ABSTRACT:This article distinguishes which generic skills are the key to enable newly graduated engineers, basically computer and telecommunication engineers, to enter the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, satisfying industry demand in Spain. It also demonstrates significant differences between the engineering degrees (at graduate level) and the engineering master degrees (at post-graduate level) related to skills needs. Furthermore, this work establishes the fact that there is a gap between the expectations of the ICT sector and the computer-based engineering curricula and telecommunication engineering curricula the graduated receives, and where this gap appears in relation to generic competences or skills.

El presente trabajo examina cómo las políticas públicas de financiamiento destinado a las universidades estatales y privadas del Consejo de Rectores (CRUCH) en Chile han generado una segmentación económica y territorial, debido a la focalización de recursos económicos entregados históricamente a cada una de las instituciones, bajo instrumentos de financiamiento que se han mantenido por más de treinta años en el sistema, independientemente de las coaliciones y políticas gobernantes. Un análisis de correlación de variables de financiamiento actual, con datos 2011-2012, confirma las asimetrías y desigualdades entre las instituciones, especialmente para las universidades estatales de regiones, constatando sus "claras desventajas de inicio" por la entrega de recursos basales en un sistema de financiamiento a la oferta, destacando el mayor aporte otorgado a las universidades de mayor complejidad, mezclando instrumentos de financiamiento directos con subsidios a la demanda, becas y créditos, en un sistema altamente competitivo, impactando en el posicionamiento, clasificación, reputación y la percepción social sobre el prestigio de los planteles.

A study surveying experts and related literature reveals the mostand least-valued generic professional abilities for engineers in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The current business environment is increasingly more complex, dynamic, and turbulent in both the macro and micro scales. This is especially evident when we consider key issues such as globalization, politics, technologies, social and economic matters, suppliers, clients, and product and services competition. [1][2][3] This effect is particularly noticeable in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, where escalation in the number and propensity of changes necessarily generates increased uncertainty and makes predicting market behavior more difficult.Within this new paradigm, we must reconsider the models of competitiveness established to date, especially those that refer to resource and personnel management. Manuel Castells contends that capitalist production has passed from an industrial to an information model. 4 He considers information the new material base of technological activity and social organization, which is manifested in his network society model. Furthermore, the European Union (EU) is clearly moving toward a new productive system, a knowledge-based economy, with the objective of becoming the most competitive society in the world by 2010. 5 Along these lines, Castells claims, Faced with the emerging nations, if Western Europe and the US have a knowledge-based economy which generates competitive advantage, it shouldn't be modified by training engineers or developing electronic technology, since research shows that recently industrialised countries are perfectly able to compete; but rather the issue should be treated like other important social fields like anthropology, psychology, sociology, communication, public health, education, architecture, design or management science. 6In the same article, he concluded by suggesting that our engineers are no better than Chinese engineers-but more expensive, and instead of rediscovering engineering that has been partially replaced locally by computers and robots, or at a distance by Indian and Chinese people, we should build the knowledge-based economy by investing in the social disciplines and linking them to business schools.Although Castells makes some relevant points, we don't agree with such reasoning in its entirety. The ICT sector faces savage competition, where the threat of new competitors (emerging nations) is added to that of the well-established competition (such as the US and Japan There is a lovely Spanish proverb that translates as "the swell and storms flatter the best navigators" (www.refranespopulares.com), echoing the English adage "fortune favors the brave." This leads us to ask (with regard to telecommunication engineers, computer scientists, and designers), which ICT graduates' professional abilities will make them the best navigators? Professional AbilitiesTo flesh out this question, given the confusion and ambiguity that exists...

ResumenEl presente trabajo analiza la evolución de la tasa de retorno a la educación terciara en Chile, utilizando la técnica del estimador de "Diferencias en Diferencias". El estudio busca establecer el impacto que ésta genera en la movilidad social, utilizando datos de corte transversal obtenidos de la encuesta de caracterización socioeconómica gubernamental ( Palabras clave: retorno, salarios, diferencias en diferencias, movilidad social, educación superior Return of Higher Education in Chile. Effect on Social Mobility through Differences-in-Differences estimator AbstractThis paper analyzes the evolution of return rates of tertiary education in Chile using differences-indifferences estimation. The study seeks to establish the impact of these rates on social mobility using crosssectional data obtained from the national socioeconomic characterization survey (

Engineering education is facing new challenges to effectively provide the appropriate skills to future engineering professionals according to market demands. This study proposes a model based on active learning methods, which is expected to facilitate the acquisition of the professional skills most highly valued in the information and communications technology (ICT) market. The theoretical foundations of the study are based on the specific literature on active learning methodologies. The Delphi method is used to establish the fit between learning methods and generic skills required by the ICT sector. An innovative proposition is therefore\ud presented that groups the required skills in relation to the teaching\ud method that best develops them. The qualitative research suggests that\ud a combination of project-based learning and the learning contract is\ud sufficient to ensure a satisfactory skills level for this profile of engineers.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

This briefing investigates the status of the educational system and, more specifically, of continuing training in companies in the Principality of Andorra. Part of this analysis is based on a field study designed to explore and understand both the current situation and the training needs of the main sectors within the Andorran economy. A proposal for continuing training is posed, with reference to best practice from different countries, in particular Spain and France, which share geographic borders with the principality. Basic data about the country TopologyAndorra is a small country in the south west of Europe. It is placed just in the middle of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is a mountainous region whose tallest mountain is the Coma Pedrosa at 2.946 m and the lowest part of the country is 840 m above sea level at the southern entrance of the country. The country has two main valleys: the Ordino valley and the Encamp valley. The total surface area is 468 km 2 and it is one of the smallest states in Europe along with others, such as Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Vatican State

The search for factors that lead to competitive advantage in a company in relation to its competitors is a widely debated subject; a wide range of issues have been examined to determine which factors are the most influential. The aim of this paper is to study training effect on business results (particularly on firm's financial turnover). For the present research, the classical model of Industrial Economy as a frame of reference has been used. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire sent to 381 large organizations in Catalonia (Spain) during 2009 and 2010. The empirical section of the present article was developed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results relate training to company's financial turnover in a positive way. The General Expenditure and Costs is the variable that most contributes to the explanation of firms' financial turnover. The Organization of Training variable is the second most important construct to account for financial turnover However, training is required to be well organized as well as properly financed.

The main objective of this study is to identify the determinants that influence user demand for lifelong learning in institutions of higher education. Qualitative methodology was used to develop an instrument and a quantitative approach was used for the remainder of the study. After a literature review and in-depth interviews with experts in lifelong learning, we obtained the dimensions of the study and validated a questionnaire using expert opinion and a pilot test. The results and conclusions drawn from this study indicate the existence of three dimensions in user demand for lifelong learning in institutions of higher education: motivational, conflicts/difficulties and career-development. The constructs of current-work, career-change and personal improvement are linearly related to the motivational dimension; personal-constructs, external and time-related constructs are linked to the conflict/difficulties dimension; and working-environment and professional-experience constructs are related with the career development dimension. One of the novel contributions of this work is that it obtains empirical evidence on the determinants of demand for lifelong learning from the perspective of people who seek training.Postprint (author's final draft