Higher School – Industry Cooperation as a Cradle for Professional Competencies Development

This paper is devoted to the issue of University-industry interaction as a primary basis for professional competencies development, as well as such generic competencies as ability to study and self-study that are so important in the new circumstances of creative economies' development in post-industrial countries. The authors presume that the paper is of significant importance as it attempts to tackle issues generated by the university-industry cooperation from a different angle, i.e. within life-long learning that undoubtedly has a strategic long-term perspective. Today Universities are increasingly recognized as ‘leading violins' and industries' key partners in cooperation development efforts, and University-industry alliances are strategic grounds for mutually beneficial development based on the joint development of students/alumni/employees' scope of competencies. The authors further discuss possible methods of deeper integration of companies into their future employees' competencies development by the higher school and consider several models of higher school – employer cooperation