Shaping today the “t-shaped” teams of tomorrow: practical dimensions in higher education

The events during the last two years (the sanitary crisis, the energy crisis, the challenges that education faced, and many more) iterated the need of (re)building a resilient society. Educational institutions have a huge responsibility in this regard. Higher education institutions are at the top of the chain, preparing specialists that are able to anticipate change and to cope with its effects. Moreover, in the light of the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by United Nations, students have to be prepared for accomplishing the objectives of the UN 2030 agenda, while universities have to be committed to adapt their policies to the new trends and equip the graduates with the skills the employees of tomorrow have to master. Under these circumstances, the hybrid model – that proposes teams of specialists composed of “I-shaped” employees (experts in a single area) and “T-shaped” employees (experts in at least one area and knowledgeable or skilled in several others) – appears to come forward and to frame a model to aim at. Our endeavor focuses on how universities can contribute in building-up and training the T-shaped skills. What are the most appropriate processes that universities could approach, to prepare graduates on these lines? What can professors do, to trigger the disposition for collaboration across disciplines in their students? This paper suggests several answers to the above questions, and describes types of activities implemented at “Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, Romania, to invest in its students’ T-shaped skills. As well, the advantages and the limits of these approaches are described, when considering the perspectives of students, professors, and the university management.