions and employers.

The scholars consider that most of the higher education institutions in the Eastern Partnership countries (EaP - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus) are mainly focused on providing theoretical knowledge, while, they should care more to equip students with practical skills and experience in accordance with the employers' demand. Radovic and Djuraskovic (Radovic & Djuraskovic, 2016)[10] analyzed the mismatch between the education system and labor market requirements on the example of Montenegro. The lack of practical training component in university programs was identified as one of the main weaknesses of the education system. More specifically, as pointed out by students of the focus, they were never involved in programs promoting the application of theoretical knowledge gained in practice during their university studies. The scholars consider that due to imperfect communication  between HEIs(Higher Education Institutions) and employers the education system fails to obtain accurate information on exactly which specialties are demanded in the labor market. This leads to increased unemployment among graduates. According to the research conducted in Georgia in 2018, "Study of Factors Affecting Young People’s Professional Orientation in Georgia" (M. Kvirkvaia, V. Kikutadze, D. Sikharulidze, Sh. Shaburishvili, V. Charaia, 2018)[11] information about the labor market and the chosen profession is essential for the correct professional orientation of young people. As evidenced by the research, the level of awareness of a significant part of the respondents about the labor market is insufficient, which ultimately has a negative impact on both the choice of profession and employment rates in their profession. Lezhava and Amashukeli (Lezhava & Amashukeli, 2015)[12] conducted a study on the relevance of the outcomes of academic programs in social sciences and the demands of the labor market in Georgia. According to the study, the employers consider that the university graduates have inadequately developed transfer skills such as analytical thinking, communication, presentation and proficiency in foreign languages. In addition, they point out that universities fail to prepare adequate specialists at the appropriate level. In the authors’ opinion, like in the Eastern European countries, the lack of communication with the business sector is also a problem in Georgia. The scholars believe that one of the fundamental problems of Georgian higher education institutions is the lack of knowledge of the requirements of the labor market and the lack of communication and cooperation between them.

The presented research also focuses on the international experience of cooperation between HEIs and employers. In particular, the experience of a number of countries was studied, such as Estonia, Germany, Poland, USA, etc. Estonia is the most successful example of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers between post-Soviet countries. Among the post-Soviet countries, Estonia represents the most successful example of cooperation between HEIs and employers. Recently, Estonia has carried out some activities to improve cooperation between business and research institutions; in particular, the government actively supports HEIs to carry out applied research in cooperation with business, as well as coordination of doctoral studies and business.[13] One of the most successful models of cooperation between HEIs and organizations around the world can be found in Germany. The so-called “dual education system” has a long tradition in the country. This model is mainly used in vocational education and training sector; however, in recent period it is actively applied in higher education as well.[14] The students who take a vocational training program in Germany receive a monthly salary from the company they work for.[15] With the reforms implemented for improving cooperation between HEIs and employers Poland is one of the outstanding countries in the post-socialist environment. A number of reforms have been carried out in the Polish education system during the past decade aiming at aligning the Polish higher education system with the European higher education system. Currently, the development trends of Polish higher education institutions are aimed not only at increasing the number of students, but also at research projects, the level of internationalization and cooperation with employers. Therefore, one of the main tasks of recent reforms of Polish universities is to equip graduates with the skills that match with the demands of the modern labor market.[16] In the United States, collaboration between universities and business covers a wide range of initiatives. Both public and private sectors are involved in the cooperation. The drive of the collaboration between university and business in the US is: accessibility to financial resources and stability; accessibility to the best human resources; a favorable environment for education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship; regional development needs; institutional culture of collaboration;  entrepreneurship education and technology commercialization.[17] 

Outcomes of the Survey of Employers, Graduates and Higher Education Institutions 

A complex research was conducted in three directions in order to achieve the objectives of the research. These are: the research of the graduates of Georgian HEIs, the research of employers and the research of HEIs. 

The research of the graduatescovered 400 graduates. In terms of the academic degree obtained, 51% of the respondents have a bachelor's degree, 43% have a master's degree, 5% have a doctorate degree and 1% of respondents did not note their degree. 47% of the respondents have received education only in state HEIs, 44% only in private HEIs and 9% in both types of HEIs. At the time the survey was carried out, 82% of respondents were employed and 18% were unemployed. Approximately 20% of the unemployed had never been employed and 80% had been employed at least once in the past. In terms of age distribution, a problem of high unemployment among relatively young graduates is observed. About 30% of the graduates aged 20-24 does not have a permanent and stable job; while this figure is much lower for graduates aged 30 and over. 80-85% of the employed respondents are hired employees and this type of employment is leading in all the age categories. The share of self-employed and self-employed with their business in the respondents is small. The graduate survey focused more on the assessments made by relatively new graduates (4-5 years after graduation on average). 

The outcomes of cooperation between HEIs and employers directly reflect on the competitiveness of the graduates and on effective employment according to their specialty. Therefore, it is important to see how they evaluate the practice of this kind of cooperation in Georgia. 31% of the respondents consider that there was cooperation between their education institutions and organizations and this cooperation provided the desired outcomes; more than one-third of the respondents (34%) mentioned that there was no cooperation and collaboration between their education institutions and employer organizations during their studies. 18% of the graduates have no information and have never heard of such cooperation. 17% percent of the respondents indicated that there was a collaboration between HEIs and the business sector, although their cooperation did not provide the desired outcomes and was only a formality (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1

 

41% of the respondents who participated in joint programs and activities implemented as a result of cooperation between HEIs and employers during their studies indicate that joint programs and activities was of great help to them and made it easier to find a job. For 49% of the respondents in the same category, the cooperation did not directly made it easy to find a job, although it helped them to improve their skills and only 10% say that such activities were of no benefit to them.  

More than half (53%) of the surveyed graduates who were employed at the time of the survey or had been employed before note that they work (and / or have worked before) in the field relevant to their education. However, only 70% of the respondents of this category work exactly in accordance with the qualifications granted by the HEI.  The field of employment and qualification of 17% of the respondents are partially related to each other, while the remaining 30% of the respondents do not work in accordance with their specialty or in a field where they will be able to apply the knowledge gained in HEIs. The latter indicates a horizontal mismatch between the labor supplied to Georgian labor market and labor requirements.

The fact, that in addition to a high level of unemployment among graduates, it takes them quite long to find a job after graduating from HEIs is one of the indicators of poor cooperation between HEIs and employers is. The responses of the graduate show that 36% of those employed according to their specialty find a job upon completion of the HEI, 28% need about three months to find a job and 36% need more than four months, in many cases even a year or more.

Vertical mismatch in the Georgian labor market is related to the quality of cooperation between HEIs and employers. In particular, 35-40% of bachelors’ and masters’ degree holders employed according to their profession (fully or partially) believe that the level of their qualification is higher than needed for performing their functions in the workplace. This rate is 60% in respondents with a doctorate degree.

The results of the survey conducted as part of the research show that the necessary skills and experience that the graduates could not receive in the local higher education institutions are represented by practical skills, practical use of office programs and foreign language skills. The graduates consider that the lack of practical skills is the most acute challenge for them as such skills are important for their employment and unfortunately, they are not able to obtain them in HEIs.

The students' assessment of how much the cooperation between employers and HEIs helps them in the employment process should be regarded as one of the criteria of effectiveness of such cooperation. The survey revealed that mostly graduates use their efforts to search and find jobs with the help of employment web pages (31% of employed respondents). The use of personal contacts is one of the most common ways for them to find a job. The second largest group of graduates (23%) gets a job with the help of contact persons and acquaintances/relatives. Only 11% of the graduates indicate that employment agencies and services in their HEIs have helped them find a job, while only 14% consider that finding a job was related to internship programs which are partly carried out as a result of cooperation between HEIs and employers.

Survey of employers and the analysis of their evaluations is a crucial factor for exploring and enhancing cooperation between HEIs and employers. The employer survey covered 140 organizations. 78% of the surveyed organizations operate in Tbilisi, which is followed by Shida Kartli - 5%, Kvemo Kartli - 5%, Imereti - 4%, etc. Most of the surveyed employers (62%) operate in private sector, while the non-governmental and public sectors are represented each by 19%. The operating areas of the surveyed organizations included finance and insurance (18%), education (15%) and tourism (12%), followed by professional, scientific and technical activities (10%), trade (8%), government, healthcare and social assistance (6-6%), etc. The survey covered both large employers (with more than 500 employees) as well as relatively small and medium-sized organizations with 50 or fewer employees.

27% of the organizations participating in the survey do not cooperate with HEIs at all, while 28% of the have weak cooperation. Only 16% of organizations rate their experience as high-level involvement and 29% consider that their involvement is moderate. Organizations that report relatively active involvement in cooperating with HEIs are mostly large organizations with more than 100 employees.

If we evaluate according to the sectors, most of the organizations which consider having high and / or medium quality relationships with higher education institutions are public sector employers. Therefore, 28% of public sector respondents say they have a high level of involvement when the corresponding figure is 15% for the private sector and 8% for the non-governmental sector.   

The cooperation of the employers participating in the survey with HEIs mainly includes student mobility or internships. The results show that this relatively simple form of cooperation is two or more times higher compared with the other forms of cooperation. Other, relatively frequently carried out forms of cooperation include collaboration in research and development, seminars and trainings delivered by academic staff for the organizations and the development of joint training programs (see Figure 2). It should be noted as well that only 8 of the surveyed organizations participated in the preparation and development of academic programs in HEIs.

Figure 2

 

The analysis of the issue according to sectors (public and private) shows that cooperation between HEIs and private sector representatives is mostly limited to internships and training of students. Cases of such cooperation between HEIs and members of the public and non-governmental sectors are also quite common, although less so. It is important to note that non-governmental sector, compared to the other two sectors, is more intensively involved in processes such as cooperation in research and development activities and creation/testing of new services/products.

From the employers’ point of view, the main factors and goals that should stimulate further deepening and strengthening of cooperation between the university and organizations are: attracting new qualified staff; possibility of implementation of joint projects or goals; the desire of the organization to share its practical experience with the HEIs and to provide its staff with continuous education. A small number of organizations indicate the need for expanding cooperation in the field of research and consulting, while the smallest number focus on maintaining the established relationship. Based on such approaches, we can assume that models of strong, multi-year, mutually beneficial partnerships between the university and employment sectors have not been established in Georgia as yet.

With regard to the barriers between HEIs and employers, only a small part of the surveyed organizations believe that in the current period there are almost no obstacles in the direction of cooperation with HEIs. Most of them consider that the main problems in the process of cooperation with HEIs are mostly caused by the existence of various motivations, values and visions. Other important problems were the lack of time and resources and the high level of bureaucracy in HEIs. The lack of time and resources and the high level of bureaucracy in HEIs are some of the other important problems. A small part of the respondents (5%) also noted that in some cases the barrier to cooperation was the refusal from HEIs. In the frames of the study, critical views were expressed by several representatives. In particular, they consider that on the one hand, the quality of education in HEIs is not satisfactory, companies are not motivated to seek staff in universities and on the other hand, cooperation with HEIs is mostly formal and they show little initiative to focus on promoting and recommending successful students. The study showed that organizations have a problem of mismatch (vertical and horizontal mismatch) between the knowledge and qualification of an employee and job requirements. Horizontal mismatch of some degree is observed in about 70% of organizations. The degree of vertical mismatch is slightly higher. 35% of the respondents openly stated that at this stage the higher education system of Georgia does not provide graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills. A significant share of employers also pointed out that university education provides a student with more or less appropriate basis of theoretical knowledge; however, practical knowledge and skills are a problem. The assessment of the availability of qualified staff in the labor market made by employers was even harsher. 80% of the respondents stated that the workforce who fails to have appropriate skills is a serious problem for organizations.

The generalization of the answers to the open-ended questions by the employees provides a basis to conclude that, according to the employers, in many cases the graduates in Georgia have a theoretical knowledge base, but they lack the practical skills. They learn the rest directly in the work process. However, employers also point out that in different HEIs the quality of education is various and, in many cases, the practical skills students gain are fundamentally different. 

The next stage of the research included the study of authorized and accredited HEIs. The survey covered 25 HEIs, which account for about 45% of the HEIs authorized in accordance with the requirements of Georgian legislation by 2020. 15 universities participating in the survey are privately owned and 10 are public institutions. Among the HEIs covered by the survey 17 are universities, 5 are teaching universities and 3 are colleges. As regards to regional distribution, most of the surveyed institutions are located in the Tbilisi. Six HEIs across the regions participated in the study.

Most of the HEIs participating in the study believe that the level of theoretical and practical education of their students matches the requirements of the labor market. However, when representatives of HEIs made an assessment of the general situation in the country in this regard, they found out that 72% of HEIs across the country only partially provide graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills necessary to find a suitable job in the labor market. Representatives of HEIs point to this issue as one of the reasons for the mismatch, emphasizing that employers often do not fully understand what qualifications, skills and knowledge they need currently or in the future.

Most of the respondent HEIs consider that, on average, 40-60% of their graduates work in the specialty and qualification that they were awarded in HEIs. This figure is relatively high in case of private and public universities and lower for colleges and teaching universities. According to the representatives of several private universities and colleges, only 20% of their graduates are able to find employment in accordance with their profession.

Most of the HEIs participating in the survey noted that their cooperation with employer organizations is mostly moderate. It is worth noting that 40% of the participants consider that they have a high level of cooperation with companies and government organizations, however, the existing forms of cooperation are still quite primitive and mainly include student internship programs and employer involvement in designing and developing of educational programs. It is interesting to note that cooperation in research and development and cooperation in lifelong learning was observed in several higher education institutions (see Figure 3). However, unfortunately some of the modern forms of cooperation, such as sponsorship of scientific activities by organizations in HEIs and joint development, testing and creation of new products and services, are not found in any higher education institution. 

Figure 3

Forms of cooperation between HEIs and organizations

 

As the answers of the representatives of the HEIs show, compared to public HEIs, the private ones held joint conferences and/or prepare joint publications with the involvement of both parties more frequently; however, public HEIs, unlike private ones, are relatively active in sharing accumulated theoretical and practical knowledge with the organizations. Some of the public universities also noted that they have experience in conducting thematic seminars / trainings in different organizations.

Collaboration between HEIs and employers is important; however it is equally important for the students to have an opportunity to participate in collaborative projects and activities. The representatives of HEIs assessed the average number of student participation in joint programs and activities. The representatives, who consider that they have intermediate or high-level mutually beneficial cooperation with employers in terms of separate programs, stated that:

In terms of student internships, on average 20-40% of college students have the opportunity to participate in internship programs in various organizations;

Joint applied and research projects are not implemented by half of the colleges at all; and where it is implemented, a maximum of 10% of students are involved. Similar projects are implemented in most of the teaching universities, however, even in these institutions, like in the main cases; involvement of students is not higher than 10%. Applied or research projects are carried out in most universities, although the rate of student involvement ranges between 10 and 20%. There were only 2 universities that reported that more than half of the students are involved in this type of joint programs;

Qualification improvement activities and preparation and training programs for students - in case of colleges only 20-50% of students participate in such activities. Most of the teaching universities did not provide any answer to this question. According to their answers, universities were divided in two large groups – in one group, up to 10% of the students participated in joint qualification improvement and training programs; while, in the second group the majority of students did so. There are no joint qualification improvement and preparation and training programs for students in two of the surveyed universities;

Joint scientific conferences - an average of 20% of college students participate in joint scientific conferences.  Student involvement rate in teaching universities and universities varies widely. In general, 20% of students might be regarded to be involved in similar joint programs in these institutions. However, in several HEIs participation rate is quite high and exceeds 50%.

According to HEIs, in addition to other benefits, active cooperation has a positive impact on their status and competitiveness. A large part of the surveyed universities and teaching universities pointed out that the prestige and attractiveness of the institution significantly or very significantly increased as a result of cooperation with employers and cooperation was found to be beneficial in this regard.

The research process confirmed that HEIs face various problems and challenges in cooperating with organizations. According to most of the respondents, limited time and resources, as well as different views on problem solving between them and organizations are some of the most important barriers to cooperation. It was also mentioned that organizations and HEIs have different motivations and it is difficult to implement common goals and projects in such a situation. A significant part of HEIs noted that they faced high level of bureaucracy while communicating with employers and often got refusal to cooperation.

It is also interesting to find out what the representatives of HEIs think about the motivation factor that can deepen cooperation between these institutions and the employers. According to the majority of the HEIs with relatively many years (30 years) of experience participating in the survey, the main goal of the cooperation was to promote the employment of graduates with the help of partner organizations. Younger institutions (less than 15 years of operation in the market) focused on receiving practical advice from organizations, which would help them to develop further. While implementation of researches and relevant projects by the university was considered as one of the most important motivating factors for cooperation by relatively older universities and teaching universities (60 years and over). Most of the HEIs agreed that the benefits of cooperation are important for both parties, therefore, so it is logical that both parties should be the initiators of such cooperation. Representatives of the surveyed HEIs also noted that the involvement of the state is quite low in the areas of implementation and development of cooperation. The majority of HEIs representatives also noted that the involvement of the state in the implementation and development of cooperation is quite low. Most of the HEIs think that state institutions either are not involved in these processes, or their contribution to the development and deepening of cooperation between HEIs and employers is not significant. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Based on the literature reviewed in the paper, the study of the experience of various countries and international researches, we can conclude that cooperation between HEIs and employers represents a very important issue for any country around the world.

The best practices around the world shows that some of the most common forms of cooperation between HEIs and employers are: development of curriculum design; development of an individual-oriented course; conducting joint research; long-term education and lifelong learning; entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education.

The processes of cooperation between higher education institutions and employer organizations are still in the early stages of development in Georgia. Forms of collaboration have been gradually refined and deepened over the last decade. However, the business sector, the public sector and the education system which adopted the principles of market economy still cannot receive the benefits that can be brought about by mutually beneficial cooperation.

The fact that only about a third of Georgian HEI graduates are informed about the cooperation between the universities they graduate and their employers indicate to ineffective cooperation between HEIs and employers. It is even more regrettable that some of them consider this cooperation as just a formality. It should also be noted here that the graduates who participated in certain programs emphasize the benefits they received from the activities carried out within the framework of this cooperation. In particular, the majority of the respondents in this category say that such measures have mainly had a positive impact on improving their qualifications and employment in their profession. Despite some positive results, we may conclude that a typical Georgian student cannot fully get the benefits that graduates of the world's leading HEIs receive as a result of participating in dual education programs, research and development programs initiated by companies, long-term programs and training courses for enhancing practical skills and deepening theoretical knowledge.

Almost one third of the employers in Georgia do not cooperate with HEIs at all and almost the same amount of the employers is involved at a minimum level.

At this stage, collaboration between higher education institutions and employers is characterized by quite simple forms. Internship programs for students and involvement of organizations in the designing and development of curricula represent the main forms of cooperation for most HEIs. Even modern forms of cooperation, such as sponsorship of scientific activities by organizations in HEIs and joint work, testing and development of new products and services, unfortunately, are not found in any of the HEIs.

High level of youth unemployment in Georgia is partly the consequence of inadequate cooperation between HEIs and employers. A significant part of the graduates of Georgian HEIs cannot find a job, or get one only after a long search. In addition, a significant number of the graduates consider that they do not work in the profession (horizontal mismatch). Even in case they work in the specialties mastered in HEIs, their qualification exceeds (vertical mismatch) the qualification required to perform the work.

The main problem accompanying the lack of cooperation between HEIs and employers is the fact that Georgian HEIs fail to develop the practical skills that are necessary to increase their competitiveness in the labor market. The research confirms that the higher education system provides a more or less adequate base for students in terms of theoretical knowledge, although the labor market suffers the lack of the practical skills the graduate need.    

The difference in motivations and visions, bureaucracy of time and resources both in HEIs and employer organizations are considered by HEIs and employers as the factors that hinder cooperation between higher education institutions and employers in Georgia.

For enhancing cooperation between HEIs and employers in Georgia, it is necessary to establish the forms of cooperation that can help the parties to learn more about each other's future plans and take them into consideration; jointly develop specific forms and activities of mutually beneficial cooperation. Employers' associations, university associations, non-governmental organizations and state institutions should play an important role in the development of these platforms. The development of such platform should be supported by labor unions, university associations, non-governmental organizations and state institutions.

For enhancing the cooperation between the HEIs and employers in Georgia, the labor market requirements should be actually taken into consideration while development of academic programs by the HEIs. Despite the efforts by regulatory bodies, only the requirement of legislation that a program must be linked to labor market is not sufficient for HEIs to study the current and promising labor market requirements and develop their programs based on these requirements. A competitive environment needs to be created where cooperation becomes a key factor in competitiveness and HEIs will naturally start looking for ways to collaborate.

HEIs and employers should start active cooperation for commercialization of science. Conducting collaborative market-based research is one of the ways that can make the formal relations between HEIs and employers turn into mutually beneficial long-term partnership. Employment and internship programs for graduates should remain a topical area of cooperation between HEIs and employers.

The pandemic has caused many changes in both education and business sectors as well as in many other areas of public life. Naturally, the changes will affect cooperation between HEIs and employers, forms and directions of cooperation and models of cooperation. What exactly should be changed as a result of Covid-19’s impact is the subject of a separate study. One thing that is certain even today is that no matter what changes take place, cooperation between HEIs and employers will not lose its relevance. 

References

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