Assessing the competitiveness of educational programs for the global energy sector

Abstract

The article outlines the results of the authors' research into approaches to the implementation of educational products for the global energy sector that meet industry-specific challenges of today. The authors identify the distinguishing features of global energy education that determine the need for its synchronization with the development of the world's energy markets. The authors summarize the experience of designing such educational programs by leading universities of the world. The summary makes it possible to identify a number of benchmarks for comparative analysis of the content characteristics of the programs (inclusion of interdisciplinary courses, territorial and modular flexibility, network cooperation etc.). The authors have designed their own method of assessing the competitiveness of educational programs for the global energy sector that is based on the above indicators and includes building a registry of universities that participate in the market of global energy education. The method also provides for comparison and expert assessment of the educational content and teaching methods in use in order to see whether they are in line with present-day tasks of the energy sector and competences in demand. The analysis served as a basis for the Global Energy Business master's degree project that was implemented at Ural Federal University. The results of the research could be useful to university for bringing educational process arrangements up to date, or to energy companies for personnel development purposes.