When MCAA meets Kazi

COMING TOGETHER

In 2017, Zsofia Buttel, the Chair of the MCAA FinancialnAffairs Working Group, and Guilherme Serodio, from INOVA+ represented the MCAA at the PhD Career Fair in Ghent. It was here they met with representatives from Kazi.

“From that initial contact, the MCAA and Kazi formulated a proposal for funding from the Flemish government under the title ‘Bridging the expectations gaps between PhDs, postdocs and industries in Flanders region’,” noted the MCAA members who contributed to the project: Bala Attili, Esther Volz, Zsofia Buttel, Sara Johansson and Matthew DiFranco.

THE EXPECTATIONS GAP

There was a much-needed demand for this collaboration. The Flanders government see talent retention, or ‘brain drain’ as a major issue affecting their economic well-being. Despite having excellent doctoral programmes in Flanders, there is a real struggle to retain researchers to complete their PhD in the region.

SOLVING THE ISSUE

To address this, the MCAA and Kazi are working on a project ‘Bridging the expectations gaps between PhDs, postdocs and industries in Flanders region’ with an added emphasis on work values and team roles. The project aims to activate PhDs, postdocs and industrial employers to respond to a questionnaire provided by Kazi which is designed to ‘tag’ the expectations gap. The responses will then be used to provide analysis and insights into the specific labour market which can potentially be utilised to inform future policy in Flanders.

Kazi is providing MCAA with its proven timeline for this project, and with prototype deliverables in terms of activation ad communication. “MCAA’s objective is to create a branded communication that will reach PhD holders and candidates who could benefit from the project outputs. Similar communication will be addressed to companies offering jobs to these candidates,” the MCAA group outlined. Kazi has offered to take the lead in communication towards industry while leveraging MCAA’s connections.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PARTNERSHIP

The MCAA has partnered with other associations, but the agreement with Kazi is unique. It’s the first-time it has received external funding and is working in tandem with a private company where their combined strengths are essential for the overall success of the project.

“The MCAA is mobilising its network of members in the Benelux region to gather valuable feedback on this expectation gap,” explained the group. Furthermore, it is using its broader, global reach to disseminate the project’s methodology and findings to industry and academic stakeholders.

“We hope this project gives us insight into how we can leverage our diverse, highly skilled global network of over 12,000 members to achieve significant results with a societal impact, which will be further useful for researchers, industries, universities and governments,” explained the gro

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“The MCAA is extremely grateful for the support from the Flanders government, and for the opportunity to work with Kazi on this project. We see the potential in being able to replicate this methodology for other local, regional or national governments. At its heart, MCAA is a global network of researchers with a mission to improve the quality of researcher careers, and our relationship with Kazi is definitely helping us in that mission,” the group said.

GETTING INVOLVED

Researchers, including those not from the Flanders region, who would like to take part in the questionnaire can find more information here: https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/kazi.

It is important to note that while Industry representatives can also participate using the above link, they will need to be located in the Flanders region.