Employability of distance education graduates of a public university in Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the employability of Ghanaian graduates who have completed education and business degree programmes through distance education in a public university. A descriptive research design is used, and the study is cross-sectional in nature. The sample of 643 was drawn from 19,832 graduates who had completed business and education programmes between 2014 and 2018, using the simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through a telephone-administered survey with a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics and are presented in tables and figures. The findings indicate that these distance education graduates are employable and possess many employability attributes. The results further show that there are differences in employability attributes among those graduates who studied business and those who studied education, with the business graduates having a higher mean score. The study highlights the factors that the graduates believed would have enhanced their employability. The author concludes that the university management needs to strengthen its collaboration with industrial stakeholders in the design and implementation of curricula.