Abstract
This paper analyzes the impact of Grad Studies undertaken by higher education institutions in Mexico and its importance in the labor field. It is considered that studies of graduates as the bridge between the two worlds of education and work field. In describing the characteristics of insertion and job performance, in order to evaluate and provide feedback on educational programs that have been completed.
Graduates studies are one of the best strategies for feedback programs training professionals and researchers in educational institutions. The performance of graduates in the work field, acceptance, promotion, professional development, salaries accomplishments foray into graduate school, are among the most reliable indicators of relevance, adequacy and timeliness of the educational programs. Likewise speak of the quality of the academic staff of the institution and its teaching strategies.
Summary
This work analyzes the impact of Graduate Studies carried out by Higher Education Institutions in Mexico and its importance in the Labor field. Graduate studies are considered as the bridge between two worlds, that of education and the field of work, when describing the characteristics of job placement and performance, in order to evaluate and provide feedback on the educational programs they have completed.
Graduate studies are one of the most appropriate strategies to provide feedback to training programs for professionals and researchers in educational institutions. The performance of graduates in the field of work, their acceptance, promotion, professional development, salary achievements and foray into postgraduate studies, constitute some of the most reliable indicators of the relevance, sufficiency and timeliness of educational programs. In the same way they talk about the quality of the academic staff of the institution and its pedagogical strategies.
“Education helps a person learn to be what he is capable of being” Hesiod
Introduction
The educational offer in Mexico is subject to continuous evaluation to guarantee its quality. One of the core aspects is the performance of graduates in the labor market, the mechanism to carry out this assessment is to carry out graduate studies.
In our country, sometimes education is planned by people who are not fully identified with the context where the plans and study programs they propose are put into practice; It is also common for foreign education schemes to be adopted, without adapting them to the environment in which they will be carried out, which causes professionals to be trained who cannot solve the specific problems of their environment.
Currently the educational sector has been strongly criticized, regarding the lack of consistency between educational processes, social needs and the demands of the labor market (Fresan, 1998), for this reason the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) require studies on the job performance of its graduates, which allow them to know what their field of action is and whether there are new demands and social needs that force them to redefine their graduate profiles, with the intention of preparing themselves to be able to respond to the challenges of society modern and to join the globalization of the world economy.
The data provided by the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES 2002) in relation to terminal efficiency, which places it at 39% as the national average, are worrisome, taking this concept as the proportion of students who complete a degree in relationship with those who enter; however, the terminal efficiency data is more discouraging, defining it as the proportion of students entering a degree and students graduating, given that there is a decrease of up to 12%
To this is added that a high percentage of professionals upon graduation from their bachelor's degree do not get a job or carry out activities other than their professional training. Sometimes these professionals are forced to redefine their professional profile after graduation, based on the demands of the labor sector.
On the other hand, studies of graduates and follow-up of graduates indirectly contribute to evidence the quality of the teaching staff, as well as the effectiveness of its implemented pedagogical strategies.
These studies encourage teachers to provide quality services, institutions to obtain resources that allow better service to students, allowing them to locate in a labor market, as well as academic communities would have to assume their responsibilities and strategies with quality and competitiveness of educational services and scientific-technical production of your institution, since academics would become the center stage, and the economic or image success or failure of institutions (Bazua F. 1991)
As well as the search for efficiency, productivity and competitiveness, quality management (total), the internationalization of higher education, globalization and regional integration processes (North American Free Trade Agreement, Mercosur, etc) constitute the framework of educational policies for the academic accreditation of higher education, to which, today, no university can withdraw. (Fernández, 2008)
Currently, there is a free trade environment that has permeated public decisions on Higher Education, especially with regard to the orientation of study plans and programs and their influence on vocational training. (Ruiz, 1997)
Graduate studies are an important indicator in the processes of evaluation and accreditation of educational programs that are carried out by the Inter-institutional Committees for the Evaluation of Higher Education (CIEES) and the Council for Accreditation of Higher Education (COPAES), through the different accrediting bodies recognized by it.
The Higher Education system is currently characterized by being very complex, heterogeneous and diverse in relation to its components, evidenced by the size and particularities of each of the institutions that comprise it, as well as by the characteristics and profile of the teaching staff (Rubio, 2006)
There are various problems that Higher Education faces; those that stand out for their importance are: (Rubio, 2006)
Access, equity and coverage: this refers to the fact that there are currently people with limited resources, who find it difficult to access the university due to the economic costs that are generated. Education must be everyone's right and unfortunately access is still limited. On the other hand, there is the problem that there is not enough infrastructure to have greater educational coverage, in the most remote places. Quality: there is an old pedagogy, with which passivity is generated in students. Only elite institutions take advanced teaching positions. Integration, coordination and management of Higher Education Institutions, where there is generally a shortage of competent management teams..
Today, education has been retaken as an essential element of the development of society, international standards have been established under the perspectives of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Educational Organization. Culture (UNESCO), United Nations Organization (UN), World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These state that education should be taken as the main part of the economic development of any country.
In addition, since the middle of the 20th century, some international organizations have established standards for the teaching of some professional options, such as Medicine, where the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), They closely monitor the academic and professional performance of graduates of this branch of knowledge.
In recent years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), recommends that studies and monitoring of graduates should be carried out as a measure to improve the quality of higher education.
These world organizations have developed educational policies within the framework of Globalization and Knowledge Societies, establishing standards that have brought about a significant change in Higher Education Institutions in Latin America (ECLAC and IDB), since the 1990s, excelling Important changes in Higher Education., These have had a direct effect on higher education legislation, have fostered an endogenous factor of economic development.
The consequences of these educational policies have influenced Higher Education in Mexico, for which the Mexican State has developed, the National Development Plan 2007-2012, Education Sector Program 2007-2012, to give a legal framework to international policies.
In this sense, the authors of this article consider that the best results obtained in the follow-up study of graduates who practice their profession are those that have a high practical content and orientation towards the professional competences of the career they studied.
On the other hand, having information on the studies of graduates and monitoring of graduates, is an index that is taken very into account in the evaluation process for the accreditation of professions by the Council for Accreditation of Higher Education and by the Inter-institutional Committees for the Evaluation of Higher Education. As the graduate follow-up studies are one of the key institutional documents required by the Inter-institutional Committees for the Evaluation of Higher Education, when evaluating the administration and management in Mexican Higher Education Institutions.
In Mexico, studies of graduates of Higher Education Institutions date back to the 1970s (Valenti, 2003), although from 1990 onwards the training evaluation processes gained importance, since they were used to design new financing policies. Most of these pioneering studies focused their interest in obtaining information from graduates in the labor market and their opinion on the academic training received.
In this type of study, two aspects were emphasized: first, to obtain data on the insertion of graduates in the labor market and second, to investigate the opinion of graduates on the training received.
The ANUIES presents and proposes ways to link the University and the labor sector (which takes shape in the job market), where through knowledge, improvement and updating of study plans and programs, better results are achieved in companies and organizations, as well as redefining institutional development policies at the National, State and Regional levels.
The influence of ANUIES is reflected in the Basic Outline Book for the study of graduates and is through the ANUIES General Coordination of Special Projects, which constitutes an improvement process. In this framework, studies on the performance of graduates are included, since they constitute an alternative for self-knowledge and for planning the process of improvement and consolidation of educational institutions. (Fresan, 1998).
The labor market is usually called the market where the demand and supply of labor meet. The labor market has particularities that differentiate it from other types of markets (financial, real estate, securities, etc.) since it is related to the freedom of workers and the need to guarantee employment. In this sense, the labor market is usually influenced and regulated by the State through labor law and by a special form of contracts, collective labor agreements. Robles, Alberto (2001).
On the other hand, the degree of applicability of the basic scheme for the study of graduates proposed is currently being used by several universities in the country, by applying the methodology proposed by ANUIES, however, it does not allow comparison, even with their heterogeneity., Through a sample survey, it is possible to obtain reliable information, surveying only a part of the graduates, and reducing the cost and time to obtain the required information. More detailed and careful interviews can also be done when dealing with a portion of the population rather than the entire population.
In 1990, ANUIES made its position and its conception regarding graduate follow-up studies public, approving "The Basic Scheme for graduate studies" (ANUIES 1998), which was later reflected in the document "The Higher Education of the XXI century" where establishes that: "Higher Education Institutions must consider the permanent completion of follow-up studies of graduates, for the purposes of curricular feedback and institutional evaluation" (ANUIES, 2000)
These studies also allow evaluating the level of interaction between higher education and the productive sector. They are important in making decisions about reviewing, designing, and updating study plans and programs, and even more so in evaluating the relevance of a study program.
Another area where graduate studies and graduate follow-up are important is the degree program. Through these studies we can find out the current status that graduates have regarding their degree process: if they have not started it, if they have already started it, if they are working on it, if they have had problems, the type of problems, etc. and, based on these data, carry out actions aimed at successfully completing this process.
conclusion
Graduate studies are mechanisms that allow a diagnosis of the reality in which graduates of a certain educational institution are immersed. Their purpose is to know the labor conditions of the labor market and in particular the occupational conditions of the professionals.
They are considered as an evaluative strategy of the analysis process of the educational systems of the institution, to know the location, performance and professional development of the graduates and determine if their professional training is adequate for their professional performance and if it provides preparation for the needs of overcoming (Alvarado, 1998).
These studies constitute an alternative for self-knowledge and for the planning of improvement and consolidation processes of educational institutions (Fresán, 1998). They are a very important methodological resource that enables core decision-making in the institutional environment; in the same way, they help to value the professional training that the graduate receives based on their job performance.
The Mexican HEIs are showing a marked interest in carrying out graduate studies, due to the fact that national educational policies demand it in order to achieve educational excellence.
The information collected from graduate studies allows HEIs to have an objective and reliable judgment on three aspects:
- The inclusion of graduates in the field of work, Their professional performance, Their opinion regarding the academic, social and cultural training received at the institution.
The evaluation also represents an important contribution of the study of graduates, when conceived in a broad sense, by identifying that its objective is not only the educational offer and the teaching methods, but also the financing, management, general orientation and performance. of long-term goals. (Delors 1997)
Bibliography
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