Academia and Business

By James Enoch

For today’s students, the combination of knowledge and experience can be the ticket to a great future and they are constantly competing for that ride. Firstly to secure a place in a preferred university course and then to land that coveted dream job on completion of the degree.

There is a distinct gap, of course, between the world of academia and the world of business. Generally speaking, once the transition is made, neither party gains any immediate value from it. Graduates have to learn the basics and processes of business, and business is slow to gain any new insights because graduates are all too often regarded as no more than learner-drivers in the early stages of their careers.

But suppose there was an interim stage – a way to bridge the worlds of academia and business. A way to provide students with genuine hands-on experience by applying to the business environment the lessons they have learnt in the classroom. This would surely accelerate their own real-world understanding while simultaneously bringing value to their business host.

Such a middle way would provide managers in both the private and public sectors with the opportunity to view fresh approaches to existing challenges – based on the latest teaching – while students would be given an excellent platform from which to demonstrate their potential to prospective employers.

The bottom line for students, of course, would be that they then enter the world of business with a huge competitive advantage – bolstering their intellectual worth while feeding fresh ideas back into the wider learning cycle. They would leave with links to future employment, while business has gained valuable insights as well as a link to recruit graduates with real world experience.

SAS, the leader in business intelligence and predictive analytics software has created this middle way through the SAS Work Placement Program, one initiative of many within their Academic Program. The program recognises and supports students who are using SAS technologies in its courses at university by providing them with links to work placements and projects with SAS customers.

This is truly a ‘win-win-win’ scenario. Participating higher educators increase the value of their offerings through the use of SAS technologies and the links to career opportunities; students are fast-tracked into rewarding careers; and employers have the means to claim the pick of graduating students. Graduates who can hit the ground running.