Page 152 - A Handbook for Academia, Industry and Policymakers: Reinforcing the Innovation-Employability Nexus in the Mediterranean

152 REINFORCING THE INNOVATION-EMPLOYABILITY NEXUS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REINFORCING THE INNOVATION-EMPLOYABILITY NEXUS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 153

Internship Open innovation Waithood
A limited period of work experience which is neither Open innovation, on the other hand, is based on the belief Period of stagnation in the lives of young unemployed
part of a regular employment relationship nor a formal that knowledgeable and creative organisations and university graduates, primarily in the Middle East, North
apprenticeship. individuals outside the company can also contribute to Africa (MENA) and India, where their expertise is not
achieving strategic goals and that sharing intellectual widely needed or applicable. Waithood is applicable only
Intersectoral mobility property both ways is useful for different parties in to college educated people who are not compelled to
Intersectoral mobility (ISM) refers to all possible different ways. settle in blue collar jobs due to the support from family
bridges between university, industry and other sectors elders or resources. Due to the lack of any potential
of employment. In a narrower sense, ISM is defined Soft Skills employment, waithood is also tangentially related to
as the physical mobility of researchers between one Soft Skills (also known as Non-Cognitive Skills) are rising rate of belated parenthood in various developing
137
139
sector (academia) and another . Researcher mobility ‘patterns of thought, feelings and behaviours’ that are countries, with younger people choosing to delay or
may therefore also be virtual, or involve partial mobility, socially determined and can be developed throughout being forced to delay starting their own families, likes
for instance spending one day a week in an enterprise the lifetime to produce value. Soft Skills can comprise of which were uncommon in the modern industrialized
and four days a week carrying out PhD research at personality traits, motivations and attitudes and are countries when they were developing.
university. The mobility of researchers takes place vitally important for the employability and adaptability.
between academia (e.g. universities, other types of The ILO refers to soft skills as ‘core work skills’. Wicked problem
higher education institutions and publicly-funded Wicked problems are socially complex, have many
research institutes), industry (e.g. SMEs and large Third mission interdependencies and multiple causes that have
firms) and the public sector (e.g. national government, Besides the two traditional missions of academia no single solution, and are perceived by different
3
local authorities, and public institutions). The different (teaching and research), the so-called 'third mission' stakeholders through contrasting views .
types of intersectoral mobility of researchers within has emerged over the past two decades. It covers:
focus are: (a) knowledge and technology transfer; (b) continuing
a) Mobility between academia and industry education; and (c) social engagement.
b) Mobility between academia and the public sector
c) Mobility between academia and the third sector Third sector
Third sector organisations describe a range of
Intrapreneurship organisations that are neither public sector nor private
Intrapreneurship, defined as organisational venture sector. It includes such organisations as associations,
creation and strategic renewal brought about by community organisations, registered charities, self-
employees, has become crucial for organisations to help groups, community groups, co-operatives and
survive and maintain their competitive advantage. social enterprises. Third sector organisations generally
Research has demonstrated that intrapreneurship are independent of government and are value-driven,
positively relates to profits and returns on sales, and has i.e. they are motivated by achieving societal goals rather
been argued to increase organisational effectiveness than profit and reinvest any surpluses generated in the
and public value creation. pursuit of their goals.

Life Skills Triple Helix
These skills (sometimes known as soft skills) fall into The Triple Helix Model theorises that in a knowledge-
three basic categories: (a) social or interpersonal skills based society, boundaries between different spheres
(which may include communication, negotiation and are increasingly fading, giving rise to a system of
refusal skills, assertiveness, cooperation and empathy); overlapping actions: (a) universities and research
(b) cognitive skills (problem solving, understanding centres are the source of new knowledge and
sequences, decision making, critical thinking, and self- technology; (b) industry operates as the centre of
evaluation); and (c) emotional coping skills (including production; and (c) government provides an enabling
positive sense of self) and self-control (managing environment (e.g. providing incentives, autonomy and
stress, feelings and moods) . stability). The interactions between the three spheres
138
provide an innovative environment where knowledge
Non-standard forms of employment flows dynamically in all directions. And each sphere,
‘Non-standard forms of employment’ is an umbrella while retaining its primary role and identity, ‘takes the
24
term for different employment arrangements that role of the other’ – for example, universities support
deviate from standard employment. They include start-up creation in incubator and accelerator projects,
temporary employment; part-time and on-call thus entering into the industrial sphere.
work; temporary agency work and other multiparty
employment relationships; as well as disguised Underemployment
employment and dependent self-employment. Non- The condition in which people in a labour force are
standard employment features prominently in employed at less than full-time in regular jobs or at jobs
crowdwork and the gig economy . inadequate with respect to their training or economic
73
needs.