Competences Gaps

The assessment of the Competence Gaps is supported on the graphs presented in Annex IV (Section 10). Annex IV is structured accordingly with Figure 5.4 in four sub-sections, each one dedicated to a specific gap, as follows:

1. Competence Gap between Employees and Students – listed from Figure 11.1 to Figure 11.7;

2. Competence Gap between Companies and Employees – listed from Figure 11.8 to Figure 11.11;

3. Competence Gap between Educational Institutions and Students – listed from Figure 11.12 to Figure 11.17;

4. Competence Gap between Companies and Educational Institutions – listed from Figure 11.24 to Figure 11.27.

The labels adopted in the graphs are for a matter of better readability. Each number represents a Competence (that are divided by Domain of Activity), as follows:

 Airline Related Competences:

 A1 - Cockpit Crew

 A2 - Technics & Engineering

 A3 - Planning & Control

 Airport Related Competences:

 B1 - Design

 B2 - Building & Construction

 B3 - Planning

 B4 - Handling

 B5 - Emergency Planning

 B6 - Maintenance

 B7 - Environmental Control

 B8 – Security

 ANSP Related Competences

 C1 - Area Control

 C2 - Approach Control

 C3 - Tower Control

 C4 - Other ATC Operations

 C5 – ATM

 Manufacturer Related Competences

 Research & Development Competences:

A1. Failure assessment and recognition

A2. Avionics, electronic and electrical systems & EMC

A3. Customer service

A4. Fluid mechanics and acoustics A5. Propulsion and powerplant

A6. RAMS, human factors & operability A7. Software design & IT

A8. Structural design A9. Test engineering A10. Services solutions A11. Quality engineering A12. Production rigs

 Operations Competences

B1. Airline operations appreciation B2. Components and aircraft architecture B3. Manufacturing engineering

B4. Maintenance

B5. RAMS, human factors & operability B6. Governance

B7. Risk management

B8. Composites manufacturing and assembly

 Engineering Competences

C1. Aircraft operability and design maturity integration C2. Design

C3. Failure assessment and recognition C4. Stress and structures analysis C5. Materials and processes

C6. Systems engineering and architecture C7. Airworthiness and certification

C8. Architecture, integration and in-service support C9. Systems & electronics engineering

C10. Structural & general engineering C11. Flight physics

C12. Configuration management C13. Composites design and stress C14. Supply management

C15. Lean experts & supply chain quality field engineering C16. Electrical design/integration

The green shade area of the graphs represents the no-gap area, while the outer-zone may denote the presence of some misalignment between the agents’ perceived relevancy.

It is important to emphasise that the actual nature of the analyses was strongly conditioned by the amount of answers. Indeed, despite our best efforts, the amount of answers greatly varied amount domains and educational backgrounds. Consequently, the data used on the assessment of each Gap changed accordingly with its availability. The single exception concerned the Manufacturing domain and the Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering program. In which, we were able to gather all required information. The results are presented in Section 11.6.

The type of analyses undertaken in each Gap Assessment were the following ones:

 Employees and Students Gap:

 Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineers Employees and Students in Aerospace &

Aeronautical Engineering (1^st and 2^nd Level of Bologna) – analyses done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

 Companies and Employees Gap:

 Airline Companies with Employees working in Airlines – analyses done at level of aggregated competences;

 Airport Companies with Employees working in Airport – analyses done at level of aggregated competences;

 ANSPs Companies with Employees working in ANSPs – analyses done at level of aggregated competences;

 Manufacturer Companies with Employees working in Manufacturers – analyses done at level of competences;

 Educational Competences and Students Gap:

 Aerospace & Aeronautical Programs with Students in Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering (1^st and 2^nd Level of Bologna) – analysis done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

 Other Engineering Programs with Students in Other Engineering Courses (includes all Engineering programs – 1^st and 2^nd Level of Bologna – with the exception of Aerospace & Aeronautical) – analysis done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

 Non-Engineering Programs with Students in Non-Engineering Course (includes all non-Engineering programs – 3^rd Level of Bologna – with the exception of Aerospace

& Aeronautical) – analysis done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

 Companies and Educational Institutions Gap:

 Engineering Programs (includes all Engineering programs – 1^st and 2^nd Level of Bologna) with Companies – analysis done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

 Non-Engineering Programs (includes all Engineering programs – 3^rd Level of Bolgna) with Companies – analysis done at level of aggregated competences on Airline, Airport and ANSPs domains, and competences on Manufacturer domain;

As already discussed, the main purpose of the Gap Assessment exercise was used to shed light on the current potential Gaps in the Aviation Sector (more than pinpoint or isolate specific situations, in specific member states, educational institutions or companies). As such, the proposed corrective measures are necessarily broad in nature meant to point out directions of change and improvement. Further analysis, following the same rational, would have to be conducted to reach tailored solutions on specific cases.

In theoretical terms, a competence gap or misalignment results from a difference in the agents’

perceptions on the relevancy of a given competence for performing a given task. Gaps may occur from asymmetric information between agents, in which one agent may feel some need earlier than other just because it has privileged access to some information. Other situation that may generate Gaps results from agents’ different positioning in the value chain. That is, each agent has its own strategies, objectives, limitations and background experience. Therefore, we may expect differences of perception towards a given competence (for example: students may prefer practical experience in detriment of theoretical one, while educational institutions may prefer the opposite. While the second source of gaps does not require corrective measures, the former source does require.

Starting the analysis with the Employees and Students gap assessment, the results show a wide Gap in all educational backgrounds and domains. Yet, the situation is likely of no major concern, since the gap results from an overvaluation of students vis-à-vis employees. Employees have already a good understanding about the relevancy of the competences, whereas students are still acquiring them and do not have yet time to grasp their actual relevancy. This assumption is supported by the students’ survey. The results show a high concentration of answers in all situations, that is, all competences were similarly valuated (the valuation is 3 or 4). The fact of all 81 competences having similar relevancy is highly unlikely. Indeed, looking to the employees’ answers the same does not happen whose valuations range in the full spectrum of choices. So, the wide gap is in our understanding of minor concern and does not require corrective actions. Even so, if required, corrective actions should increase the contact of Students with Companies, preferably in the Company’s premises, if not, by bringing the Companies into the Education Institution (Open Days or Fairs).

The second Assessment corresponds to the Competence Gap between Companies and Employees.

Gaps are visible in all domains of activity for a considerable number of Competences (around half of them). The majority of the Gaps are however minor and only a fraction are significant²⁷.

The situation is of concerns as the Gaps invariantly²⁸ result from an overvaluation of the companies versus the employees. It may evidence a lack of knowledge by the Employees about their Company’s real needs. As a consequence, the Company may be feeling needs for some given Competences that Employees are not aware of and, consequently, may be not mastering. The Gap should therefore be addressed. In any case, we must proceed with cautions since the amount of answers by the Companies is reduced, which undermines the validity of the conclusions. In this case, we recommend conducting further analysis to the Gap and, if proved accurate them corrective measures should be implemented. Naturally, the measures will depend on the actual dimension of the Gap in each company, but it may include improvements in the internal communication (e.g.:

strategic and management objectives, new projects or new challenges) and promotion of long life educational courses.

The third and fourth Gaps have the Educational Institutions as focal points. The method of analysis is different since we have not asked Educational Institutions about the relevancy of the competences but we measure the frequency of teaching of each competence. The underlying idea is that relevancy of a competence must be linked with the frequency of teaching, that is: the more relevant is a competence, more often it should be taught (conversely, the less relevant is a competence, less often it can be taught).

In overall terms, the results to the Educational Institutions reveal two important features.

Foremost, all competences are taught which means that European Educational Institutions are able to provide every required competence. Secondly, results show a wide dispersion about the frequency of teaching of the competences, albeit some patterns are recognisable. In our sample, the competences related with the domain of Airlines, Airports and ANSP are always taught is less than half of the Educational Institutions. The same does not happen with the Manufacturer related competences, in which a significant part (around half) is taught in more than half of the sample.

In what concerns the Educational Institution – Students Gap assessment, the results reveal Gaps in the majority of the cases. The Gaps invariantly result from the students’ high valuation and the relatively frequency of teaching competences, leading the results to locate in the third quadrant.

The Aerospace & Aeronautics Competences are the single notable exception with some result in the

27 See Footnote26.

28 There is one single gap that occurs from na overvaluation of the Companies.

second quadrant, resulting from high frequencies of teaching. The Gaps must be analysed having in mind the discussion already undertaken in the Employees – Students Gap. Students have highly valuated every single Gap, which may indicate that students still lack knowledge on the actual importance of each gap (and, in doubt, ranked them all very high). Therefore, the Gaps between Educational Institutions and Students do not appear worrisome. In any case, corrective actions can be deployed. Indeed, the corrective action already proposed to the Employees – Student Gap can also provide help in this situation. An increased contact with Companies will lead to a more mature valuation. Other corrective actions may include improved explanations and demonstration of the validity and relevancy of the curricula, so that students could understand it and therefore adjust their expectations.

Finally, in what concerns the Educational Institutions – Companies Gap Assessment, the results are similar with Gaps in all domains (Airlines, Aiports, ANSPs and Manufactures) and all Educational Programs (Engineering and Non-Engineering), although with less intensity than with Students.

Gaps in both quadrant 1 (low relevancy and high frequency) and quadrant 3 (high relevancy and low frequency) are visible. The Gaps in quadrant 1 are less relevant since it denotes a case in which students may have competences that may not be relevant. The main problem is an eventual problem in the allocation of resources. As both teachers and students may be investing time and other resources with few return. On the other hand, Gaps in quadrant 3 are worrisome, since they may evidence cases of misalignment between Educational Institutions’ curricula and Companies’

needs, which in turn may lead students to graduate with an incomplete set of competences. We must not forget that the competences may result from temporary misalignments and not corresponding to structural Gaps. The point is that market dynamics may result in rapid changes in Companies’ relevant competences. Educational Institutions’ curricula however tends to be stable over time (not only because changing curricula requires lengthy process as well as often accreditation process is based on a given set disciplines). These different rhythms may create momentary misalignments, in which Companies have changes but Educational Institutions are still changing. Finally, we must be aware that the amount of answers by the Companies is reduced, so the conclusions must be interpreted with cautions.

Corrective actions include increasing the information exchange between Companies and Educational Institutions aiming to reduce the natural asymmetry. This can be done by the development of info days, seminars or participation in students’ works. Another corrective action is to increase the flexibility of the Educational offer. Many of the competences analysed can easily be provided through short to medium-term courses. These courses can be held in parallel with existent disciplines (of the main stream programs) to external students (as lifelong learning programs) or given as extra credits. This type of courses have typically less restrictions in terms of

accreditation and preparation, therefore they can be given almost on an ad-hoc basis and tailored to the Companies’ actual requirements.

Students were also asked to self-assess their level of proficiency with respect to the competences.

Such information revealed some important insights. The results are available in Section 11.5.

Firstly, comparing students’ perception of relevancy with students’ perception of proficiency, we concluded for a significant deviation with perception of proficiency always ranking below perception of relevancy. Such results were somewhat unexpected as we were expecting mixed results with cases of competences in which the perception of proficiency ranked above perception of relevancy. The results could indicate that students may perceive their level of competency bellow requirements, which can in turn negatively impact their level of confidence. It is widely recognised that successful professionals combined robust knowledge and competency with self-confidence and self–assurance, and what the results show is that the second part of the equation may be missing and this is worth of study. To conclude it is important to clarify that we are not stating that students lack competences, simply that they may be not recognising them.

Another analysis to be done is comparing the students and educational institutions’ results. The results show a strong linear and direct correlation between the students’ perception of proficiency and educational institutions’ frequency of teaching. This is, the more often you teach, the higher students’ perceive their level of proficiency. These results are natural (and obvious), since if we have more institutions teaching a given competence, then students’ will naturally report high levels of perceived proficiency. The results evidence the robustness of the data.

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