Fostering the employability of business studies graduates

Abstract

Higher education is under pressure to enhance the employability of graduates by ensuring that they acquire competencies that make them employable in the labour market. This research project investigated the contribution of higher education towards the employability of graduates within a business diploma programme. A Delphi approach was employed with the Delphi panel consisting of three types of professionals – employers within the corporate sector, academics in the field of business studies, and graduates with workplace experience in the corporate sector. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from three rounds of surveys. The findings show that disciplinary knowledge of Information Administration, Business Administration, Communication and Personnel Management, and the simulation of workplace practices as well as work-integrated learning opportunities are significant to enhancing the employability of office administrators and office managers. These findings provided academics with the opportunity to make improvements to the curriculum to foster the employability of the graduates.