A PIONEERING PARTNERSHIP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDERGRADUATE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN PORTUGAL

Since the beginning of the eighties of the last century, there was a significant increase in the number of students attending the higher education system in Portugal. Despite this growth, the European objective of having at least 40% of graduates in 2020 (considering the population between 30 and 34 years old) still seems difficult to achieve in Portugal. This difficulty is reinforced by two factors: the underfunding of universities caused by the current budget and financial crisis; and the growing percentage of unemployed graduates in Portugal, contributing to a more difficulty appropriation by society of the need to invest in higher education. In this context, it is important to find the ways that will allow alternate funding sources while assuring the employability of the graduates. University-industry partnerships seem like an obvious alternative.

In 2011, an agreement was established with Jerónimo Martins Group (JM), a company leader in distribution and retail, present in Portugal, Poland and Colombia, with the purpose of restructuring the existing undergraduate degree in Commerce. The main pillars of this agreement were the creation of a mentoring program to accompany students during the three years by a trained professional, the inclusion of three internships in the program syllabus, something nonexistent in management degrees in the Portuguese higher education system, and the joint-organization of field trips and open lectures.

The establishment of the partnership allowed a very significant growth in the demand of the program by students. The involvement of the private partner and the inclusion of three internships, one in each of the three years’ duration of the undergraduate program, catalyzed the demand. The perception of future employability by candidates has proved to be the main driver for that increase. Simultaneously, the experience of the industry partner has proved to be very relevant in the effort to mobilize companies for offering internships and professionals to become mentors.

Besides describing the partnership and presenting its results, the article presents a discussion of the context factors and the procedures that lead to its establishment, and the next steps that will be taken. This discussion may be useful for both researchers and practitioners, as it presents an innovative initiative in the field of university-industry interaction.