Building industry-academia interface-need of the hour!

Majority of business graduates are labeled either ‘not employable’ or, severely under employed due to lack of required skills and attitudes for performing jobs successfully. Need of the hour therefore, is to build employable and quality manpower through industry-academia interface. It is neither the responsibility of ‘only the B-Schools’ nor ‘only the industry’. Instead, it is ‘the responsibility of both’. This study aims at exploring the ways to build the industry-academia interface. The study is descriptive in nature and based on secondary data. One of the major causes for industry-academia gap is the perceptual differences between industry and academia regarding their roles performed. The study has identified measures like active participation by industry representatives in framing of syllabus, participation by industry experts in teaching, conduct of co-curricular activities by the industry in academic institutions, encouraging internship by faculty, arranging for faculty visits during Semester holidays, conducting of research on a jointly, provision of funds by corporate for Chairs in academic institutions, encouraging cooperative education, collaboration through partnership in technology, establishment of finishing schools, participating in sector-wise b-schools and conducting company specific programs to build interface between the two.