Graduate, but employable?

At a time when European countries like Spain and Greece are grappling with unemployment rates as high as 25%, a consequence of years of economic mismanagement. India, on the other hand, despite having witnessed boisterous growth over the past few years, is faced with the problem of unemployment not due to the lack of jobs but because of unemployability.

The Aspiring Minds National Employability report published in 2011 brings out figures that paint a very grim picture of higher education in India. For instance out of the five lakh odd engineers that India produces annually only a dismal 17.45% are ready for direct employment in the IT services sector. This trend cuts across all sectors, which shows a glaring divide between what the industry demands and what the universities are delivering.

To tide over this much deeper problem a slapdash arrangement has been worked out, whereby companies provide intensive training to new employees for periods as long as 6 months in the IT sector to about a year in case of mechanical engineers. These trainings more often than not concentrate on enabling the young graduates to work in a multi-disciplinary environment. However, trainings as these are a major drain on company resources and at the same time leads to lower remunerations for the employees for the period of training. Ultimately it creates a win-win for none.

One of the reasons for this divide is a student's difficulty or sometimes inability to understand and analyze the problem with a 360 degree perspective. For instance a mechanical engineer may be very good in subjects like computer aided designing(CAD), manufacturing processes and thermal engineering but the problem arises when he/she is unable to relate and apply all three concepts to come out with a comprehensive product like say an IC engine piston. This inability to assimilate or funnel the knowledge gained over 4 years leads to problems. We are suddenly faced with challenges that require a lot more latitude than for which we are prepared. Accumulating subject knowledge and becoming field experts is one thing and holistically applying that knowledge to create products is another.

A solution to this problem would be to lay emphasis on industrial internships and collaborative projects. The industry must channelize funds to university campuses to setup centers of excellence that provide students with hands on experience for real world problem solving. Isn't it better to invest for a strong foundation instead of supporting a weak tower with stilts later? For instance, projects like designing a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) demands skills in computer programming, signals and communication as well as mechanical design of the vehicle. Such projects simulate the industry environment by way of demanding excellent communication skills to run a multidisciplinary project, enabling an understanding of diverse engineering fields and most importantly to respect budget and time constraints. At the other end, Industrial internships expose students to real time company interactions and working. It enables them to understand standard industry practices like product planning, quality assessment, resource utilization etc.

Armed with an early industry exposure students gain in the following ways

1. Understand what is expected from engineers after completion of their degree programs. This enables them to focus their time and effort on the real requirements.

2. Develop a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving.

3. Respect the commercial aspects of product development, be it understanding consumer needs, the cost competitiveness of the product or project budget and timelines.

Today, Indian engineers need to be better prepared to serve the country and that will happen through a joint effort of students, universities and the industry.