Issues of the higher education institutions - productive sector linkages: the case of a technological teaching center

Abstract

The university – productive sector linkages has become vital in the national and institutional agenda. This is due in part of the recurrent economic crises. They have forced the State to allocate the resources on those institutions oriented to establish agreements with the social and productive sectors. This can be evidenced in explicit institutional and governmental policies to articulate these sectors through research, training of highly qualified professionals, technologic services and job formation.

This paper explains the effectiveness degree of the linkage policies. The analysis was performed in a Mexican Educational Center created by UNESCO as a strategy to development the technological sector in Latin America during the sixties. The methodology is a case of study. It uses surveys, interviews and official statistics to identify the issues of higher education institutions – productive sector linkage. As a result, it’s evidenced a gap between the academic and administrative departments. In addition, the lack of resources limits the development of the linkage activities. Derived from the analysis, are made concrete proposals to improve the processes of association with social and productive sectors.