Condiciones de favorabilidad del sector de la educación superior en el AMB para una iniciativa de clusterización

Abstract

Although the directors of the Higher Education Institutions in the AMB have repeatedly raised the initiative to cluster higher education, there is no clarity about the relevance and planning of such a project. Given this situation, the research project aims to analyze the current conditions of higher education in the AMB in order to initiate a clustering initiative. To achieve this objective, a qualitative methodology was proposed that evaluated with interviews of managers of the IES of the AMB based on categories defined according to the literature on business clusters and that evolved generating new categories through interviews with other actors and surveys with closed questions. The results show that there are a total of once favorable conditions, five unfavorable conditions, and five conditions that must be taken into account to design and develop a clustering plan. Among the favorable conditions, the fact that although there is no grouping initiative as such, the Network of Universities of the Colombian East (UNIRED) has acted in favor of integration, in the same way the existence of institutions such as COLCIENCIAS and the The Ministry of National Education (MEN) develops in evolutionary forces of the cluster without intending it, institutions or organizations that have generated a progressive increase in the trust and capacity of cooperation between the IES of the AMB. Among the unfavorable conditions are that the IES of the AMB have little close relations with the governmental institutions, the existence of a weak research community, and the priority of the national government with respect to higher education in coverage issues over the topics of Quality and research.