Continental is supporting the training and employment of Bachelor and Masters students

Students and researchers are more flexible, mobile and international than ever before. Internationalization is a driving force for the development and modernization of the higher education sector. Higher education institutions have to prove themselves facing international competition for the best young minds. Therfore during  the Bologna conference in 1999, Germany together with its European neighbors aimed at creating a shared European higher education institution zone until 2010. The “Bologna Process” is probably the most far-reaching reform of higher education institutions over the past years.

In June 2004, 50 leading personnel managers from well-known German companies – including Continental – signed a declaration called “Bachelors Welcome”. In doing so, they showed their support for the new Bachelor and Masters study programs in Germany and made a contribution to promoting shorter durations of study, higher study success quotas and a differentiated and internationally compatible system of study. In the meantime, many of the companies have kept their promise and have already recruited an increasing number of Bachelor graduates.

Continental supports the Bologna Process. The Bachelor study programs train students on the job within a short period of time, thus preparing them for a rapid integration into corporate cultures and corporate processes. At Continental, Bachelor graduations have the same entry and career opportunities as graduates from higher education colleges to date.

In the winter semester 2008/2009, German universities are offering 5,230 Bachelor programs and 4,004 Master programs. With a total of 12,298 study programs, the new degree programs make up 75% of the offerings of German universities. This number has grown continuously since the winter semester 1999/2000. Since the summer semester 2008, it has increased by 21%.

Companies such as Continental have a differentiated and increasing need for academically qualified employees. For this development, the different levels of study qualifications represented by Bachelor and Masters are far more suitable than the traditional system. For this reason, Continental also signed the extended declaration “Bachelors Welcome! / More Bachelors and Masters Welcome” in May 2006. We emphatically support the third Bachelors Welcome declaration – Ensuring the Next Generation of MINT Specialists. The initiative was launched in June 2008 to address the structural deficit among graduates in the MINT subjects (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences, and technology).