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Often the industry finds that students graduating from a particular department do not possess the skill-set required to perform well in their company. While research can at least afford to be outside of the interests of the industry, academic syllabus taught to students for their bachelor's or master's has to cater to the demands of the industry.

  • What steps are taken by a university to ensure that its students are employable and industry-fit?
  • Does this recalibration happen at all, and if yes, how often?
  • Not every requirement of the industry could be met in an academic syllabus. For example, programming languages cannot be taught in class simply because the industry needs them. What points should academicians keep in mind when addressing industry's expectations from a university?
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    ...academic syllabus taught to students for their bachelor's or master's has to cater to the demands of the industry. — [citation needed]
    – JeffE
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 11:22
  • @JeffE: I have heard that from recruiters of Cisco and Qualcomm.
    – Bravo
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 11:43
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    I have also heard this claim from corporate recruiters; that doesn't make it true.
    – JeffE
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 13:59
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    @Bravo: care about expectations ≠ cater to demands
    – JeffE
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 15:34
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    university is not an extended training program for cisco and qualcomm. The primary goal is to provide an atmosphere fpr higher learning and to let students grow, if they happen to also pick up applicable skills along the way, then props.
    – Artem Kaznatcheev
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 21:15

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Specifically, for teaching computer science, information systems and software engineering you can refer to model curricula provided, e.g., by the ACM. An advantage of such curricula is that they result from a joint effort of the universities and companies. For instance, the Graduate curriculum for Sofware Engineering lists contributors from General Motors, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Ford, Nokia, Avaya and the Department of Defense: http://www.gswe2009.org/fileadmin/files/GSwE2009_Curriculum_Docs/GSwE2009_version_1.0.pdf

Of course, the ACM curricula are but a proposal and every univerity has to try and find the right balance between industrial and academic needs. However, comparing your curriculum with the ACM guidelines can reveal interesting patterns.

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