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ACCENT JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS ECOLOGY & ENGINEERING Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal, ISSN NO. 2456-1037

Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

Vol. 07, Special Issue 04, (IC-SSIALPI-2022) August 2022 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL)

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ROLE OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGEIN BRIDGING INDUSTRY ACADEMIA

Amrita Motwani

Research Scholar, Burkatullah University, Bhopal (M.P.)

Abstract - We all know that sound academic background adds up in building knowledge and skills among students. Academics prepare students for work life after college. Today the industries and companies are ready to hire professionals with good knowledge and skills even if it means paying them a handsome package. They expect them to bring transformation and organisational growth in return. Sadly enough, inspite of acquiring high degrees most of the youngsters lack in practical application, they are only good at theoretical part of it.There surely is a gap between knowledge and skills gained in universities and the real practical experiences needed by industries. There is mismatch between the job requirements and skills acquired by the students. Of course one cannot deny the fact that not everything can be taught from the books, practice only makes a man perfect. Still there is a structural gap in the way knowledge is created in academia and utilised in industry and this needs to be bridged. Theoretical knowledge acquired inside the classroom is of no use for taking marketing decisions unless it can be contextualized in the form of managerial practice. There is a strong need to enhance the effectiveness of the knowledge which is gathered inside the classroom and transfer it in day to day practical life and utilise it for enhanced industrial competitiveness.

Keywords: Practical Knowledge, Industry, Academia, Vocationalization etc.

1 INTRODUCTION

In academia, however, it is felt that to provide students opportunities to engage with industry relevant projects is a big challenge due to a lack of research to the real world requirements in industry and the time constraints to set up a similar design environment to industry counter parts. One of the reasons for this limitation maybe that the teachers struggle with the complicated industrial design flow involving a bundle of tools and methodologies. Secondly due to the time limitation of a semester long course it is often not feasible to expect students to finish a project as desired by the teacher.

We all know that knowledge enables an organisation to take better decisions and compete effectively (DeFillippi el al, 2006). It is only through knowledge that the performance of any organisation enhances. Hamel and Prahalad (1990) found embedded knowledge and core competencies to be the key factors for competitive advantage.

The linkage of academia and industry has a strategic role in developing critical skills required by industry. Unless industry and academia are on the same page, there will always be a mismatch between the skills and knowledge required at industry and the graduates produced by universities. Chen (1996) discovered that organisations with inferior knowledge resources are unable to outperform competitors. Goh(2002) emphasized the need for training and educational programs for skill and competence development of employees for effectiveness.

1.1 Objective

To identify and understand the barriers to knowledge creation and transfer between academia and industry.

2 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA THROUGH PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

There are mainly three facets of universities- teaching, research and entrepreneurship . Research based universities require support of industry to channelize their research activities with respect to local needs. Research and area of research need to be associated with the current market problems and needs. Without an active role of industry this is not possible. Moreover, market trends and areas of innovation and commercialization can be addressed by joint collaboration of industry and academia.

According to a recent study titled 'Framework of University-Industry Linkages in Research' conducted by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry with support from DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology:

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ACCENT JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS ECOLOGY & ENGINEERING Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal, ISSN NO. 2456-1037

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"Some states are good in University Industry Linkages and others are found to have moderate to weak UILs. They are strongest in Karnataka with a score of 7.8 points out of 10 and Kerala with a score of 7.3 while the linkages are strong in the state of Gujarat (score of 6.7), Maharashtra (score of 6.4) and Uttar Pradesh (score of 6.2)," Aggarwal says. He further adds, "The exposure to the students will strengthen their intellectual capabilities and is a complete win-win situation for all the stakeholders. While the industry will find 'job-ready' students who need less training, the universities will build its brand by recording high placements."

The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand the barriers to knowledge creation and transfer between academia and industry.

Looking at the present situation, Coronavirus pandemic has led to drastic shrinking of the global economies as a result of which job opportunities have plummeted to an all- time low as of now. There is an increasing demand of future ready graduates. Industry- academia linkages have become inevitable particularly in a post-pandemic and post-NEP- 2020 world. Vocationalization of education is the buzzword in the contemporary world because professional training in specific vocations alone can steer the youth through the current tough and challenging times of the post-pandemic world. As per Clause 16.5 of NEP-2020, vocational education will be integrated in the educational curricula of all secondary schools in a phased manner over the next decade and secondary schools will also collaborate with ITIs, polytechnics, local industry, etc.

All the academic institutes must take the emerging skill needs of existing organisations on priority by establishing new programs and courses. Many practical projects and methodologies have been developed to allows students to tackle real world challenges and encourage critical thinking but still a lot remains to be done.

Under Clause11.2 of the National Education Policy 2020 it has been envisaged that the higher education institutions will focus on research and innovation by setting up start- up incubation centres, technology development centres, centres in frontier areas of research, foster greater industry-academic linkages and interdisciplinary research including humanities and social sciences research. Further the new policy stipulates that the HEIs will develop specific hand-holding mechanisms and competitions for promoting innovation among student communities. As part of a holistic education promoted by the new education policy, students in all higher education institutions will be provided with opportunities for internships with local industry, businesses, artists, and crafts persons, as well as research internships with faculty and researchers at their own as well as other education and research institutions, so that students may actively engage with the practical side of their learning and, as a by-product, further improve their employability.

Industry-academia interaction and linkages have become imperative for all institutions offering technical education that includes degree and diploma programmes in, engineering, technology, management, architecture, town planning, pharmacy, hotel management, catering technology etc., which are critical to India’s overall development.

Internationalisation of education is believed to widen students perspectives and explore them to academic and cultural diversity.

The transition from content based curricula to competency based curriculum calls for the active participation of industry in co developing programs and projects to best suit the industry needs (FICCI, 2018; Borah et al, 2019). Internship programs classes by experts from the industry project work consultancy staff exchange joint research and creation of physical facilities like entrepreneurial cells, incubation centres and technology networks are some of the other reasons for higher education institutions to establish partnership with industry (Fuller and Unwin, 2003; Misra, 2020; Franco et al, 2019; Junejo et al, 2018;

Schofield, 2013; Tumbas et al, 2016; Kruss, 2006)

Educators maybe involved in initiating a partnership in collaborating with the industry or community on joint research projects or in designing and developing online courses and programs in collaboration with the technology providers. These varied roles call for enhancing and developing the knowledge, skills and competencies of educators (Lytovchenko, 2016). Tiwari and Anjum (2014) in their study recommended colleges to promote faculty exchange programs to maintain uniformity in teaching and research standards. Transnational education not only facilitates faculty members mobility but also helps in enhancing educators skills and competencies (Karvounaraki et al, 2018).

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ACCENT JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS ECOLOGY & ENGINEERING Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal, ISSN NO. 2456-1037

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Management practices such as autonomy rewards and incentives, professional development and learning opportunities and novel consultancy policy would motivate faculty members to develop required skills (Borah et al. 2019; Galib et al, 2015; Nangia and Pramanik, 2011)

Among the external influencers, one of the variables that can facilitate academic partnerships is the government. The ministry of entrepreneurship and skill development, the ministry of human resource development and the department of Science and technology have introduced a number of schemes and programs to promote an entrepreneurial climate in higher education and to bridge the gap between academy and industry (Bhardwaj et al, 2018;Gandhi, 2014). Encouraging and supporting link between National research laboratories and research centres of top institutions can enhance the quality of collaborative research (Sheikh, 2017). UGC helps Indian universities to collaborate with foreign universities.

Despite the support extended by the government of India in the form of programs sponsored by funding agencies and incentives for industry for promoting research and development in collaboration with academia, industry academia linkages remain at the infant stage. Mandatory involvement of industry representatives in advisory committees of colleges, mobility of faculty members to industry, incentives for faculty members, industry academia funds, web portals by colleges to communicate their expertise, creating centres of excellence in association with industry catering to research, Government support of research projects through all the stages of innovation from conception to commercialisation, and risk sharing funding systems would help elevate industries' fear of failure when conducting research and in catalyzing an innovative ecosystem, crucial for a knowledge based economy.

3 CONCLUSION

To cope up with the current challenges of unemployment, the mismatch between the skills of students and industry requirements, changing student demo graphy and expectations, technology descriptions and internationalisation, higher education institutions must reformulate their strategies and work in unison with external stakeholders. Higher education institutions must explore new ways of engaging with stake holders in order to achieve the intended results from collaborations.

Overcoming these barriers would require re orientation of academicians and practitioners. Further focus is required in knowledge creation by academy so that the practices and policies can be aligned with the strategic objectives of the industries.

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