The Partnership between Academic and Business Environment

AbstractNowadays, the partnership between the economic academic institutions and the business environment is a core key performance indicator (KPI) for assessing the efficiency and accountability. Still, in many cases and for different reasons this partnership does not work well. As various international studies emphasized there is a certain gap between the competences and the skills acquired by the students and the requirements of the employers regarding the educational background of the graduates. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the perception of employers from the Arges County regarding the competences and the skill acquired by the economic students and to identify directions of improvement in teaching and practical training method from this perspective. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, empirical data were collected in a survey that was conducted in the Arges County in the context of a project financed from European funds. The empirical findings emphasize the existence of a certain gap between the two parties – employers and university, regarding the competences and skills that should be developed in order to increase graduates’ competitiveness and effectiveness