Par Faïssa Moustapha. Chaque semaine, Défi métiers propose une sélection d'informations clés pour les professionnels de la formation et de l'emploi en Ile-de-France.
Entreprises et développement des compétences
La Fabrique de l'industrie décrypte les stratégies d'action des entreprises industrielles en France pour pallier les difficultés de recrutement d'ouvriers qualifiés, de techniciens et d'ingénieurs, alors que de nombreux actifs sont sans emploi. Exemples concrets d'actions menées au niveau local par des grands groupes ou PME.
Source : L’industrie jardinière du territoire, La Fabrique de l’industrie, 2014. Voir l'article...

Par Annie Poullalié. Dans le cadre de son partenariat avec la Semaine de l'industrie, le site lesmetiers.net organisait, le 9 avril dernier, un chat destiné à faire mieux connaître les métiers de l'industrie.
D’ici 2015, l’industrie pourrait recruter entre 80 000 et 100 000 hommes et femmes par an, notamment pour rééquilibrer la pyramide des âges dans les entreprises. Près de 20 % de ces nouveaux emplois concerneront des cadres.
Avec 3 millions de collaborateurs en France dans 150 000 entreprises, les entreprises industrielles se préparent à répondre aux grands défis d’avenir : démographie et  urbanisation, changement climatique, croissance durable, énergie de demain, maîtrise de la qualité, sécurité, etc. Voir l'article...

By Our Correspondent. The University of Health Sciences kicked off its Quality Assurance Awareness Week on its campus on Monday.
The idea is to promote awareness about the importance of quality higher education. Several activities including banner displays, presentations and seminars have been have been organised by the UHS Quality Enhancement Cell for students, staff and faculty throughout the week to raise awareness on how to develop a policy and its associated procedures for the assurance of the quality standards of their programmes and work. More...

By Tyler Sheldon. Gaokao reforms aim to diversify university admissions by testing college-level material at key high schools. A cartoon that is well known to test prep-averse educators depicts a group of animals lined up in front of a man sitting behind a desk. Elephant, fish, seal, dog, monkey and penguin accounted for, the man proclaims: “For a fair selection everybody has to take the same exam: Please climb that tree.” As the sole bridge to university admissions, China’s gaokao exam in its current form mirrors that approach. Criticism has been ubiquitous, and change is on its way. The central government has signaled reforms that include a multi-evaluation system and a test program that could even lead to a Chinese version of the U.S. College Board’s Advanced Placement college credit approach. More...

By Sheila Livadas. An overview of the largest graduate degree programs at local colleges and universities confirms what Upstate New Yorkers already know: Students from all over the world flock to the Rochester area to advance their studies and careers.
Their presence is felt far and wide; they bolster the area’s intellectual cachet and keep the higher education sector humming along. More...

By David Scott. C-Campus partnership for education in the cloud
A cloud-based ‘virtual’ campus will be the focus of a new agreement recently signed by two of Australia and China’s leading universities.
The ‘C-Campus’ agreement between the University of Melbourne and Tsinghua University will deliver joint classes and ‘e-subjects’ for students at both institutions, starting with advanced courses on separation science and technology in chemical engineering.
It will also function as a platform for research collaboration across disciplines including chemical engineering and medicine, with more disciplines being added progressively. Both universities have committed to establish seed funds to stimulate further joint research and innovation in online learning. Read more...

Three years ago, Glenn Duffie Shriver, a Michigan resident and former college student who had studied in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), was sentenced to federal prison in the U.S. for attempting to provide national defense information to PRC intelligence officers. (See sidebar for more on the case.)
According to the Institute of International Education, more than 280,000 American students studied abroad last year. These experiences provide students with tremendous cultural opportunities and can equip them with specialized language, technical, and leadership skills that make them very marketable to U.S. private industry and government employers.
But this same marketability makes these students tempting and vulnerable targets for recruitment by foreign intelligence officers whose long-term goal is to gain access to sensitive or classified U.S. information. Glenn Shriver—prodded by foreign intelligence officers into eventually applying for U.S. government jobs—cited his naivety as a key factor in his actions.
The FBI—as the lead counterintelligence agency in the U.S.—has ramped up efforts to educate American university students preparing to study abroad about the dangers of knowingly or unknowingly getting caught up in espionage activities. As part of these efforts, we’re making available on this website our Game of Pawns: The Glenn Duffie Shriver Story video, which dramatizes the incremental steps taken by intelligence officers to recruit Shriver and convince him to apply for jobs with the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. We’d like American students traveling overseas to view this video before leaving the U.S. so they’re able to recognize when they’re being targeted and/or recruited.

How do foreign intelligence officers routinely interact with students?

• Foreign intelligence officers don’t normally say they work for intelligence services when developing relationships with students—they claim other lines of work.
• Intelligence officers develop initial relationships with students under seemingly innocuous pretexts such as job or internship opportunities, paid paper-writing engagements, language exchanges, and cultural immersion programs.
• As relationships are developed, the student might be asked to perform a task and provide information—not necessarily sensitive or classified—in exchange for payment or other rewards, but these demands grow over time.
• Intelligence officers might suggest that students—upon completion of their schooling—apply for U.S. government jobs (particularly for national security-related agencies).

What can students to protect themselves while studying abroad?

• Be skeptical of “money-for-nothing” offers and other opportunities that seem too good to be true, and be cautious of being offered free favors, especially those involving government processes such as obtaining visas, residence permits, and work papers.
• Minimize personal information you reveal about yourself, especially through social media.
• Minimize your contact with people who have questionable government affiliations or who you suspect might be engaged in criminal activity.
• Properly report any money or compensation you received while abroad on tax forms and other financial disclosure documents to ensure compliance with U.S. laws.

Above all, keep your awareness level up at all times. “A keen awareness,” said Glenn Duffie Shriver in a warning to other students, “is the most powerful weapon [against being recruited].”
And when you return to the U.S., report any suspicious activity to your local FBI office. You can also contact your local U.S. Embassy or Consulate while abroad. More...