Abstract
(1) Background: Nowadays, technological advancement plays a key role in the economic uplift of developing countries, and it is paramount that the youth of these countries are well-equipped with both vocational and technical skills to bring about sustainability in their careers. (2) Methods: The present study aims to investigate the perception gap between vocational students and industrial employers with regard to employability skills. In this regard, data were collected from 683 vocational students from urban/rural areas studying in the public/private vocational institutions of a developing country. Similarly, 82 vocational employers were contacted about their perception of employability skills. A questionnaire comprising 20 questions was administered online to both students and employers for registering their responses. Data were analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics, interval plots, and an Ishikawa diagram. (3) Results: The findings reveal that vocational employers give maximum importance to interpersonal, technical, and entrepreneurial skills, while students perceive that their technical and computing skills are vital for sustainable careers. Similarly, the rural/public students showed minimum levels of competency in these skills as compared with their counterparts living in rural areas and studying in the private institutions. Furthermore, structured interviews were conducted with the concerned stakeholders to develop a remedial framework for the sustainable careers of these vocational students. (4) Conclusions: The results of the study not only bring sustainability to the vocational sector of developing countries, but to all those countries enjoying similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
Highlights
In the dynamic environment of the 21st century, technological advancements have played a key role in the economic uplift and sustainable development of both developed and developing countries [1]
The results indicate that vocational students living in urban vicinities and studying in private vocational institutions placed maximum importance on resource-handling skills and technical skills, while less importance was given to cognitive and interpersonal skills
The results are in accordance with the findings of a study carried out in the Malaysian industrial sector, where vocational students expressed a lack of satisfaction towards their communication and Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW
Summary
In the dynamic environment of the 21st century, technological advancements have played a key role in the economic uplift and sustainable development of both developed and developing countries [1]. Since the recognition that the skills and knowledge possessed by human resources are crucial to the delivery of quality products and services [3], most countries are moving towards knowledge economies by linking their education systems with entrepreneurial and vocational training in order to reduce unemployment and poverty among the populaces [4] It is the key responsibility of the education system to prepare youth for sustainable career domains, and it is education that provides sustainable opportunities for future. The current suggested mechanism of vocational education is to help the youth in their career domains by providing an initial step from education to career This mechanism helps young people to find sustainable careers faster than any other educational domains because of the occupation of specific skills; these industrial skills make them valuable for that specific role. Vocational institutes work by keeping in mind the job market needs and by producing occupationally skilled people through hands-on learning
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