It is widely known that universities' collaborations with business serves to prepare students for a competitive job market. But is there a danger that universities are glorified factories with students on an assembly line programmed for various industries? Upon graduation, students are packaged and shipped off, to be delivered as eager young employees to the corporate world.
And in an increasingly fast-paced world, corporations are no longer content with patiently awaiting their packaged delivery. They would much rather have an active role in the assembly stage so their final product meets their requirements and standards.
Corporate involvement in higher education is a topic debated widely in the Western world as some believe it to be an infringement on academic freedom. However, with educational reform a top priority in the UAE, universities and organisations here see it as an opportunity for mutually beneficial partnerships.
Top priority
"We've focused on education because it's a top priority in the UAE," said Dana Salloum, associate director of strategy and business development at Boeing International Corporation. Salloum is also part of Boeing's university relations team at the Middle East office based in the UAE.
"In the UAE there is lots of interest in the private sector and it has strong education and business ambitions as they want to make sure human capacity is available," said Salloum. It is through partnerships with universities that corporations ensure graduates are equipped with the skills in demand.
"Educational systems prepare students for jobs and careers, therefore it is important for institutions to stay on top of what the job market requires and expects of employees," she added.
Most recently, Boeing signed an agreement with the Higher Colleges of Technology to develop future leaders for the country's economy. Through a Boeing-developed, UAE-based mentorship programme, six students will be taken under the wing of Boeing executives to learn the ways of the company's reputable leadership techniques.
Distant prospects
"We believe university partnerships with industry corporates are essential to business programmes," said Dr Cedwyn Fernandes, Middlesex University Dubai (MUD) MBA and Master's in marketing communications programme coordinator. "If students don't receive exposure to the market then you aren't fulfilling your role as a business school," he added.
MUD recently signed an agreement with a leading advertising agency, Fortune Promoseven, to offer one student a chance to be awarded a full scholarship covering tuition fees. The agreement will also give other students opportunities for real-life exposure to the advertising industry through guaranteed internships.
"It is important to have industry collaborations but they should not have influence on academic content," which could happen through direct funding, said Fernandes. "Corporate funding of universities is a long way off, at least in the UAE," he added, saying there are simply not enough students in the market to attract large international and local corporations looking to penetrate the education sector.
"The idea is that most of the corporates in other parts of the world fund universities mainly to get into scientific research," said Fernandes.
"It's different here, because there is no direct financial involvement in the academic programme. Universities are not sponsored so there is no infringement on the academic integrity of the programme, which makes it good to learn what each of the corporations do purely as case studies," he added.
Mutual benefits
However, interest is growing fast. Abu Dhabi University (ADU) has teamed up with Raytheon Company, a leading US corporation that operates six businesses in the key areas of defence technology and training, homeland and border security, and cyber-security. The partnership, still in its premature stages, will focus on establishing a simulation visualisation centre at the university, a facility to create simulation scenarios similar to that witnessed in James Cameron's recent box-office hit Avatar.
"ADU is in the business of educating students and creating knowledge through research," said Dr Nabeel Ebrahim, Chancellor of ADU. "Raytheon as a company has great expertise in simulation and relies on institutions all over the world to partner with them to enhance this area," he added.
"This partnership is going to involve collaboration between the two of us — from our side we need a facility to help our students learn better, from their side it's an investment in ADU faculty and students to develop technology they can use," said Ebrahim.
Similarly, Boeing has recently signed an agreement with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology along with other aviation corporations to research and develop biofuels. "The industry should work with research institutes for the purpose of scientific unbiased discoveries," said Salloum. In this case it happens to be the development of environmentally friendly and economically viable fuel for the aviation industry.
The irony
Corporate involvement in education is viewed as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes. "It is part of our CSR… and helps ensure universities are producing candidates up to the level we want in future engineers," said Salloum.
"You can't expect the corporations to have a strategic long-term view of education," said Ebrahim. "It's conceivable that some of what they are pushing for are short-term goals, but if you have the brains and ability to assess and evaluate, you are not obligated to anything, you can always say no… It becomes mutually beneficial if you clarify the game plan and clarify the constraints," he added.
"From a student perspective they have nothing to lose from corporate involvement in higher education," said Sharif Al Aboudi, assistant professor of economics at the University of Dubai (UD).
UD is privately owned by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and receives donations of up to $100,000 (Dh365,000) from banks for its scholarship fund, said Dr Omar Hefni, President of UD.
"This is common practice in the US, where firms get involved in providing services to the communities they operate in as part of CSR," he said. "Corporations in the US have an agenda to sway students' perceptions of certain companies and manipulate market fundamentals," said Al Aboudi. "The ethics issue of corporate American is a whole different ball game," he added. Noteworthy, however, is the fact that the same international corporations are operating in the UAE.
He said corporate involvement in UD through industry guest lecturers is nothing but a positive experience for the university and its students.
"Most corporate involvement is public relations," said Al Aboudi. With nearly an 80 per cent Emirati student population, he said corporate involvement at UD helps with the Emiratisation programme. "It's a way to recruit students they know and help the government implement its Emiratisation programme."
