Capturing the value of Demola at Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal: Promoting youth employability through problem-based learning

• Autor(a) principal: Guerra, Maria Zita Gonçalves da Costa Marques
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/26215
• topic: University-Business-Cooperation; Triple Helix Model; Entrepreneurship education; Empregabilidade -- Employability; Problem based learning; Demola; Cooperação educação-indústria; Modelo da Tripla Hélice; Educação sobre empreendedorismo; Aprendizagem baseada em problemas

High youth unemployment rate in the EU is both an economic and social challenge that needs to be overcome to allow for market cohesion and growth. This research demonstrates how Higher Education-Industry Cooperation (HIC) practices create value in terms of labor market integration. In particular it studies how the value of Demola can be evaluated and communicated. Demola is a HIC tool with roots in the Triple Helix model of innovation which brings together teams of multicultural and interdisciplinary students, guided by a previously trained teacher (Facilitator), to solve real-life problems posed by companies (Challengers). The basis of this study is a qualitative survey that was carried out at Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (IPS), a Portuguese public high education institution, involving Demola stakeholders (students, teachers, companies, and both the institutional representatives from IPS and Demola Global). This study’s findings show that all stakeholders benefited from Demola, although in different forms. The key limitations of this research are the small sample size and the subjectivity of perceived benefits. Several key areas of future research are identified, whereby most importantly the need for commonly accepted HIC taxonomy and evaluation frameworks. We identify Demola’s main challenge as researching objective evaluation indicators that could further enhance this tool’s educational credibility.