An Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education

Abstract

The rapid advancement of emerging technologies is reshaping industries, widening skills gaps, and increasing the demand for technology talent. Limited university–industry collaboration further constrains the alignment between educational outcomes and labor market needs. This study proposes an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education, focusing on institutional and knowledge sustainability. The Framework integrates a Competency Map that establishes a university–industry shared language and a Digital Platform that facilitates actor interactions, strengthening the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities through digital portfolios. The research followed a two-phase approach: design and pilot implementation. During the pilot, the core components of the Framework were developed, and its initial feasibility and potential relevance were assessed through a survey, a workshop, and semi-structured interviews with students, professors, and industry stakeholders. The findings suggest that the Framework may enhance student employability, access to industry opportunities and talent identification, and strengthen institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation, thus highlighting the potential contribution of the Framework to institutional, knowledge, and socio-economic sustainability. The study makes theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions by advancing competency-based education for employability and the sustainability of higher education.

1. Introduction

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and rapid digital transformation are reshaping labor markets, widening skills gaps, and intensifying demand for technology talent with both technical and transversal competencies [1,2]. Persistent shortages of qualified professionals and difficulties in aligning educational outcomes with industry needs remain critical barriers to sustainable socio-economic development, particularly in high-tech sectors [3,4]. Within this context, universities play a pivotal role in preparing students with competencies that sustain employability and in acting as long-term providers of qualified talent.

Ensuring this role requires universities to respond effectively to societal and industry challenges by enhancing their academic quality, relevance, and institutional coherence while fostering employability [1,5]. This research addresses the sustainability of higher education by focusing on the sustainability of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this study, sustainability is defined as the capacity of institutions to sustain themselves over time by remaining responsive, adaptive, relevant, and legitimate to societal and industry demands. This capacity is supported by two essential pillars: institutional sustainability and knowledge sustainability [2,4].

Institutional sustainability refers to the capacity of universities to be responsive and adaptive to their environment and coherent across their core missions of teaching, research, and societal engagement, which in turn supports their viability [3]. In the sense proposed by Espejo and Reyes [6], viability denotes the capacity of an institution to maintain internal cohesion and external adaptability in a changing environment, ensuring long-term survival and purpose alignment.

Knowledge sustainability emphasizes the ongoing creation, development, renewal, retention, transfer, and utilization of competencies and intellectual resources, supported by knowledge management practices that reinforce institutional learning and adaptability, thereby sustaining institutional viability [1]. This involves both the social and technological dimensions of knowledge management, as highlighted by the Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization (SECI) model of Nonaka and Takeuchi [7] and subsequent conceptualizations of organizational knowledge management [8]. Recent studies further link knowledge management and digital knowledge platforms to the sustainability of HEIs [3,9].

However, limited university–industry collaboration often constrains the alignment between educational outcomes and labor market needs, restricting access to opportunities that enhance employability [10]. This misalignment also undermines the sustainability of HEIs, as universities struggle to remain responsive and relevant to societal and industry demands [11,12,13]. Strengthening this alignment requires integrated approaches, including curriculum co-design, work-integrated learning, and authentic student engagement with industry, alongside processes of quality enhancement and accreditation [14,15,16]. Such efforts can reinforce employability while simultaneously supporting the institutional and knowledge sustainability of HEIs.

Competency-based education (CBE) has emerged as a key approach to addressing these challenges, since it focuses on the development of the skills and capabilities required in the labor market [5]. By emphasizing demonstrable competencies, CBE directly fosters employability while also strengthening institutional and knowledge sustainability through curriculum alignment, academic quality, and accreditation processes [1,2,17].

Accreditation standards such as ABET [18], curricular frameworks such as the Conceive, Design, Implement, and Operate (CDIO) initiative [19], and the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) [20] further highlight the central role of competencies in bridging the gap between academic training and labor market needs [5]. Experiential initiatives, including internships, capstone projects, and other project-based experiences, reinforce university–industry collaboration while simultaneously strengthening both technical and transversal competencies [21]. These efforts, in turn, are increasingly supported by digital tools. Tools such as digital portfolios, micro-credentials, and digital platforms not only support employability but also contribute to the sustainability of HEIs by enhancing the visibility and recognition of competencies and facilitating institutional learning and curriculum enhancement [22].

Despite the individual existence of these concepts and the clear need for integrated action, there remains a critical gap in organizational models and digital systems that systematically integrate CBE principles with university–industry collaboration mechanisms for employability and the sustainability of HEIs. To address this gap, this study proposes an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of HEIs. The Framework integrates a Competency Map that establishes a university–industry shared language and a Functional Architecture of a Digital Platform that facilitates actor interactions, seeking to strengthen the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities through digital portfolios. The research followed a two-phase approach: design and pilot implementation. The pilot focused on assessing the initial feasibility and potential relevance of the Framework, examining how its core components may enhance employability and contribute to institutional and knowledge sustainability. This study explores how CBE and university–industry collaboration can strengthen employability and the sustainability of HEIs, offering insights for universities, industry stakeholders, and policymakers.

The remainder of this article is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews the conceptual background and related frameworks, focusing on university–industry collaboration, CBE, employability, and the sustainability of HEIs. Section 3 outlines the materials and methods applied in the two-phase study. Section 4 presents the proposed Integrated Competency-Based Framework, detailing its design and pilot implementation. Section 5 discusses the findings, analyzing their implications and theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions. Finally, Section 6 concludes with a summary of the study, policy implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

2. Conceptual Background and Related Frameworks

This section reviews the main concepts framing the study: CBE, university–industry collaboration, employability, and the sustainability of HEIs. HEIs serve as the organizational foundation of the system and, through their effective function, contribute to the broader sustainability of the higher education sector, which is expressed through their societal contributions [4]. Figure 1 presents the conceptual framework that guides this research, visually illustrating how these interrelationships must be systematically integrated to reinforce the institutional and knowledge dimensions of sustainability.

CBE is conceived as the foundation for employability, since it equips students with relevant skills and capabilities required in the labor market [2,5]. At the same time, employability provides feedback to CBE by signaling whether graduates’ competencies align with industry and societal needs [10,13]. This continuous loop is vital for ensuring the knowledge sustainability of HEIs, as it compels the academic curriculum to adapt and maintain its relevance, which in turn reinforces institutional sustainability [23]. This two-way relationship highlights that education and employability are interdependent and continually evolving. However, achieving this alignment between competencies, employability, and curricular responsiveness is not straightforward. Rigid curricular structures and constraining quality and accreditation policies, unequal access to experiential learning, and limited coordination with industry stakeholders often reduce the flexibility of academic programs [10,12]. At the organizational level, weak change management and institutional inertia further hinder organizational learning, thereby constraining the capabilities of universities to adapt effectively to evolving industry and societal needs [2].

Knowledge sustainability, supported by effective knowledge management and digital systems, enables continuous organizational learning and renewal of competencies, supporting the adaptation and relevance of HEIs [3,9]. This dimension ensures that competencies evolve in response to emerging technologies, industry transformations, and societal needs, linking the retention and use of institutional knowledge with the capacity for resilience and innovation [1,24]. Nevertheless, organizational challenges such as limited resources and support, fragmented structures and governance, and resistance to change frequently undermine curriculum updates and the data and feedback flows needed for continuous improvement [25]. Moreover, organizational, cultural, and financial barriers hinder the realization of knowledge sustainability, as it depends on institutional capacities, leadership commitment, and digital readiness, which vary across contexts and disciplines [4,23,26].

By fostering employability that strengthens the legitimacy, responsiveness, adaptability, and relevance of universities to society and industry stakeholders, CBE contributes directly to the institutional and knowledge sustainability of HEIs [25], which is essential for their long-term viability and resource mobilization [24]. In turn, sustainable institutions are better positioned to preserve and renew their knowledge base, enabling them to offer high-quality, adaptable programs and remain responsive to changing contexts, thereby enhancing employability [1,23]. This dynamic illustrates how employability and institutional sustainability reinforce each other, creating conditions for sustained societal impact. However, when employability strategies are narrowly market-oriented, they risk reducing education to short-term skill provision while neglecting broader academic and societal purposes [11,25].

In this framework, university–industry collaboration is understood as a concrete expression of the third mission of universities, extending their role beyond teaching and research to contribute directly to social and economic development [27]. Collaboration enhances employability by creating opportunities such as internships, applied projects, and co-designed curricula that strengthen students’ readiness for work [15,16]. High employability, in turn, increases the attractiveness of universities as valuable partners for industry, encouraging further engagement. Furthermore, university–industry collaboration strengthens institutional sustainability by aligning programs with societal and industry needs, fostering innovation, and mobilizing additional resources [2,26]. In turn, sustainable institutions are better positioned to sustain and expand collaboration with industry.

Although the three missions are complementary, tensions often emerge between them due to conflicting academic and entrepreneurial values, priorities, and incentives [27]. These tensions are further reflected in the interaction between universities and companies, where differences in objectives, timelines, and operational structures, together with fragmented communication and the absence of a shared language, create obstacles to sustained collaboration. Moreover, administrative procedures are often time-consuming, and institutional support for collaboration remains limited [11,25].

The framework connects these dynamics with socio-economic sustainability. Employability contributes to social mobility, income generation, and productivity, while university–industry collaboration fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and regional development [25,27]. At the same time, the sustainability of higher education strengthens these contributions by ensuring that institutions integrate teaching, research, and engagement into broader societal goals [4]. In this way, socio-economic sustainability is both supported by and reinforces employability, university–industry collaboration, and institutional sustainability [1,9]. Nevertheless, disparities in access to collaboration and employability opportunities may limit the equitable distribution of these benefits [10].

In sum, the established conceptual framework confirms the necessity for HEIs to pursue integrated sustainability by aligning CBE, university–industry collaboration, and employability. However, a clear gap remains: existing studies generally address these dimensions in isolation, failing to consider the reinforcing and constraining relationships that shape their interdependencies from a systemic perspective, and lacking a comprehensive framework that articulates them and proposes concrete implementation mechanisms. This study addresses this gap by proposing an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education. The following sections deepen the theoretical review of university–industry collaboration, CBE, digital tools, and competency frameworks, followed by the methodology and the presentation of the proposed framework.

2.1. Collaboration and Employability as Drivers of Institutional Sustainability

Higher education is undergoing a significant transformation as technological advancements reshape industry dynamics and labor market needs. Universities are expected to develop students’ technical competencies [28,29] and to equip them with transversal competencies that enable them to manage uncertainty, address complex problems, and sustain employability throughout their careers [30,31]. In this context, sustained university–industry collaboration is critical for closing technology skills gaps, enhancing employability, and fostering innovation, while also supporting the sustainability of HEIs through more relevant curricula, stronger external engagement, and alignment with societal and industry demands [11,13].

Employability is increasingly conceptualized as a dynamic and contextual process of identity formation, unfolding through experiences of action, recognition, and adaptation, rather than as a static set of competencies [5,32]. This requires authentic and iterative learning opportunities that integrate technical and transversal competencies. Evidence from diverse contexts shows that internships, capstone projects, hackathons, and other project-based experiences expose students to authentic problem-solving situations, strengthen communication and collaboration skills, and enhance professional readiness and motivation [21,33,34,35,36].

At the program level, work-integrated learning initiatives and the alignment of academic experiences with industry expectations support smoother university-to-work transitions [14,15,16]. The Think4Jobs project illustrates how participatory curriculum co-design and continuous feedback improve critical thinking and academic–industry alignment [37,38], while partnerships such as Amazon Web Services Academy show how embedding vendor resources and certifications creates a shared digital language and enhances industry recognition of competencies [39].

Regional initiatives, such as Latin American innovation clusters and African triple-helix partnerships, also demonstrate how structured collaboration can enhance curriculum relevance and contribute to knowledge sustainability [40,41]. However, persistent barriers, including weak points of contact, curricular misalignment with labor market needs, and unequal access to opportunities, continue to limit student talent development and industry engagement, and, ultimately, the sustainability of HEIs [10,12].

The persistence of these barriers and the fragmentation of efforts pose a direct threat to the sustainability of HEIs. Weak university–industry engagement results in obsolete curricula, undermining knowledge sustainability and weakening employability [2,9]. This, in turn, erodes the institutional legitimacy and viability of HEIs [24,25], underscoring the necessity for a systematic, integrated approach that can bridge collaboration gaps and proactively align academic experiences with dynamic societal demands and industry needs. However, even when such alignment is pursued, inequities in access and participation continue to shape who benefits from these opportunities.

Achieving such alignment presents challenges. Structural inequities and contextual disparities continue to shape how students access and benefit from university–industry opportunities. Socio-economic background, gender, and disciplinary context influence participation and learning outcomes, particularly within work-integrated learning programs [2]. Academic selection criteria and performance requirements may inadvertently reinforce exclusion rather than mitigate it [10]. Beyond individual-level factors, organizational and cultural barriers within HEIs, such as fragmented governance, unequal resource allocation, and limited inclusivity, also constrain participation and institutional change [24]. Advancing inclusion in higher education requires data-informed leadership that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion through evidence-based strategies aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education and 10 on Reduced Inequalities [3]. Addressing these disparities is therefore essential for employability-oriented initiatives to contribute simultaneously to sustainability and equity in higher education.

2.2. CBE and Knowledge Sustainability

Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) and CBE have emerged as complementary approaches to address these challenges [42,43,44]. Both approaches emphasize alignment between educational outcomes and labor market expectations, ensuring that graduates acquire the competencies required for sustainable socio-economic development. This focus on relevance and adaptability establishes CBE and OBE as the foundation for knowledge sustainability by compelling the curriculum to remain current [2,9].

OBE focuses on the explicit specification and measurement of learning outcomes, while CBE emphasizes the demonstrable integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in authentic contexts [17,45,46]. Accreditation bodies such as ABET [18] establish requirements for Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), the expected achievements of graduates a few years after graduation, and student outcomes, which specify the competencies to be demonstrated at the time of graduation [31,47] and also reflect employability attributes required in engineering practice [48]. The CDIO initiative [19] further supports CBE through a structured, practice-oriented syllabus that integrates disciplinary knowledge with professional skills, attributes, and abilities, and is often implemented as a framework for experiential learning and problem-solving [49,50,51]. Effective implementation requires aligning PEOs with ABET outcomes, mapping them into course-level learning outcomes, and sequencing these outcomes using Bloom’s Taxonomy [45,46,52].

Collectively, these frameworks converge on employability as a central objective, ensuring that students demonstrate technical and transversal competencies [30,38,53]. This direct alignment with labor market expectations supports knowledge sustainability through curriculum currency and reinforces institutional sustainability through academic quality and continuous improvement cycles [2]. Moreover, active learning approaches such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) exemplify how CBE principles are translated into authentic, student-centered learning experiences, reinforcing competencies like problem solving, teamwork, and adaptability [54,55,56]. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these frameworks ultimately relies on institutional capacity and digital maturity, which remain uneven across contexts and disciplines [2,4,26].

2.3. Digital Tools for Integrated Competency Management

Within CBE, digital portfolios have gained prominence as assessment-for-learning tools that also strengthen employability [22,57] and contribute to knowledge sustainability [5]. They enable students to compile authentic evidence, reflect on their growth, and make their competencies visible to diverse audiences. From a sustainability perspective, digital portfolios act as mechanisms for knowledge retention and transfer, supporting continuous learning and knowledge management across programs [2]. Research reports gains in reflective practice, autonomy, digital competencies, and, in some cases, employability and well-being compared to exam-based assessment [58,59]. When adopted at the program level, digital portfolios provide continuous evidence linking competencies to curriculum goals and accreditation standards, thereby reinforcing academic quality [60] and institutional sustainability [1,3].

Micro-credentials, often represented through digital badges, provide modular recognition of competencies aligned with CBE principles and enhance employability [61,62]. They make achievements more visible and verifiable to employers while supporting lifelong learning and the renewal of competencies essential for knowledge sustainability [2,4]. Recent contributions further show that micro-credentials enhance employability by offering portable certifications that link academic outcomes with labor market needs. These digital credentialing tools increase portability and credibility, particularly when embedded in digital platforms [63,64,65].

Beyond digital portfolios and micro-credentials, digital platforms play a strategic role in linking employability and sustainability by integrating data-driven quality assurance and knowledge management [1,2]. Manual collection of outcome evidence is time-consuming and limited in scope, reducing accuracy and timeliness for decision-making [17,45,46]. Emerging digital solutions such as curriculum mapping tools, outcome dashboards, and assessment analytics streamline evidence flows across courses and programs, enabling continuous improvement cycles and supporting accreditation processes [45,46].

Additionally, tools for skills assessment support employability by making student competencies more visible and facilitating comparability across educational and labor market contexts [22,38]. To achieve this, competency frameworks for engineering in the digital age provide structured references to align academic programs with industry needs and ensure institutional responsiveness [2,5]. Ultimately, digital platforms that integrate digital portfolios, micro-credentials, and competency frameworks become enablers of institutional and knowledge sustainability by embedding learning evidence into organizational processes and supporting the long-term viability of HEIs [1]. Despite their potential, unequal digital access and uneven institutional support often constrain the adoption of these tools, reproducing disparities rather than reducing them [2].

2.4. Competency Frameworks and the Basis for a Shared Language

Occupational taxonomies and competency frameworks play a crucial role in classifying and recognizing occupations and competencies, supporting employability, and aligning qualifications with labor market needs [66,67]. Standards such as the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) [68], the United States Occupational Information Network (O*NET) [69], and the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) framework [70] improve international comparability and facilitate recognition across labor markets.

National frameworks complement these international taxonomies. Singapore’s SkillsFuture Framework [71] and Colombia’s National Qualifications Framework [72], for example, define sectoral qualifications to enhance readiness and talent management. Digital platforms such as Europass [73] and MySkillsFuture [74] enhance the recognition of competencies and facilitate talent mobility.

In the digital domain, the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) [20] provides an industry-driven reference that structures competencies across seven levels of responsibility and six categories, including strategy and architecture, development and implementation, and change and transformation. It also incorporates thematic views that reflect emerging domains such as DevOps, data science, and digital transformation [75]. Similarly, Bodies of Knowledge (BoKs), developed by professional associations, such as the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) [76], ACM Computing Curricula [77], and the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) [78], define essential competencies that inform curricula, accreditation, and professional certification [79]. These frameworks contribute to a shared competency language across universities and industries, yet their use in university–industry collaboration models remains limited, highlighting the need for concrete implementation mechanisms that integrate them into academic processes and digital platforms to effectively manage competencies. However, the translation of these frameworks into practice often faces barriers of institutional coordination, disciplinary misalignment, and resistance to change [2,24].

In sum, the literature highlights the importance of aligning educational outcomes with labor market needs and enhancing employability and the sustainability of HEIs through university–industry collaboration, CBE and OBE, and tools such as digital portfolios, micro-credentials, and digital platforms. International and national frameworks further contribute by providing the essential standardized language for competencies. However, the persistent gap lies in the organizational models and digital systems that systematically integrate CBE principles with university–industry collaboration mechanisms. Specifically, there is a lack of concrete implementation mechanisms, particularly digital portfolios, necessary to link standardized competency frameworks with operational digital platforms. This fragmentation limits the reinforcement of institutional and knowledge sustainability. This study responds to this gap through the design and pilot implementation of an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for the Employability and Sustainability of HEIs, which integrates a Competency Map and a Functional Architecture of a Digital Platform.

3. Materials and Methods

This research adopted a design-oriented methodological approach, grounded in Design Science Research (DSR) principles [80,81], and was structured into two main phases: the design and pilot implementation of an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education. The Framework was developed to address a critical gap in organizational models and digital systems that systematically integrate CBE principles with university–industry collaboration mechanisms.

The Framework integrates a Competency Map, which defines the structure and articulation of competencies, and a Functional Architecture of a Digital Platform, which enables the operationalization of the Framework. The pilot implementation assessed the initial feasibility and potential relevance of the proposed framework by focusing on the functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits of its core components, particularly the digital portfolios as the central mechanism linking competencies to employability and the sustainability of HEIs. The study was conducted in the Faculty of Technology of a Colombian university, a context characterized by persistent gaps in university–industry collaboration and talent development, conditions that reflect systemic challenges in employability and the sustainability of higher education globally, thereby offering insights with broader applicability.

The design phase was informed by the literature review, relevant international and national standards and frameworks, and diagnostic activities. Two service design tools guided the process [82]: the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework [83] and the Service Blueprint method [84]. JTBD was applied to identify the main forms of university–industry collaboration involving students and to analyze the expected benefits for students and industry stakeholders. The Service Blueprint mapped actor actions, underlying university processes, and the related interfaces, providing a foundation for identifying barriers in interactions and defining the core components of the Framework.

The pilot implementation phase focused on developing and assessing the functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits of the core components. It involved students who registered on the platform, created profiles, and documented projects in their digital portfolios. Data were collected through a survey, a workshop, and semi-structured interviews [85]. The survey, administered to students, included both closed- and open-ended questions about the visibility of student talent and their connections with industry stakeholders. The workshop, organized in two sessions with students and professors, involved reviewing digital portfolios on the platform and discussing their potential to enhance student characterization and university–industry collaboration. Semi-structured interviews with students, professors, and industry stakeholders provided additional feedback on the platform and the use of digital portfolios.

Table 1. Participants in the Pilot Implementation.

Activity	Participants	Number
Survey	Students	35
Workshop	Students	9
	Professors	15
Interviews	Professors	8
	Industry stakeholders	12

summarizes the participants. Although the pilot provided valuable insights, the sample was limited and not intended to be statistically representative, as the purpose was to explore the initial feasibility and potential relevance of the Framework.

Data analysis combined deductive and inductive thematic approaches, supported by the qualitative analysis software MAXQDA 24 (VERBI Software, Berlin, Germany). The process began with deductive categories derived from the proposed framework, which provided a conceptual lens for identifying relevant constructs related to CBE, employability, institutional and knowledge sustainability, and university–industry collaboration. Subsequently, inductive coding was applied to capture additional patterns and insights emerging from participants’ perspectives across the survey, workshop, and interview data.

A codebook was iteratively developed during this process: initial categories were refined, merged, or expanded based on patterns that emerged from the data, resulting in a consolidated set of themes that guided the refinement of the Framework. Visualization tools, such as word clouds, were used to support the identification of frequently mentioned concepts and to complement the thematic analysis.

Although this study involved a single researcher, triangulation across data sources, including the survey, workshop, and interviews, enhanced the credibility and robustness of the thematic interpretation. The analysis of functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits of the core components provides preliminary, exploratory insights into their feasibility, relevance, and potential scalability for future research and institutional implementation.

The study adhered to institutional ethical standards throughout its development. Students accepted the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of the platform, which included an informed consent statement specifying how their data would be collected, used, and protected. For the workshop and interviews, participants were informed of the purpose of the study, the confidentiality of their responses, their right to withdraw at any time, and the assurance of anonymity in data analysis and reporting. All data used in the analysis were anonymized, and no sensitive or personally identifiable information was collected. All participants provided informed consent before taking part in the study activities.

4. Results

This section presents the results of the study, structured into two phases. The first phase involved the design of the Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education, while the second consisted of its pilot implementation. The design phase defined the Competency Map and the Functional Architecture of the Digital Platform. The pilot implementation developed the core components of the Framework, focusing on digital portfolios as the central mechanism, and assessed its initial feasibility and potential relevance through a survey, a workshop, and semi-structured interviews with students, professors, and industry stakeholders. The findings, structured around functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits, provided preliminary evidence of the potential of the Framework to enhance employability and the sustainability of higher education. The following sections present the Competency Map, the Functional Architecture of the Digital Platform, and the thematic categories derived from the pilot.

4.1. Design of the Integrated Competency-Based Framework

The design phase guided the specification of the structure and components of the Framework. Through the use of the Jobs to Be Done framework, the analysis identified the main forms of university–industry collaboration involving students, including internships, capstone projects, course projects, industry challenges, training programs, job opportunities, and mentorships. Students expect these activities to enhance their employability and provide access to industry experience, while industry stakeholders seek to enhance the identification and access to student talent. For universities, the main objectives are to strengthen institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation.

Additionally, using the Service Blueprint method, the analysis identified several barriers to university–industry collaboration. Students often face limited visibility of industry opportunities, while industry stakeholders have limited visibility of student talent. Students may also find opportunities overwhelming due to diverse requirements or unclear expectations, and industry stakeholders encounter difficulties in accessing students and identifying their competencies. Universities, in turn, interact with industry stakeholders in a limited way, with communication often fragmented and administrative procedures that are time-consuming, further limiting responsiveness in collaborative initiatives. Moreover, academic programs do not have systematic mechanisms to characterize student talent, connect students with industry opportunities, and align curricula with industry needs.

Building on this diagnosis, the design specified the actions required from each actor, the university processes that support them, and the interfaces that enable collaboration. These processes emphasize the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities. Digital portfolios serve as the primary interface for documenting, showcasing, and recognizing competencies. This collaboration requires a common language between universities and industry stakeholders, which the Framework establishes through the Competency Map. This Map is then operationalized via a Digital Platform that hosts the digital portfolios and supports actor interactions.

Portfolios document students’ projects, experiences, and supporting evidence, while profiles generated from these portfolios provide a consolidated view of demonstrated competencies and technologies. Industry stakeholders can post opportunities linked to required competencies and technologies, and students can apply and track their participation. Universities can leverage the platform’s data for strategic decision-making and institutional learning. Figure 2 introduces the proposed Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education.

The Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education was conceived as a foundation to align the efforts of universities, student talent, and industry stakeholders. The Framework operationalizes CBE principles and is designed to strengthen the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities through digital portfolios, which provide systematized evidence of competencies. It is structured around two key components: a Competency Map, which enables a shared university–industry language, and a Digital Platform, which facilitates actor interactions and digital portfolio-based engagement. Together, these elements aim to enhance employability and access to industry opportunities for student talent, improve the identification and access to student talent for industry stakeholders, and strengthen institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation. By integrating these components, the Framework reinforces institutional, knowledge, and socio-economic sustainability while promoting alignment between education and labor market needs.

However, its effective implementation also depends on institutional commitment, adequate technological infrastructure, and coordination mechanisms to address potential barriers such as resource constraints, resistance to change, and unequal digital access. The following subsections describe the Competency Map and the Functional Architecture of the Digital Platform.

4.1.1. Competency Map

The proposed Competency Map establishes a university–industry shared language that enables the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent with industry opportunities. It is structured around two complementary dimensions: technical and transversal competencies, which together provide a comprehensive basis for curriculum design, accreditation processes, graduate profile development, and university–industry alignment. Figure 3 details the proposed Competency Map.

Academic programs design their curricula around PEOs, aligning them with university missions, industry needs, and societal expectations. PEOs link to ABET student outcomes, which are translated into course-level learning outcomes commonly structured through Bloom’s Taxonomy. Although this taxonomy remains a foundational reference in higher education for defining cognitive progression, it primarily reflects academic learning outcomes. The Competency Map extends this perspective by aligning learning outcomes with labor market expectations and occupational roles, ensuring that the development of competencies reflects both academic and professional relevance. These outcomes integrate technical and transversal competencies. To ensure international comparability and labor market relevance, the Competency Map also incorporates occupational classifications from ISCO. Together, these elements define a graduate profile that articulates the competencies expected at program completion.

Technical competencies draw on national and international standards and references. In Colombia, the National Qualifications Catalogs (NQCs) define competencies in information and communication technologies (ICT), electronics, automation, and energy, aligning them with industry needs and mapping them to ISCO codes. To reflect emerging technologies and digital transformation, the Competency Map integrates O*NET Technology Skills, which are also mapped to ISCO codes. It also includes other technology references and BoKs associated with key disciplinary areas.

SFIA serves as the primary framework for digital skills and competencies, offering a taxonomy that can be mapped to the NQCs and linked with technologies. Its levels of responsibility provide a contemporary reference for describing performance and accountability in professional contexts, complementing the academic orientation of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This conceptual alignment between academic and professional frameworks enables the characterization of talent across higher education and industry contexts, reinforcing the role of SFIA as the core integrative reference within the Framework.

For transversal competencies, the Competency Map adopts the CDIO Syllabus, which encompasses personal and professional skills and attributes, interpersonal skills such as teamwork and communication, and abilities related to conceiving, designing, implementing, and operating systems. These competencies can be mapped to ABET student outcomes, providing a coherent basis for achieving the graduate profile.

In sum, the Competency Map provides a structured, internationally aligned foundation that supports curriculum design, accreditation processes, and graduate profile development, while establishing a shared university–industry language. This foundation enables the development of the functional components of the Digital Platform, which operationalize the Framework through digital portfolios, thereby enhancing employability and contributing to the institutional and knowledge sustainability of HEIs.

4.1.2. Functional Architecture of the Digital Platform

Building on the Competency Map, the Digital Platform operationalizes the shared university–industry language and CBE principles. It facilitates interactions among students, professors, and industry stakeholders, enabling the systematic characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities. At the same time, it supports teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation processes. Figure 4 presents the Functional Architecture of the Digital Platform, illustrating its core and support modules.

The platform consists of five functional modules. The three core modules are: Characterization, which includes registration, profiles, and portfolios; Visibility, which incorporates certificates, badges, and feedback as externally validated evidence; and Connection, which enables actor interactions through opportunities, matching, and notifications. In addition, two support modules leverage the information generated by the core modules to strengthen institutional processes: one focuses on teaching and curriculum development, and the other on academic quality enhancement and accreditation.

Characterization. The registration component enables students, professors, and industry stakeholders to create accounts with role-based permissions. Profiles consolidate personal information, competencies, technologies applied, and each student’s learning trajectory through projects and experiences. Portfolios document projects and link them to technical and transversal competencies, as well as to related technologies. They also allow users to upload evidence, associate emotions with project stages, and manage visibility settings. Profiles can be exported as résumés and provide access to badges, certificates, and feedback, reinforcing transparency and employability.

Visibility. This module strengthens recognition through certificates, micro-credentials, and badges issued by universities or in collaboration with industry stakeholders. It also integrates qualitative and quantitative feedback from professors and industry stakeholders on student projects, capturing perceived benefits, barriers, and lessons learned. Together, these elements make student competencies more visible, verifiable, and transferable.

Connection. This module manages opportunities such as internships, capstone projects, course projects, industry challenges, training programs, job placements, and mentorships. Each opportunity is linked to relevant competencies and technologies to ensure alignment with student profiles. The matching component supports candidate searches, prioritization, and visualization of the student–professor–industry stakeholder network. Notifications keep all actors informed about new opportunities, application statuses, and selection results.

Support for Teaching, Curriculum Development, Academic Quality Enhancement, and Accreditation. The platform provides universities with insights into student competencies and technologies applied, enabling teaching support and course design, curriculum development and updates, and personalized learning pathways. It also compiles evidence for academic quality enhancement and accreditation processes by mapping competencies to ABET student outcomes, identifying gaps relative to the graduate profile, and supporting continuous program enhancement.

The Digital Platform operates as a data-driven system, capturing information on student talent, projects, and industry opportunities aligned with the Competency Map. Through mechanisms driven by artificial intelligence (AI), it automates competency and student outcome mapping and generates tailored recommendations: for students, by identifying competencies gained and suggesting learning pathways and industry opportunities; for industry stakeholders, by matching talent and projects to specific opportunities; and for universities, by providing insights for strategic decision-making and academic quality enhancement.

The Digital Platform supports employability, broadens access to talent, and strengthens institutional learning processes, thereby contributing to institutional, knowledge, and socio-economic sustainability. However, its long-term success also depends on sustained institutional engagement, robust data governance, and periodic updates to ensure both technological and curricular relevance.

4.2. Pilot Implementation of the Integrated Competency-Based Framework

The pilot implementation developed the core components of the proposed Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education, focusing on digital portfolios as the central mechanism linking competencies to employability and the sustainability of HEIs. This phase assessed the initial feasibility of the framework and potential relevance, specifically including the functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits of the components. The Framework integrates the Competency Map and the Digital Platform.

The Jobs to Be Done and Service Blueprint analysis had previously revealed barriers to university–industry collaboration, including limited visibility between students and industry stakeholders, fragmented communication, and the absence of systematic mechanisms to characterize student talent, connect students with industry opportunities, and align curricula with industry needs. These findings guided the design of the Framework, which addressed these gaps through its focus on the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and opportunities. The analysis informed the assessment by highlighting areas that require continued attention to strengthen future iterations of the pilot and the Framework, and to foster more systemic coordination between universities and industry stakeholders.

The pilot utilized the Competency Map, which integrates academic, industry, and international frameworks and standards, to guide the selection of competencies and technologies for the implementation. For technical competencies, it employed SFIA, focusing on skill categories rather than levels of responsibility, as the pilot was exploratory. These competencies are typically developed in undergraduate programs in areas such as software, information technology, telecommunications, electronics, automation, and energy. For transversal competencies, the pilot focused on personal and professional skills and attributes, interpersonal skills, and abilities related to conceiving, designing, implementing, and operating systems outlined in the CDIO Syllabus, considered up to level 2 of detail and mapped to ABET student outcomes to ensure alignment with international accreditation standards. The prioritized technologies were those most commonly used in these programs and in highest demand across related technical fields. The development effort concentrated on building the Characterization module of the Digital Platform, which implemented three core components: registration, profile, and portfolio, enabling students to register, create profiles, and document projects linked to competencies and technologies.

Data were collected through a survey, a workshop, and semi-structured interviews with students, professors, and industry stakeholders. Thematic analysis combined deductive and inductive coding. Deductive categories were derived from the proposed framework: University–Industry Collaboration; Characterization, Visibility, and Connection; Digital Portfolios; Competency Map; Digital Platform; and Potential Benefits for students, HEIs, and industry stakeholders.

Through inductive analysis, additional themes emerged from participants’ perspectives, expanding the initial categories and resulting in the following set of themes: University–Industry Collaboration and Access to Opportunities; Shared Language through the Competency Map and Digital Platform; Self-Assessment and Evidence as Foundations for Talent Characterization; Enhancing Talent Visibility and Access to Industry Opportunities; Digital Portfolios as Structured Tools for Talent Identification; and Perceived Benefits for Students, Universities, and Industry Stakeholders. Representative statements, originally in Spanish and translated into English, supported these themes. The following sections summarize the main findings for each category.

University–Industry Collaboration and Access to Opportunities. Participants emphasized that university–industry activities are valuable for student exposure to industry: “Internships, capstone projects, and academic competitions enhance student visibility”. However, access to these opportunities was perceived as uneven: “There are mechanisms to highlight outstanding students, but they do not benefit all students equally”. Survey results reinforced this limitation: only 34.3% of students reported having interacted with alumni, entrepreneurs, or industry stakeholders during their studies. These findings suggest that, while collaboration mechanisms exist, their reach remains limited, underscoring the need to broaden and systematize university–industry collaboration to strengthen interaction and ensure more equitable access to opportunities.

Shared Language through the Competency Map and Digital Platform. The Competency Map and Digital Platform enabled students to record projects, competencies, and technologies in their portfolios during the pilot. Participants valued this functionality: “The platform makes it easy for students to record their projects and acquired skills and competencies”. Another added: “The platform helps students connect with industry stakeholders by presenting their competencies”. These results indicate the potential of the Competency Map and Digital Platform to enable a university–industry shared language and enhance the visibility and recognition of student talent.

Self-Assessment and Evidence as Foundations for Talent Characterization. Self-assessment emerged as a key feature of the pilot. “Self-assessment helps reflect on acquired competencies and compare them with those of others”, one participant explained. The inclusion of verifiable evidence was also emphasized: “The portfolio allows students to include verifiable information, enhancing credibility in skill recognition”. Survey results indicated that 60% of students found the data entry process straightforward, while 30% considered it moderately easy. These findings suggest that the portfolio was generally perceived as user-friendly for self-assessment and effective for strengthening talent characterization, supporting more comprehensive student profiling.

Enhancing Talent Visibility and Access to Industry Opportunities. One of the main challenges identified by students was making their competencies visible to industry stakeholders. “The portfolio enhances visibility by presenting a summary of students’ knowledge and skills”, one participant noted. Another added: “The portfolio enables students to showcase themselves to industry stakeholders, facilitating access to opportunities”. Survey results supported these perceptions: 85.7% of students expressed interest in making their portfolios visible to both university and industry stakeholders. These findings suggest that digital portfolios may enhance talent visibility and facilitate access to industry opportunities.

Digital Portfolios as Structured Tools for Talent Identification. Participants highlighted the importance of a structured approach to showcasing and identifying student talent. “The portfolio is essential for recognizing student talent”, one participant noted. In the pilot, portfolios enabled students to document projects and link them to technical and transversal competencies as well as technologies. Another participant emphasized: “Industry certifications in technology are important for strengthening portfolios”. Survey results confirmed this perception, with 91.4% of students reporting that portfolios help showcase their competencies, technologies applied, and projects. These findings suggest that digital portfolios can serve as structured tools for recognizing and showcasing student talent, bridging the gap between university-developed competencies and industry needs through CBE.

Perceived Benefits for Students, Universities, and Industry Stakeholders. Participants recognized multiple potential benefits of the Integrated Framework across different actors. For students, portfolios can help document competencies, technologies applied, and projects, improving employability and access to industry opportunities: “The portfolio can help students and recent graduates enter the labor market”. For industry stakeholders, the platform can enhance identification and access to student talent: “The platform can make it easier for industry stakeholders to find potential employees”. For universities, professors emphasized that portfolios could support teaching, curriculum development, and academic quality enhancement: “The platform can help assess students’ prior knowledge and evaluate how courses contribute to their development”. They also noted its potential for accreditation: “The profile and portfolio can support program evaluation and accreditation processes”. These findings suggest potential benefits of the Integrated Framework for students, universities, and industry stakeholders.

The pilot provided preliminary evidence of the potential of the Framework to enhance employability and reinforce the sustainability of higher education. The results suggest that the Framework may enable a shared university–industry language, facilitate actor interactions, strengthen the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities, and support institutional processes for teaching, curriculum development, quality enhancement, and accreditation. The results also highlighted ongoing barriers to university–industry collaboration, including limited visibility between actors, fragmented communication, and the absence of systematic mechanisms to characterize student talent, connect students with industry opportunities, and align curricula with industry needs, underscoring the importance of broadening and systematizing collaboration mechanisms to strengthen interaction and ensure more equitable access. These insights suggest that, while the Framework appears promising, further iterations that address these barriers and the institutional conditions in which they emerge, together with broader assessment, are needed to evaluate its scalability and long-term institutional effects.

5. Discussion

This study contributes to the literature on CBE, university–industry collaboration, employability, and the sustainability of HEIs through the proposed Integrated Competency-Based Framework. This Framework addresses the persistent gap in organizational models and digital systems by systematically integrating CBE principles with university–industry collaboration mechanisms and offering a potential means to link standardized competency frameworks with operational digital platforms. The Framework integrates a Competency Map that establishes a university–industry shared language and a Digital Platform that facilitates actor interactions, suggesting the potential to strengthen the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities through digital portfolios.

The findings highlight persistent challenges identified in prior research, such as limited university–industry collaboration [11,12], unequal access to industry opportunities [10], and curricular misalignment with labor market needs [14,32,38]. These challenges continue to constrain the alignment between the sustainability of HEIs and socio-economic sustainability, as they limit employability and diminish the capacity of HEIs to achieve institutional and knowledge sustainability [1,2]. Addressing these challenges through CBE and strengthened university–industry collaboration is therefore important to enhance employability and ensure the long-term viability of HEIs [27]. The Framework suggests that university–industry collaboration may act as a key driver of institutional adaptability, innovation, and the sustainability of HEIs, potentially contributing to socio-economic sustainability [21,25,75].

The results also point to organizational barriers identified in the literature, including fragmented communication, the absence of a shared language, limited institutional support, and weak coordination across internal units and for university–industry collaboration. These barriers are reinforced by fragmented governance and limited incentives for engagement [11,25]. Together, these factors constrain organizational learning, the adaptability of HEIs, and sustained collaboration with industry. Addressing these barriers requires a stronger institutional commitment to systemic change and the development of integrated mechanisms that connect academic and industry actors to enable continuous improvement and innovation. Moreover, the implementation of the proposed framework may face challenges related to institutional inertia, resource constraints, and the scalability of the framework across contexts, underscoring the need for sustained leadership and long-term institutional support [2,26]. Overcoming these challenges will likely require adaptive strategies that align institutional structures, resources, and leadership practices with the systemic and competency-based principles underlying the proposed framework.

From a theoretical dimension, this study advances research on CBE for employability and the sustainability of HEIs [5] by illustrating how accreditation standards such as ABET, curricular frameworks such as the CDIO initiative, and competency frameworks such as SFIA can be integrated with digital portfolios and platforms [1,17,50]. This approach aligns with international references such as Europass and MySkillsFuture, ensuring that both technical and transversal competencies meet curricular requirements and industry expectations [30,31]. This integration may reinforce both institutional and knowledge sustainability by strengthening curriculum alignment with labor market needs and supporting the continuous refinement of student competencies [2]. While previous studies have often addressed these standards and frameworks separately, this research provides preliminary evidence that their combination can enhance employability, foster continuous learning and adaptability, potentially making HEIs more viable, adaptive, and socially relevant systems [25].

Building on the theoretical integration, the empirical dimension of the study assessed the initial feasibility and potential relevance of the proposed framework [80,81]. This assessment, conducted through a pilot, provided preliminary evidence of functionality, perceived usefulness, and potential benefits of the core components, suggesting that digital portfolios may serve as a mechanism linking competencies to employability and the sustainability of HEIs [2,3,22,58]. The analysis of the survey, workshop, and interview data suggests that the Framework may establish a university–industry shared language and facilitate actor interactions; enhance employability and access to industry opportunities for student talent; improve the identification and access to student talent for industry stakeholders; and strengthen institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation [4]. These potential benefits, reported by participants, indicate preliminary pathways for operationalizing CBE principles and suggest possible contributions to institutional and knowledge sustainability [9,37,43].

From a practical dimension, the Framework appears to offer potential benefits across multiple levels. For students, it may enhance employability by making competencies visible, actionable, and aligned with labor market needs, and by facilitating access to industry opportunities [5]. For industry stakeholders, it may support the identification of student talent and offer structured access to candidates aligned with sectoral competency frameworks [50]. For universities, it may strengthen institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation by addressing the limitations of fragmented and manual data collection through systematized evidence flows that foster continuous improvement [1,4,45,46].

At the policy level, the Framework may support competency-based curriculum reforms, digital credentialing initiatives, and evidence-based policies for educational innovation and equity [1,17,61]. Furthermore, it suggests a potential link between knowledge sustainability and employability by transforming students’ tacit competencies into explicit, verifiable, and transferable knowledge, thereby connecting individual learning with institutional knowledge management [2]. This dynamic may contribute to socio-economic sustainability by strengthening human capital and regional innovation, thus reinforcing the potential role of HEIs as enablers of sustainable development [25].

Beyond employability, the Framework appears to advance the sustainability of higher education by integrating institutional sustainability, focused on adaptability, quality assurance, relevance, and legitimacy, with knowledge sustainability, centered on the creation, renewal, and transfer of competencies [2]. By embedding digital portfolios into learning and assessment processes, it may support data-driven decision-making and promote equitable participation, thereby addressing the systemic challenge of inclusion in access to work-based learning opportunities [4,10]. Moreover, the study suggests that integrating digital tools with CBE principles can strengthen institutional adaptability and support knowledge sustainability by embedding continuous learning, feedback, and evidence-based improvement within higher education systems [2,43].

Finally, the findings highlight the importance of promoting equitable participation in university–industry collaboration. As previous research shows, socio-economic background, gender, and disciplinary differences can shape access to and benefits from experiential learning opportunities [10]. Ensuring that digital and competency-based approaches foster inclusion rather than exclusion requires targeted institutional policies, digital accessibility measures, and leadership that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion goals into employability and sustainability strategies [3,24]. These efforts are essential to address systemic and structural inequities and to ensure that employability-oriented initiatives contribute simultaneously to sustainability and fairness in higher education.

6. Conclusions

This study designed and pilot-implemented an Integrated Competency-Based Framework for Employability and the Sustainability of Higher Education, assessing its initial feasibility and potential relevance, and providing preliminary evidence of its potential to reinforce institutional, knowledge, and socio-economic sustainability through mechanisms that foster institutional learning and continuous improvement. The Framework integrates a Competency Map that establishes a university–industry shared language and a Functional Architecture of a Digital Platform that facilitates actor interactions. Through digital portfolios, it operationalizes the connection between CBE, employability, and university–industry collaboration.

The study supports existing literature suggesting that CBE functions as both a pedagogical and systemic mechanism that can foster employability, sustain HEIs, and contribute to socio-economic sustainability. By embedding competency frameworks and digital tools within institutional processes, the Framework aligns with approaches that view universities as adaptive systems capable of integrating teaching, research, and societal engagement in pursuit of sustainable development. The Framework also highlights pathways for advancing CBE by linking equity, adaptability, and university–industry collaboration to address global talent challenges and foster sustainable development.

Findings suggest that institutional and knowledge sustainability jointly strengthen the sustainability of higher education and its role in socio-economic development. This perspective contributes to the conceptualization of sustainable higher education as a dynamic system capable of learning, adapting, and renewing itself over time, thus achieving long-term viability. The study underscores that the sustainability of higher education depends not only on environmental and economic dimensions but fundamentally on institutional and knowledge sustainability, both of which are essential to achieving equitable and inclusive employability.

The pilot results suggest that the Framework has the potential to strengthen the characterization, visibility, and connection of student talent and industry opportunities through digital portfolios. It enhances employability and access to opportunities for student talent, improves the identification and access to talent for industry stakeholders, and strengthens institutional processes that support teaching, curriculum development, academic quality enhancement, and accreditation, thereby contributing to the capacity of universities to act as long-term providers of qualified and adaptive talent, which can support sustainable socio-economic transformation.

While the study offers valuable insights, it remains exploratory. The small-scale pilot, conducted at a single Colombian university and involving a limited number of participants, limits the generalization of the findings. However, the design of the Framework, grounded in international standards and frameworks such as ABET, CDIO, and SFIA, enables adaptability and replicability across diverse institutional and regional contexts. The pilot also underscored the relevance of mechanisms such as digital portfolios, competency maps, and digital platforms, which can be tailored to strengthen employability and sustainability across higher education systems.

Future research should examine the long-term institutional effects of the Framework, including its capacity to support continuous learning, accreditation, and employability across higher education contexts. It should also assess the depth and quality of university–industry collaboration and explore additional platform components, such as micro-credentials, data analytics, and automation, that may enhance its systemic effectiveness and scalability.

Finally, future work must consider the institutional conditions, enabling factors, and existing barriers that shape the successful implementation of the Framework, including leadership commitment, resource allocation, and digital readiness, as well as persistent inequities in access related to socio-economic background, gender, and disciplinary context. Overcoming these challenges is essential to ensure that competency-based and digital approaches foster inclusion, employability, and the sustainability of higher education while advancing its contribution to the SDG, particularly SDG 4 on Quality Education, SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities.