BRIDGING THE CHASM

Higher education is taking a new turn as we are advancing into this age of ever-evolving new-age technologies. Organisation leaders are feeling the need to train their own skilled professionals according to their requirements. Hence, industry-academia tie ups are becoming more and more important

The Chasm

There is a difference between knowledge and skilled professional training. Academic institutions encourage students to question what is being practised in their disciplines in the world and to develop new ways of thinking, which may not always be in tune with what is being practised. It certainly may not always be oriented towards making money.

Industry is primarily about making money and the development of new-age technologies is mostly linked to it. Automation helps to save cost and it helps to save human labour. It also quickens to fasten the pace of work being done. Hence, today’s industry is going towards developing and adopting new-age technologies on a massive scale. The industry leaders are making attempt to

convince the government that technical education in the higher institutions should produce graduates who are able to operate in the fast changing technological environment of the industry. The academic institutions however, have different goals. They don’t necessarily see themselves as instruments to serve the industry. Rather, they have dreams to change the industrial mode of thinking.

The above two modes of negotiating through the professional world has given rise to conflicts between the academia and the industry, with each criticising the other of shortcomings. What is described as shortcoming by one side may not be regarded as so by the other side. Between these divides are some institutions that encourage new ways of thinking in their students, are renowned for their technological education and at the same time, also encourage an interaction with the industry, so that their faculty and researchers gain an insight into the other side of the world as well.

The Meeting Ground

The tie ups between technology institutions and industry usually involve the industry funding research that specifically serves its own needs. The researchers who get funded t enter into these programmes have a job ensured when they complete the research and training programme funded by the industry. The faculty that leads the research also gets benefited from these tie ups and the institution gets financial assistance from the industry.

Because of these advantages, institutions have an industry-funded research wing, where at least some scholars get tangible benefits from the industry and the industry gets the trained professionals that it’s seeking. These researches are oriented towards the specific needs of the industry that is funding the research and are more in the nature of skilled-training programmes. The pure research designs of the same institution may be different from these industry-funded research programmes and may even question the premises on which these industryfunded research programmes are carried out.

When we look at some of these instances, we find that these tie ups work both ways. In some cases, the industry leaders acknowledge that there is a gap in the skill of their associates nd they feel the need to get trained by an advanced institution. In other cases, the industry leaders feel they’re filling the gap in the education of higher learning, where these gaps are otherwise not being filled up. Hence, there are multiple perspectives in these tie ups which should not be lost sight of.