Skills for competitiveness: an empirical analysis of the educational provision for oenologists offered by Italian universities

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Whilst operating in the context of a high-income economy, the Italian labour market is affected by the considerable challenges of vertical mismatch, skill gaps and skill shortages. In such a context, the aim of this empirical study is to explore current university provision regarding the formal qualification of the oenologist, in order to assess its alignment with the professionalism demands from the wine sector.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The following was deployed to analyse university provision with a mixed method approach including social network analysis, cluster analysis and desk analyses based on descriptive statistics.

Findings

The comparative analysis outlined in the research on the basis of different educational activities shows that some degree courses would appear to be interchangeable. Furthermore, the study also shows a partial alignment between university educational provision and the skills required by stakeholders, thereby demonstrating the need to make changes in study programmes.

Practical implications

The authors hope that the evidence-based suggestions proffered herein may be used as a scientific basis to support the formulation of education policy at the ministerial level and as a guideline to plan and update academic curricula.

Theoretical implications

This research contributes to the scientific debate relating to the educational preparation of university graduates and their employability according to the requirements of the professional wine sector. It enriches the theoretical framework of evidence-based educational research, offering alternative avenues for interpretation about the similarity profiles of educational provision.

Originality/Values

To the best of our knowledge, the research laid out in this paper is innovative in the field of educational literature due to its use of different methodologies and techniques to obtain results, thereby proposing a wider and alternative use of well known analytical methods.

KEYWORDS:

• Wine sector
• competence
• skills mismatch
• social network analysis
• cluster analysis
• stakeholders
• mixed-method

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Emanuele Schimmenti for critical reading of the manuscript and for his useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For instance, the language and mathematical skills of Italian adults are among the lowest in OECD countries: there are no substantial differences regarding the 20–24 and 25–64 age groups (Ministry of Economy and Finance 2018).

2 ANVUR, the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research Systems, oversees the national quality evaluation system for universities and research bodies.

3 Particular reference is made to the Human Capital Theory by Schultz (1961) and (Becker 1964), the Signalling Theory by Arrow (1973) and Spence (1973), and the analysis of markets with information asymmetry by Akerlof (1970, 2001), Stiglitz (2001) and Spence (2001).

4 A short-cycle degree consists of 180 University Educational Credits (UECs), distributed approximately equally over three years; a second-cycle degree equates to 120 UECs, distributed over two years. UECs are used to measure the ‘quantity’ of learning, including individual study, which is required of a student in order to acquire the knowledge and skills in the learning activities envisaged in the degree programme. One UEC usually corresponds to 25 h of work, including lessons, exercises, laboratory practice, etc. in addition to home study. It is transferable through the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), thereby allowing students to move between countries and to have their academic qualifications and study periods abroad recognised.

5 A degree class is a group of study programmes with the same educational objectives, as defined by law, i.e. the knowledge and skills which characterise the cultural and professional profile of the study programme. The class is indicated by a number prefaced with L or LM.

6 Interclass degree courses satisfy the requirements of two different L degree classes (MD 16 March 2007).

7 Italian universities regulate each study programme in accordance with University Teaching Regulations, which are compiled in compliance with the MD 270/04 and subsequent amendments and additions.

8 The NUC is an elected body of 58 members representing the Italian University System. It performs consultative functions as specified by the Ministry of University and Research on relevant matters such as the classification and definition of academic fields and disciplines for the purposes of teaching and research.

9 UCINET is a software package distributed by Analytic Technologies (https://sites.google.com/site/ucinetsoftware/home); it includes the Netdraw programme for visualising social network data.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Valeria Borsellino

Valeria Borsellino is an Associate Professor of Rural Economics and Appraisal at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF), Università degli Studi di Palermo. Her research activity is mainly focused on topics related to the economics and policy of Mediterranean agricultural production (olive growing, citrus growing, viticulture, fruit growing, horticulture and nursery gardening), the economics and policy of the fisheries sector, the sustainable development of the wine sector, and rural development policies. Her scientific activity has also regarded the Land Market, ICT and logistics of agro-food production, Web marketing, Business innovations and strategies, Consumer behaviour, and Agro-energy.

Valentina Carta

Valentina Carta is a researcher at the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics – Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy (CREA-PB). She has been working in the Italian National Rural Network (NRN) since 2010. She gives technical support to public authorities for the Rural Development Policy (RDP), especially related to monitoring, evaluation and innovation issues. She’s a member of the project teams ‘Supporting the Managing Authorities in monitoring and evaluating the RDPs’ and ‘Supporting the Managing Authorities and the operational groups in innovation’ for the NRN.

Francesca Varia

Francesca Varia is a researcher at the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics – Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy (CREA-PB). She handles many aspects of the broad field of the sustainable rural and regional development, for instance: agri-food systems, rural development strategies at the local level, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and policies for rural areas, relational capital. As part of the staff working on the 2014–2020 Italian National Rural Network, she provides institutional technical assistance to Italian Ministries and Regional governments.