Skills and Abilities Aligned with the Current Market Context

Abstract

The European Commission -through the Communication Rethinking Education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes- establishes in 2012 the new guidelines of education systems aligned with current labour markets, i.e. patterns for adaptation of qualifications in line with the new demands of the 21st century. One of the main lines of action proposed in the reform focuses on the development of skills as a strategic asset for growth. Within the framework of skills development, vocational skills are considered as a fundamental pillar that allows the development of skills, both basic and transverse, to shorten distances between universities and companies, i.e., they allow bringing high education students closer to the reality of working environments. Likewise, it is considered the development of entrepreneurial skills among the students. This fact contributes not only to the future creation of new organisations, but also to the employability of young people. Parallel to this new paradigm of academic restructuring, the students of the Architectural Technologist Degree face the Final Grade Work at their final academic stage. However, paradoxically instead of facing this last phase of the degree with concern for learning, entrepreneurship, ambition and satisfaction for what has been achieved up to that time, a high percentage of these students show individualism, demotivation, insecurity and fear of the development of Final Grade Work. As a consequence, the main objective of this research is focused on how can be promoted the development of vocational skills and entrepreneurial skills in these students who approach the work environment through the completion of Final Grade Work. Therefore, the present work is based on the identification and analysis of causes that encourage such demotivation, individualism, insecurity and fear in the subject of Final Grade Work through a case study. Specifically, the case study focuses on a group of students with same opportunities and similar characteristics, that is, with the same thematic area of Final Grade Work, the same tutor and identical deadlines. From the results obtained in the above analysis, it is presented a solution based on coaching strategies. Coaching is a tool whose success has been widely validated in other fields such as business or sports, which acts as a motor of change allowing the optimal performance and improvement of professional results - both individual and group - through techniques of analysis and motivation. In order to carry out the experimentation, we had the support of a professional coach of great experience and with training in the program of Success Unlimited Network. Through coaching sessions as a motivational tool, it was possible to integrate the Being/Doing of each participant – including not only students but also teachers - in an individual way to improve the attitude of the students to challenge the Final Grade Work, and therefore, to achieve the monthly goals set in each meeting. In addition, Team Building sessions were included in order to reinforce the collaboration among the participants, thus improving the team's overall performance, bringing them closer to the new cooperative and collaborative work methodologies that mark the current market conditions.