A tracer study on employability of business and economics graduates at Bahir Dar University

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of Business and Economics College graduates with regard to securing employment in the labour market. Through reference sampling method, a total of 180 previous graduates of the college and their supervisors were drawn from public and private organisations in Ethiopia. A 51 items questionnaire containing selected employability skills was prepared and distributed to graduates and their supervisors. In this study the Borich training needs assessment model was used to identify and prioritise employability skills. According to the perception of supervisors, the findings revealed that problem solving skills, information technology skills, adapting to change and risk taking skills were the skills with the highest mean weighted discrepancy score. According to the perception of graduates, identifying problems and making decisions in short time period were skills with the highest mean weighted discrepancy score and high need for curriculum enhancement.