Graduate Job Research Articles

Employers’ Feedback on Job Performance of Hotel and Restaurant Management Graduates

As the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) encourages all institutions to conduct a study determining the graduates job performance, this study determined the status of the Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM) graduates from Central Mindanao University. Through descriptive research design, employers’ feedback was gathered as baseline for assessing the program effectiveness and further improve curriculum offerings. The study used survey instrument to collect data from employers of the 62 of 70 Graduate School Alumni. Results of the investigation showed a significant relationship between the profile of the alumni and their employment data after earning the degree program at the University. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that each graduate student attained most of the skills gained throughout the program. Furthermore, employers rated the graduates excellent thereby reflecting an effective job performance based on collaboration, commitment, credibility, and competence. Based on the findings, the study recommends further identification and keeping track of the progress in the new curriculum for the formulation of student support.

Recommendations for a ‘Wellbeing Curriculum’ to Mitigate Undergraduate Psychological Distress Associated with Lack of Careers Confidence and Poor University Engagement

To foster a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ in a climate with an increasingly competitive graduate jobs market, we believe it is critical to support undergraduate career development and to develop positive peer and educator relationships, particularly for non-vocational degree programs. However, these relationships between undergraduate wellbeing and their career development or peer/educator relationships have not been specifically examined. This study used a mixed methods approach to examine if poor career development or university engagement (quality of relationships with peers or educators, use of the university careers and counselling services, time studying) were associated with psychological distress for students in non-vocational degree programs. Undergraduates (biomedical science; n=1100) from five Australian universities participated in a survey to investigate relationships between psychological distress, as determined by their responses to the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, and their career development or university engagement. Almost half of the students lacked confidence in their ‘future employment and job prospects’. Students’ psychological distress was significantly correlated with lack of confidence with their career development, poor relationships with their peers and educators and little use of the counselling service. Further exploration of these factors in student focus groups highlighted stress associated with academic competition between students and a critical need for undergraduate career development, especially industry placements. We provide pivotal recommendations to promote undergraduate and educator wellbeing, by developing a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ that supports career development and positive relationships between students and their peers and educators, particularly vital for non-vocational degrees.

Implementing Curriculum Adjustment for Christian Education and Theology Study Programs Based on Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka

In Indonesia, even though its demography is noted as the fourth largest population in the world, its significant number does not give a positive effect on graduates of Christian Institutions. It is so since Christian inhabitants in Indonesia are a minority while the institution run by these Christian and Theology Study Programs are abundant. It causes graduates from these institutions over the capacity for schools and churches can use. In order to increase the opportunity for taking jobs for graduates of Theological Institutions, there must be innovative ways taken. This research was conducted by qualitative method with phenomenological approach. The research’s object was students and graduates of Institut Agama Kristen Negeri (IAKN) Tarutung since 2016. The research’s result showed that Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) could be good solution for the problem. MBKM can help students gain experience outside of their study program, which will be needed when they graduate and start to seek for a job.

Ensuring UK first-in-family students get full value from HE during the cost-of-living crisis

Being the first in family to go to university affects a student’s perception of value for money in higher education (HE) and impacts their experience and graduate outcomes. The current cost-of-living crisis may further compound inequalities already prevalent in the system. New approaches to the regulation of HE providers mean it is vital that the sector recognises the challenges for disadvantaged students in completing their degree and securing a graduate job. The cost-of-living crisis not only impacts the day-to-day student experience but could jeopardise the onward value of their time at university, and therefore how the regulator views institutions. Many students will choose to socialise less, be more selective about the academic work they do and therefore develop less social and cultural capital which will have a negative impact on their ability to secure graduate jobs. Universities should be mindful that many first-in-family students are not aware of the importance of making social connections at university or how to best utilise the academic resources available. Student support practices need to be adapted to both help students through the current financial challenges and ensure that they still have access to the “full” student experience. Government should reflect on the financial support available to students and offer more help to our poorest students who do not have savings and families to support them.

Kajian Pendidikan Vokasi dan Kompetensi Ketenagakerjaan

The background of this study is an issue that is often reported in various mass media about the gap between employment and education. As well as expectations of the industry, parents and education providers. This research is qualitative research of vocational education and employment competencies for SMK graduates. The study based on several facts of employment experience and the performance of graduate job seekers. The fact is that the implementation of vocational education in Indonesia is relatively not met the expectations of the industry,is product oriented and the vocational education curriculum has not been relevant to the needs of the job market.

The impact of COVID-19 on employment and income of vocational graduates in China: Evidence from surveys in January and July 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the economy of China in early 2020. Strict lockdown measures were implemented nationwide to prevent the further spread of the virus. During the lockdown period, many economic activities were affected, which had repercussions for the nation's overall employment. Vocational graduates were among the most affected by the crisis. To estimate the causal effects of COVID-19 on the full-time employment of vocational high school graduates as well as their monthly income and hours worked by week, we exploit variations in the intensity of the pandemic in time and across space using survey data from vocational schools from six provinces in China. The results of the difference-in-differences (DID) estimates indicate that being located in counties with high pandemic intensity significantly reduced both the employment in full-time jobs of vocational graduates as well as their monthly income. Our study's analysis demonstrates that the effects of COVID-19 on the labor market can be attributed to the large-scale contraction of labor demand of the enterprises that were hiring vocational graduates. To cope with this situation, vocational graduates took various measures, including reducing consumption, drawing on their savings, searching for new jobs, taking on part-time jobs, borrowing money, and attending new training programs. In addition, the empirical analysis finds that there were heterogeneous effects with respect to gender, family social capital, the industry in which the vocational graduate was participating, and whether the individual was in a management position.

Graduate labour market outcomes and satisfaction with university education in Spain.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the association between the job placement results of graduates and the satisfaction that, retrospectively, they express about their university education. Despite the fact that, in Spain, 47.0% of the population aged 25 to 34 has a higher education degree, we have little knowledge of the determinants of university student satisfaction. In addition, most studies have focused on evaluating the university experience (teaching activity, study plans, counselling for students, or facilities) and very few of them have taken into account the influence of graduates’ labour market outcomes on their satisfaction. This issue is of particular interest in the Spanish case, considering the dysfunctional nature of the youth labor market, which has high rates of overqualification, excessive job turnover and high unemployment. The sources of statistical information used in this work include the first two editions of the "University Graduate Job Placement Survey", carried out by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) in 2014 and 2019. The methodology used in the empirical work is the propensity score matching estimator. The results of empirical analysis indicate that graduates’ job placement difficulties have a significant association with their dissatisfaction with their university experience. In particular, educational mismatch (horizontal and vertical) and, to a lesser extent, unemployment and low wages significantly increase the probability of graduates stating that, if they had to start over, they would not return to university or they would not study the same degree.

Employer attributes attracting engineering graduate job aspirants: insights from the Aspire model

ABSTRACT Employer attractiveness models need to include student-centric attributes related to the education-to-work transition. A four-factor Aspire model consisting of benefits, nature of work, employer value, and employer visibility was tested using structural equation modelling, with data collected from 2048 full-time college students from India over a period of five years. Behavioural insights were extracted using multivariate analysis of variance of Aspire factors across gender, programmes, course and graduating year. Prominent student-centric and employer-centric attributes that students find more attractive were identified. Institutional and recruiter strategies to enhance employer attractiveness among job aspirants are proposed. The limitations and scope for further work are also highlighted.

Selecting Suitable Students for Jobs Based on Their Capacity

Nowadays, digital transformation in education is an important and urgent task in most universities. This process brings many benefits to both teacher and student, particularly jobs for graduates. Consequently, how to help a last-year student find a suitable job has become a crucial problem. To advise learner to select a suitable job, we need an insightful analysis of learner capacity. Thus, in this paper, the authors propose a method that uses student knowledge and skills data to choose the best suitable students for a job requirement. Firstly, learner capacity is evaluated by subject marks and activities in school; therefore, both subject and activity are described as the structure of obtainable skills and knowledge. Then, the authors also describe a job requirement as a set of skills and knowledge. In the next step, they calculate the real capacity of the student. Finally, they find students who have the real capacity to meet the job requirement by applying the decision-making model.

Social work in Azerbaijan: Achievements and challenges of the profession

The professional social work in Azerbaijan started in 2005 with the Master of Social Work degree and it rapidly evolved. The article presents the findings of the study that evaluated the situation of the social work profession since its establishment. The sample size was 39 respondents. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups. The study found rapid development, institutionalization, and acceptance of social work by public agencies as achievements, and the wrong image of social work, lack of jobs for social work graduates, uninformed selection of social work by students, and low salaries for social workers as challenges.

Quality Assurance of Professional Studies and The Development of 21st C Skills Among Students in Cameroon Private Universities: The Case of Private Universities in Mfoundi Division

This study explores the provision of professional studies, its quality assurance practices, and the undesired increasing lack of 21st century skills among graduates from private universities in Mfoundi division. The rising unemployment rate and inability to create jobs for graduates from these private institutions is a menace to the realization of 2035 emergence dream in Cameroon. Based on the interpretivist philosophy, the researcher employs the interview guide to collect data from 75 stakeholders from private universities in Mfoundi division. Content analyses were employed to examine the various opinions. The findings reveal that the quality of teaching staff is questionable, and the pedagogic activities are too theoretical due to a lack of quality assurance practices. We, therefore, recommend that private universities in Mfoundi division should design specific quality assurance units to ensure the smooth functioning of its systems.

Evaluating the Employability and Entrepreneurial Skills and the Impact on Employment of Public TVET Graduates

This study examined perceived employability & entrepreneurial skills of TVET graduates and the impact of these skills on gainful employment (self/paid) of the graduates. Data was collected from 317 (133 unemployed and 184 employed) TVET graduates that were selected from two randomly selected departments of the three randomly (Bahir-Dar, Gondar and Debretabor) selected TVET colleges. For both data collection and analysis the study utilized Concurrent embedded mixed research method (that encompasses the pragmatic philosophical world view). A questionnaire having Close ended and open-ended items as well as document analysis were the instruments used together data. For the analysis of the quantitative data, one sample t-test, independent sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were employed and the qualitative data was analyzed by embedding on the quantitative data. The results revealed that the mean perceived graduates’ employability skills were significantly lower than the expected value. Similarly, the mean perceived entrepreneurial skills of TVET graduates were significantly lower than the expected mean. Moreover, graduates job related satisfaction was found to be significantly low. Regression Analysis also revealed a lower contribution of the combined skills on job related satisfaction. Finally, the Beta value under standard coefficient designated that total employability skills was the largest value that makes the strongest and significant unique contribution to explain the lower Job satisfaction which was followed by entrepreneurial skills as the second unique significant predictor.

Generic Competency Model: Business Graduate Key Competencies for Successful Working at Trading Companies - Case Study from the Czech Republic

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to create a generic competency model based on the entry-level positions’ requirements of human resource managers in trading companies operating in the Czech Republic. The proposed model should define an optimal set of key competencies that a competent graduate of business degree should have to be successful in specific selection processes for different graduate jobs in trading companies and thus be successful in performing job duties. Design/methodology/approach: The research question for this study was which key competencies business graduates need the most for entry-level positions in the field of trading and which ideal behavior is expected for such competencies. Within the questionnaire survey, the degree of significance of the defined key competencies was subsequently determined. The target population consisted of trading companies with 25 - 249 employees based and operating in the Czech Republic that are willing to hire fresh graduates for entry-level positions. The quantitative data was finally obtained from 419 companies. On the basis of the data analysis results, a generic competency model of a university graduate of business degree was created. Findings: The generic model developed on the basis of the data from trading companies consists of two parts. It defines an optimal set of 6 key competencies as well as the expected behavior that a competent business graduate should have to succeed in specific selection processes for various positions in trading companies that require university education, and subsequently, to be successful in performing jobs in the trade sector. Research limitations/implications: The research limitations are caused mainly by two factors: the company size and products that the trading company is (re)selling. Although specific key competencies can be rated as very important by two different recruiters in the questionnaire, requirements, and expectations of a small company operating in an extremely competitive environment may be significantly higher than in the case of company with large staff and an extensive customer base, or vice versa. Originality/value: The resulting competency model can make the selection process more transparent for both recruiters and job candidates because of established standards concerning desirable key competencies for such positions in trading companies. At the same time, this tool can be an acceleration and suitable starting point for more extensive implementation of the modern competency-based approach for economics and business degrees at universities.

Green jobs for physics graduates

With their mix of technical knowledge and problem-solving skills, physics graduates are ideally placed to tackle the world’s environmental challenges. Laura Hiscott speaks to a range of physicists who are doing their bit to build a greener, more sustainable future.

Analisis Tingkat Minat Mahasiswa Universitas Syiah Kuala dalam Berwirausaha

Indonesia is known as a country with abundant natural resources and abundant human resources. However, in Indonesia the phenomenon shows a contradictory relationship between natural resource wealth and economic perfomance. It is still far behind developed and other resource rich countries. The basic factor of this phenomenon is caused by the quality of human resources. For example, when existing the high number of graduate job seekers is not commensurate with the growth rate of job vacancies required, then there occur problem such as unemployment. Thus, one of the best solutions to overcome this unemployment problem is to create jobs, one of which is entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study were to analyze the level of interest of Syiah Kuala University students in entrepreneurship and find out what factors most affect the interest of Syiah Kuala University students in entrepreneurship. This study used quantitative analysis methods described by descriptive statistics and Chi-Square analysis (Independency Test) using primary data obtained from online questionnaire the distributions. The results of this study indicated that the level of interest of Syiah Kuala University students in entrepreneurship is high with an index value of 81.31%.72,961.

Effects of urban environmental attributes on graduate job preferences in Northeastern China: an application of conjoint analysis and big data methods

A constant supply of novel ideas and contributions from all economic sectors is required to further the sustainable development of cities. Therefore, there is a growing need for well-educated graduates to enter metropolitan job markets. As urban environments and culture have been shown to affect a graduates’ eventual carrier choice and trajectory, governments often seek to change their local environments to attract graduates who can help efficiently allocate and utilize a city’s often-limited environmental budgets. In this study, the conjoint analysis (CA) method was employed to explore the effects of four environmental attributes (water pollution, air pollution, littering, and green area) on graduate employment preferences in northeast China. Water pollution was shown to have the greatest effect on graduate preferences (43.6%), followed by air pollution (34.1%), littering (20.7%), and green area (1.6%). According to this ranking of importance, cities could improve their environmental attributes to maximize the attraction of Northeast graduates. Moreover, this study applied the Baidu index (a big data sharing platform) to improve the attribute selection process of the CA method. The improvement reduced the cost of the CA method and enhanced its objectivity.

Accounting Skills in Practice and Their Impact on Employability: A Curriculum Review in an Autonomous Philippine University

As competition for graduate jobs increases, students need to consider new ways to differentiate from equally qualified and skilled candidates. The investigation determined the significance of a curriculum in the working environment and graduates' employability. The examination contrived a sum of 169 respondents on a snowball testing strategy. Frequency and simple percentage, weighted mean, Chi-Square Test of Independence, and One way ANOVA was utilized to treat the data. The findings revealed that communication skills, basic accounting skills, & financial reporting skills are among the essential skills to acquire to serve a spot on the labor market. The investigation further revealed a significant association on civil status, length of time to get a job after graduation, Nature of work on the first and current job, work status, graduate studies, and the degree of enhancement the graduates suggested to meet the demands of the profession. It also revealed a statistically significant distinction following the respondents' profile when grouped by its influence on the proposed program enhancement suggested by the graduates. The study concluded that maximizing graduates' employability, the viability of curriculum enhancement and teaching methodologies, and necessary facilities must be concentrated to depict the utmost realization of objectives and goals of the program. It further concludes that a strong partnership with an internship program can increase alignment between educators, students, and industries.

Sustainable relevancy in the changing library job market in Kuwait

PurposeThe Library and Information Science (LIS) discipline face challenges such as technology applications and information overload in its effort to remain relevant in the challenging job market. This study aims to determine the skills and knowledge needed for LIS professionals in the job market to rethink the current syllabus and offer better future employability.Design/methodology/approachThe research used a survey method to collect data concerning personal information, LIS employment opportunities, job titles and skills needed. Content analysis followed to determine librarianship job listings and the need for LIS graduate jobs in Kuwait.FindingsThe findings suggested difficulties and challenges; they also compiled a comprehensive list of skills needed and recommended courses and institutions hiring LIS graduates. The research improves decision-making in syllabus development and experiences recommended by employers.Practical implicationsAcademic departments can follow this research to develop and update their syllabuses according to the requirements of the job market, thus offering better future job opportunities.Social implicationsAs LIS graduates are provided with better education, the updating of their employability skills will help them socially by recognising their employment status and economically by raising their pay.Originality/valueThe research is the first in Kuwait to collect LIS job titles and analyse employability needs.

Delivering Employable Event Studies Graduates: Student Perspectives on the Benefits of Experiential Learning

The past decade has seen increasing competition between graduates for jobs, and universities are now frequently scrutinized and evaluated on their graduate employment success rates. This study reports on student perceptions of a revised event management course designed to enhance graduate employability through the use of experiential learning, based on the new Threshold Learning Outcomes for event studies in higher education in Australia. Thematic analysis of individual student reflections (the final assessment piece in the course) finds that students perceive significant benefits from the experiential learning activities, and most are able to articulate these in relation to employability. Professional skills and personal attributes developed include communication, problem solving, collaboration, leadership, and confidence. Students also perceive value in being able to link theory to practice and immerse themselves in a hands-on "real world" events industry experience that cements both events knowledge and events processes.

Toxic stress and disconnection from work and school among youth in Detroit

This study explores toxic stress and youth disconnection from work and school using data from the Detroit Jobs for Michigan's Graduates (JMG) program. A secondary cross-sectional analysis was conducted using a program census of 1934 youth participating in JMG between 2014 and 2019. Youth with criminal justice contact, parenting responsibilities, and toxic stress barriers showed the greatest disparity in graduating or become employed following participation in the JMG program. Youth without toxic stress-aligned barriers were 1.87 times the odds more likely of successful program outcomes when controlling for program enrollment year, program type, Detroit residency, gender, and age. Toxic stress is associated with disconnection from education and employment before and after participation in the JMG program. This indicates that expanding trauma-informed systems and community approaches in youth-serving programs can play a role in mitigating the impact of toxic stress exposure on connection to opportunity for Detroit youth.