What Employability? Curriculum Analysis of Translation and Interpreting Degrees in Spain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.mut.v17n1a01Keywords:
employability, curriculum analysis, syllabus, work placements, professionalisation in translation and interpretingAbstract
In a professional context marked by volatility, university graduates’ employability has become a hot debate topic open to a myriad of interpretations about the mission of universities and professional market expectations. In that scenario, Spanish degrees in Translation and Interpreting have progressively introduced work placements and employment-focused courses in their curriculum. This article delves into both choices through a thematical analysis of the courses’ syllabi, with a particular interest in the following items: relevance for the degree programme; nature and features (whether they are compulsory or elective, number of credits offered, at which stage they are taught); content and scope (for work placements, the type of company and nature of the internship, and for the employability-related courses, content covered). The results show that both courses are quite widespread, although they are mostly elective courses. Work placements usually take place in language schools and other education centres, as well as translation agencies and freelance translators or non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations. Meanwhile, employability-related courses often cover deontological and ethical aspects of translation, market analysis, and drafting invoices and quotations.
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