Affective, cognitive and vocational skills: The employers' perspective

The employers' perspective of the functions of higher education is examined. The basic approach is a comparison between public and private sector recruitment behaviour and their perspective of the role of the university. The former places most importance on academic record while the latter places as much, if not more, on experience and the affective skills. These differences are attributed to differences in organizational behaviour. However, both see the primary role of the university as that of developing problem-solving abilities rather than specific skills. Education should be made practical through the development of these abilities and the affective skills rather than occupation-specific competences.