Strengthening competency linkage to innovation at Korean universities

Abstract

The era of open and sustainable innovation has opened and requested new kinds of human resources (HRs) development at Korean universities. Typical academic and vocational education at universities does not effectively work in the age of technological convergence and open innovation. Knowledge and skills for Green growth and rapid technological innovation demand very skilful, broad, and complex competencies of HRs. Competencies for green growth and disruptive innovation are outlined and various methods to increase competencies at Korean universities are suggested in this study. This study explores the kinds of competencies for future society and suggests how university can contribute to cultivate talents for HRs with multi-functional and high competencies. The author takes a sketch of competence and skill structure in Korea, summarized in value chain of competencies among HRs with high competencies, HRs with medium competencies, and HRs with low competencies. Particularly the author addresses innovation oriented fields such as engineering and chemistry/pharmaceuticals, therefore, the picture can be different from typical manufacturing sectors such as automobile and shipbuilding. However, the manufacturing fields are also progressing into innovation centred sectors. And then the author explores the flow of each HRs according to levels and fields and how they affect Korean innovation system.

Sustainability practices at higher education institutions in Asia

“…sustainability, universities and education), other terms, such as China, behaviour, climate change, performance, management, knowledge, model, systems, perceptions, innovation, policy, challenges, environmental sustainability, technology and GHG emissions have occurred more frequently. In addition to the dominance of China in this area (Niu et al , 2010; Yuan and Zuo, 2013; Wang et al , 2020), this indicates that sustainability practices at HEIs in Asia have a special focus on issues related to climate change (Perkins et al , 2018; Scholz et al , 2021), perception and behaviour (Janmaimool and Khajohnmanee, 2019; Yu et al , 2017; Sivapalan, 2016; Sivapalan, 2017; Ariffin and Ng, 2020; Kanapathy et al , 2019), knowledge management and knowledge economy (Parveen et al , 2021; Sutrisno and Pillay, 2015), technologies and innovation (Lee, 2012; Uwasu et al , 2009; Yoon et al , 2016) and challenges and barriers to ESD (Mian et al , 2020; Sekhar, 2020).…”

El apoyo del gobierno como determinante de la colaboración exitosa entre la universidad y la empresa

“…Es bastante visible que concentrarse solo en la tradicional educación académica y vocacional no es una alternativa efectiva, en particular en una era como la actual, cuando se demandan cada vez más amplias y complejas habilidades y competencias al capital humano. Al respecto, Lee (2012) sugiere que las universidades requieren contribuir a cultivar talentos multifacéticos con competencias multifuncionales, esto dependiendo de las necesidades de diversos sectores económicos, en especial de aquellos centrados en la innovación. Por esta razón, la cue ha adquirido una creciente importancia.…”

Managing the transition to critical green growth: The ‘Green Growth State’

“…At the level of policy specific requirements, a key issue will be prioritising investment in appropriate education and training in, for example, how universities contribute to a labour force with multi-functional and high competencies for innovation within a Green Growth economy [86].…”