Final Report Pilot Project - Relaciones Internacionales de la ...

to succeed. Six of these items coincide with those that
graduates and employers considered important and ranked
highest in the scale. The remaining reflect the tasks which the
universities have traditionally been performing for centuries.
• Looking at the bottom of the scale, the competences are:
leadership, understanding of cultures and customs of other
countries, knowledge of a second language, ability to
communicate with experts in other fields, ability to work in an
international context, and ability to work in an interdisciplinary
team. It is remarkable that these competences all appear near
the bottom of the table for importance.
• A wider reflection on these results is necessary. There are
several questions: What is the rate of change developing in
the five years gap since the first and the last graduates
would have finished their degree programmes. Whether
there are competences which relate to emerging needs,
etc. The importance of looking at the future and trying to
anticipate developments.
—The scale of appreciation of the graduates and employers also
has a high degree of coincidence with the ranking by the
academics with a few exceptions
• The first exception is the rank given to basic general
knowledge, which for the graduates and employers shows
a level of 12 out of 18 while for the academics it appears
in first place. One point to note is that responses to
questions involving the word basic may depend on the
interpretation given to this word, which could change
depending on the inclusion of questions referring to
advanced knowledge.
• The second item of difference is elementary computing
skills. This varies between groups, being considered more
important by graduates, less by employers and least by
academics.
• The third is interpersonal skills with much higher importance
attached by graduates and employers (level 6) than by
academics where it appears in a considerably lower position.
In general, all the interpersonal skills tend to rank lower for
academics than for graduates and employers. The majority
of the competences which appear at the top of the scale
both in terms of importance and achievement are instrumental
and systemic.
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