This paper proposes an exploratory, stakeholder-informed framework for curriculum co-creation. It addresses the critical need to align higher education engineering programs with evolving industry demands in Egypt, with the goal of enhancing graduate employability and foster innovation. It builds upon the British Council-funded CRUISE project, which sought to co-create a 21st-century engineering curriculum. A qualitative methodology was employed, utilizing a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach. Five consultative workshops were conducted with 48 stakeholders from academia, industry, and government. The study involved exploring existing university-industry collaborations and identifying enhancement opportunities through curriculum development. Our approach included analyzing current industry trends, examining existing engineering curricula, and pinpointing key skill gaps through expert collaborations and workshops. We propose a comprehensive framework centered on establishing a collaborative environment, notably through a Government-University-Industry (GUI) Nexus Centre. This framework emphasizes integrating industry-relevant content via advisory boards, internships, and updating courses. Effective implementation hinges on dedicated faculty training and the widespread adoption of experiential learning methods. This paper offers a preliminary multi-stakeholder framework tailored to the Egyptian context, providing a potential blueprint for educational institutions and policymakers to cultivate a dynamic, responsive curriculum. It uniquely bridges theoretical understanding with actionable strategies for bridging the skill gap. The findings are primarily derived from the CRUISE project’s scope, focusing on engineering education within the participating Egyptian and UK universities, thus limiting generalizability without further context-specific adaptation.
ElKadi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.