Embracing transdisciplinarity to prepare for the future: revisiting the gap between the labour market and translator education

Abstract

ABSTRACT There has long been a disconnect between the labour market for translators and translator education. Most research on this disconnect focuses on either industry or education in isolation, leaving the problem unsolved. To address this gap, this study examines both industrial and educational perspectives on transdisciplinarity in translators’ domain competence through an epistemological lens. Three types of data are collected: translation-related job ads, curriculum plans of Master of Translation and Interpretation (MTI) programmes, and semi-structured interviews with teachers-cum-translators. The findings, derived from data mining and textometric analyses of targeted job ads together with content analyses of both curriculum plans and interviews, show a shared epistemological understanding in industry and education of new forms of knowledge pertaining to domain-specific translation tasks. Alongside this shared understanding, we highlight misalignment between market needs for and training on knowledge about cross-boundary collaborations, and we explore the transdisciplinary domain competence required to cope with a complex-market reality using a common language shared with stakeholders. The implications for a transdisciplinary approach to translator education are also discussed.