Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Berendien Lubbe holds PhD in Communication Management and is an Emeritus Professor and Research Associate in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Her research currently focusses on contemporary issues in tourism and she specialises in the role of air transport in tourism and business travel.

Dr. Alisha Ali is a social scientist research in sustainable development, ICTs, innovation and hospitality education. Her research has led to awards for best papers at conferences and income generation projects. She is frequently consulted as an external expert on research grant funding, course validation, external examining, and guest speaking.

Jarmo Ritalahti is a principal lecturer of tourism at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and head of Master Degree in Aviation and Tourism Business. His main areas of expertise are tourism, travel intermediation and pedagogical and curriculum development in higher education.

Abstract (150 Words)

Due to its high youth unemployment the study focused on South Africa but covered selected universities in the UK and Finland for the purposes of comparison and benchmarking. The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of industry, lecturers and students on the competencies gained at university and the benefits of university enterprise collaboration (UEC) to students. Data was collected through mixed methods: a structured survey and semi-structured interviews. UEC is shown to increase student employability and work-readiness but several challenges to implementing such collaboration exist, particularly in South Africa. Based on the results the paper proposes that technology can be used to overcome the gaps in achieving effective UEC and thereby increasing the employability of students in South Africa.

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Increasing Student Employability through University/Industry Collaboration: A study in South Africa, the UK and Finland

Due to its high youth unemployment the study focused on South Africa but covered selected universities in the UK and Finland for the purposes of comparison and benchmarking. The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of industry, lecturers and students on the competencies gained at university and the benefits of university enterprise collaboration (UEC) to students. Data was collected through mixed methods: a structured survey and semi-structured interviews. UEC is shown to increase student employability and work-readiness but several challenges to implementing such collaboration exist, particularly in South Africa. Based on the results the paper proposes that technology can be used to overcome the gaps in achieving effective UEC and thereby increasing the employability of students in South Africa.