Gauging the Association of Employability Skills and Being Employable among Students

Abstract

The current study is to measure the employability skills of students and to assess how employability skills are perceived in higher educations. Three sets of employability skills have been used such as Basic Academic Skills, Personal Qualities and High-Order Thinking. A questionnaire has been developed and distributed among students in universities, Erbil, Kurdistan. Respondents’ opinions were assessed using a Likert scale analysis that shows opinions between two extremes of levels of agreement and disagreement. The current study focuses on the employability skills of students by evaluating the courses they have been taken. Study find out that communication skills, team working skills, computer skills, and critical thinking were among the employability skills which are expected by potential employers. The paper concludes that students have developed an adequate level of employability skill through Basic academic Skills and Personal Qualities leading to High Order Thinking.