The emergence of the skills approach in industry and its consequences for the training of engineers

Abstract

It is striking to notice that the notion of skill is not only used in industry but also in higher education in most major industrialized countries. If a significant number of companies have taken a skills approach, one notices that this term is also used in higher education to determine teaching programmes according to a simple idea: higher education no longer simply seeks to transmit knowledge but to train students in skills that they will be able to use themselves and in the development of the economy, as well as work situations that they will encounter once they leave school. One cannot help but notice the emergence of this notion of skills both in industry and in higher education. As researchers, we are in a position to observe, follow and evaluate the establishment of the skills approach in industry; as teachers we must take part in the skills approach initiated by our engineering school, the Ecole des Mines de Nantes. The use of the term ‘skills approach’ in both cases leads one to believe that there is some form of coherence between the two projects and even that the skills approach in higher education is a direct response and an adaptation to the skills approach initiated in industry. This is why it seems worthwhile to elucidate what we mean by the skills approach in industry, to clear up any ambiguities and try to measure what could be, from our point of view, the conclusions that an engineering school can draw for itself given the emergence of the notion of skills in industry.

Keywords:

• Skills
• Skills approach
• Commitment
• Employability
• Social science in engineering schools

About the author

Laurent Pascail is french and born near Paris in 1965. He passed his PHD in sociology of organisation at the Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris. He worked nine years (1988 to 1997) in the Centre de Sociologie des organisations founded by Michel Crozier and leaded by Erhard Friedberg, as assistant professor. Since 1997, is associated professor at the department of social sciences at the Ecole des Mines de Nantes. He often works for public regional programs developing the skills approach in companies of the west of France.

Notes

^†The main French federation of bosses.

^†Here we have a definition of skill which is a bit vague, but it is one which is generally used by industry. Please note that the notion of skill understood in this light is totally linked to the work context and to the performance of the production systems.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laurent Pascail

Email: [email protected]