Development Of Employability Skills Research Articles

Enhancing the Employability of Students Undertaking English Language and Linguistics Programs in Vietnam

This study addresses the development of employability skills among English-major graduates to facilitate their transition from university to the workplace. Contemporary research has pinpointed that universities fail to sufficiently prepare their students in terms of professional knowledge and work-related skills. There is also a mismatch between the focus of academic programs and the demands and requirements from potential employers regarding graduates’ performance. Drawing on the document analysis and simple descriptive statistics of the undergraduate English language/linguistics program descriptions of six distinct universities located across Vietnam, this study aims to explore the extent to which English-major students are empowered with employability skills and provide recommendations for promoting these skills. Findings show that there is a substantial shift in reconsidering the imbalance between theoretical and practical components in the program design. The programs also exhibit certain degrees of preparation for students’ employability through the curricular integration of generic skills such as critical thinking, public speaking, presentation skills, communication skills and research skills. This study reiterates the significance of promoting work-related skills and strengthening university-industry partnerships in designing academic programs and providing English-major students with hands-on experience.

Reviewing the roles of extracurricular activities in developing employability skills: a bibliometric review

The process of employability skills improvement is reflected in the pedagogical approaches employed by institutions of higher learning (HEIs). While several studies have discussed these approaches, very few have microscoped them and examined their learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to review the concept of extracurricular activities (ECA) research published on the Elsevier Scopus database from 1990 to 2020 using a sequence of bibliometric analysis to identify the status, research trends and focus areas in recent ECA studies within the built environment context. Keywords such as ‘extracurricular activity’ OR ‘extracurricular activities’ OR ‘co-curricular activity’ OR ‘co-curricular activities’ OR ‘out of school activity’ OR ‘out of school activities’ AND ‘employability’ AND ‘built environment’ were used to extract papers from the database. Through the sequencing of cluster analysis, the results of this study revealed that the focus on ECA studies is placed on employability skills, academic performance, overall human development, parental involvement and improving cultural diversity. More so, the current research focus is tending towards the knowledge and adoption of problem-based learning (PBL) which is a key component of built environment education. This study provides a basis for encouraging ECA as a key pedagogical approach in developing the future workforce of the construction industry. Despite the novelty of this article, generalizations of the results must be done cautiously due to the use of a single database, which in this case is Elsevier’s Scopus.

Exploring the paradoxes and tensions encountered by business faculty teaching teamwork in a changing academic environment

ABSTRACT The contemporary university is now characterised as a complex working environment wherein faculty must negotiate increasing demands for accountability, performativity, and productivity. A multiplicity of expectations adds to this complexity. Specifically, expectations set by employers in developing ‘work-ready’ graduates have compelled faculty to negotiate interdependent contradictions that focus on developing employability skills alongside technical skills. This qualitative study reports on the lived experiences of 30 business school teaching faculty, negotiating tensions as they relate to the teaching of one type of employability skill: teamwork. Paradox theory is appropriated to better understand how faculty perceive their professional environment and practices related to teamwork pedagogy. The findings reveal that faculty navigate the performing/learning, performing/organising and performing/belonging paradoxes of teamwork pedagogy by passively suppressing tensions or through proactive acceptance strategies.

A Study into the Effectiveness of the Youth Employment Programme (YEP) in Mauritius

Youth employment programmes are used as a means of developing employability skills through a wage subsidy strategy. This study examines the effectiveness of the Youth Employment Programme (YEP) in Mauritius in terms of the trainee’s satisfaction of YEP, his/her belief that YEP would help him/her to get a job and the odds of actually being employed once the programme is over. The Human Capital Theory is used to describe the transformation process through which YEP increases youth employability. Data was randomly collected among 214 individuals who were either currently or had previously been on the programme. All logistic models fitted the data well with correct classifications ranging from 70% to 92.5%. None of the demographic factors predicted the effectiveness of YEP. Trainees’ satisfaction was predicted by the sector of work placement, quality of programme, field of study and recommendations. Trainees’ beliefs were predicted by the number of interviews, duration of unemployment prior to the programme, whether internship matched their fields of study, nature of employment and quality of the programme. However, the nature of employment and salary were the only factors that predicted the odds of actually being employed. The YEP in Mauritius may require major restructuration to cater for trainees outside the field of social sciences. Although the YEP has failed to provide the adequate support and a satisfying experience, its contribution cannot be underestimated. An evaluation of the programme should be carried out at shorter intervals to detect major loopholes so that these may be resolved in time.

Employability themes for economic recovery

As part of the University of Greenwich SHIFT 2021 conference on teaching and learning, I led a discussion workshop called ‘Employability themes for economic recovery’ in which delegates considered economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, the inevitable changes in working practices and, consequently, the changes’ influence upon student employability skills development. In this article, I reflect both on the current context of significant workplace change across the globe and how we as educators should respond if we are to skill students for this new working world.

Employability skills in mainstream education: Innovations in schooling and institutional isomorphism

In England, the Studio Schools model, focused on developing employability skills in young people, represents a disruptive attempt at educational innovation. Through a documentary analysis of foundational documents, interviews with the model’s architects and case studies of five Studio Schools, we map the tensions between theoretical conceptualisations of the model and the messy realities of implementing it. We found that the schools faced a wide range of challenges related particularly to local inter‐school competition, centralised accountability measures and structural assumptions about the ‘gold educational standard’. When facing these challenges, the course of least resistance for the schools was an iterative abandonment of the distinctive aspects of the Studio Schools model and a move back towards mainstream approaches to schooling. This process of institutional homogenisation is discussed through the lens of neo‐institutional theory, with the challenges schools faced and their trajectories framed in terms of coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. We argue that the use of isomorphism as a heuristic device provides important insight into the process of educational innovation in an educational system that combines competition and the risk of market failure with coercive accountability measures and embedded assumptions about the ‘gold standard’ schooling pathway.

INTEGRATING SKILL-BASED EDUCATION IN INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR: TRANSITIONING FROM ACADEMIA TO WORKPLACE

Skills are considered as the essential pillar for employment and enhanced economic growth of a nation. The persistent industrial market demand for employability skills has provided a requirement to integrate skill-based education in higher education intending to develop graduates' future work-ready. Thereby, a considerable necessity has been felt to align higher education with skill-based education and to incorporate skill-based education as the essential part of the higher education system. Expanding access to skill-based education in higher education can enhance the competitiveness of a nation in the global world. Countries like Switzerland and Germany well-renowned for their extensive dual systems of vocational education and training have attained worldwide recognition. Thus, the present paper focuses on Swiss and Germany dual systems and provides an overview of how such dual system of vocational education and skill training brings together classroom learning and learning at the workplace. Furthermore, in perspective of India, having an advantage of demographic dividend signifies a huge opportunity for the nation to enhance its economic growth by effectively investing in skill-based education and learning to develop the nation’s youth self-reliant and industry work-ready. Thereby, considering the requirement for entrepreneurship and employability, the Indian Government has taken several key initiatives on skill development based higher education leading to the launch of various vocational programmes in higher education. The present paper discusses about such key initiatives and highlights higher education institution initiatives in the form of establishment of Skill Universities in India and outlines the perceived learning outcomes as the development of employability skills. The paper further explores the challenges still facing the skill development system and suggests key recommendations that could be emphasized and adopted to resolve such challenges in the context of India.

Fostering Innovation and Methodology through Experiential Learning for Data Structures

For real-life work environment, developing employability skills by the students’ community is indispensable and need of the hour. Laboratories associated with courses cultivate the ability of students to think independently and promote employability skills through experiential learning. Data structures are one such predominant course in IT/CSE domain to enhance the skill set of students for Placements/Higher studies. It provides opportunity for students to devise algorithms efficiently in an optimal manner by solving challenging problems easily thereby gaining confidence for attending placements. The purpose of this paper is to foster innovation by exploration in data structures course through experiential learning by providing coding based challenging questions as tutorials, assignment presentations and as activities during laboratory sessions and online classes are to be conducted as an essential one in the future learning perspective. Findings conclude that the experiential learning foster student’s abilities in solving the problem and thereby gaining confidence during e-learning and placement activities and the grading process are to be updated through centralized servers to the maximum extend and accuracy are to be maintained.

Benefits of Studying Abroad for Graduate Employability

This study investigated the benefits of studying abroad with student exchange programs for graduate employability. Data were drawn from a survey with 163 Lao former exchange participants at three public universities in Laos, followed by 19 semi-structured interviews. Results revealed that participants benefited from participating in overseas exchanges at a high level in terms of the development of employability skills, particularly interpersonal and communication skills, and in multidisciplinary knowledge and international competences. Study abroad experience was positively considered as being related to increasing job opportunities, which signal better educational credentials with proven skills that are demanded in the domestic labor market. This study offers useful insights into the benefits of student exchange programs and adds perspectives from a developing country whose voice has been little heard in the literature on the value of study abroad.

A Survey on the Needs of Research on Developing Employability Skills Model for Special Education Needs Students with Learning Disabilities in Vocational Stream towards Meeting the Industry Needs

The unemployment issue among Special Education Needs Students with Learning Disabilities (SENSwLD) is getting worse in Malaysia. This study was conducted to identify the level of marketability SENSwLD who are Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas Vokasional (SMPKV) leaver throughout Malaysia and to survey on a needs of developing the employability skills model of (SENSwLD) in vocational stream towards meeting the needs of the industry. The result show that the marketability of SENSwLD of SMPKV leaver is at a low level and they need the development of employability skills model for SENSwLD in vocational stream towards meeting the needs of industry.

Using virtual reality (VR) for teaching and learning in geography: fieldwork, analytical skills, and employability

ABSTRACT This article outlines how Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, software and content can be used as a resource for teaching and learning in Geography. Drawing on the authors’ first-hand experiences of using VR for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, we explore firstly how VR can enhance the development of fieldwork observational techniques, knowledge and understanding of place, prior to entering the field. Secondly, we show how VR can be used to enable students to develop critical analytical skills in relation to emergent visual technologies and the wider implications VR has for the representation of people, places and landscapes. Finally, the article will attend to the ways VR and Augmented Reality (AR) – due to its growing industrial application – can offer important opportunities for the development of unique practical employability skills which can be applied to the geovisualization of data and environments enhancing graduate career prospects.

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module.

Placements are often an extra‐curricular activity of a science degree. This study reports on the outcomes of a final‐year credit‐bearing 6‐week placement module that was specifically designed to develop and enhance students’ employability skills. A key element of this module was that the student placements were not only evaluated from a science perspective, but also evaluated with an emphasis on meaningful reflection and evaluation of employability skills development. Students recorded their levels of confidence in skills before, during and after the placement via an Online Reflective Log, as part of a module’s summative assessment. The results showed that taking part in the placement and conducting their own independent research helped students to make connections between their scientific knowledge, otherwise constrained within the walls of the undergraduate science laboratory, and the wider impact of their research on society. Another theme that emerged concerned career choices and aspirations, and the placement experiences either confirmed prior choices or opened new horizons. The Online Reflective Log helped students to feel supported by their university supervisor who were at a distance. Feedback on their tasks prompted students to reflect on the scientific and personal skills while being engaged in scientific activities during placement. Students agreed that they had further developed their employability skills during the placement and acknowledged that it was challenging to acquire evidence of skill development. However, students appreciated the usefulness of this reflection in relation to their future career development.

Employability skills and quality of life among employees with mild and moderate intellectual disability who attend occupation centres in catalonia (Spain)

Background: The study explores the relationship between quality of life (QoL) and employability skills in a non-random sample of 100 employees of occupational centres (OCs) in Barcelona (Spain). The influence of gender, age and level of intellectual disability (ID) is also explored. Method: A quantitative approach was adopted to collect and examine data, gathered through two different instruments: the GENCAT SCALE (Verdugo et al., 2008) (and the Employability Skills Scale (Jariot, Laborda and González, 2020). Results: A correlation between QoL and employability skills has been found. A relationship between age and employability skills was also found, in which younger individuals reported better in employability skills. Age was also found to have an effect on some QoL domains. The ID level turned out to be a significant factor in the development of employability skills, as well as in some QoL domains. The crucial role of job placement in personal development is underlined, as well as the need for more inclusive procedures in occupancy services.

Reference Revamp: A 1-2 Model for Training and Tiered Services

The UCLA Science Libraries improved upon our single service points by creating a team-based, tiered research assistance model to foster student employee skill development. This model was further developed to expand training for public services staff, enabling librarians and student research assistants to move beyond desk-based services. This multi-phased approach involved restructured training and the development of collaborative, tiered services. Librarians utilized train-the-trainer sessions, detailed documentation toolkits, and a robust outreach plan to ensure success. After initial implementation of this new model, librarians observed above average use of the service and excellent user feedback. Its versatility has also played a direct role in the successful transition from physical to virtual services in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Search for Employability Skills: Employers, Novice Workers and HEC Approved Curriculum of BS Economics: A Qualitative Analysis

Universities are imprving their policies and curriculum to meet the changing needs of job market. At the same time the employers look complaining about the skills and the characteristics a graduate comes with for employment. Considering this, underlying research investigates the glimpses of development of employability skills in curriculum of discipline of economics implemented in higher education institutions of province of Punjab. For the purpose of fulfillment of the aim of study, this research adopted the qualitative research design. The proposed study has explored, by content analysis, role of higher education institutions, and curriculum of economics to address development of employability skills in graduates in universities. By using qualitative interpretive design, sub themes were sorted out followed by broader themes. Broader themes emerged from sub themes. The study explored that regarding development of most of the skills, the curriculum of economics had suitable content . Moreover curriculum has enough content to meet educational needs of students with diversity. A few needs of students regarding employability skills remained unfulfilled. The study recommended for teachers to have increased understanding of students needs to practice good pedagogy and revise curriculum to fulfill their academic needs as well as to increase the employability skills by universities in Pakistan.

DRIVING RURAL YOUNG FORCE TOWARDS HIGHER EDUCATION

The present research paper is based on the study of higher education and rural youth of India. A survey conducted in the villages in Haveli and Velha Tahasils of Pune district. 200 responses through questionnaire were collected. The objectives of the study are to examine the academic qualification of the respondents, to investigate the problems in getting higher education and to suggest some remedies to direct rural youth towards higher education. It has been observed in this study that there is a need to create awareness about the importance of higher education among the rural youth to increase their engagement in it. It is essential to take some measures such as conducting awareness programs, providing easy access to higher education, redesigning the curriculum of higher education with major focus on employability skill development.

Ways to Develop Employability Skills in Teaching Translation to Final-Year Students

This paper considers methodology and pedagogical approaches used in higher education in the United Kingdom and Russia in developing transferable employability skills when teaching final-year undergraduates. The paper analyses outcomes of introducing innovative approaches to teaching translation at the University of Bristol and at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).The MSU approach is aimed at the development of self-motivation, continual learning, ability to influence others through effective communication while at the same time developing students’ discipline-related skills in the field of translation studies.The innovation introduced at the University of Bristol involves a move from traditional classroom-based delivery of a final-year undergraduate translation module to a blended e-learning approach, thus addressing organisational needs (developing an effective mechanism of peer assessment in large translation classes) while achieving a higher quality of work and developing valuable employability skills.The primary objective is to show the students that they can improve their translation and analytical skills through conducting research online and by interacting with the other members of the group using a virtual learning environment. Recent results confirm that both approaches proved to be extremely beneficial. The students developed a better awareness of what is expected of them in assessed assignments. They enhanced their discipline-related skills in the field of translation studies. Their communication skills, ability to provide constructive feedback and analyse their own and other students’ work have also significantly improved. This contributed to the development of transferable employability skills including working as part of a team, critical thinking, communicating and influencing, problem solving, decision making and time management.

Employability development and career outcomes from short-term learning abroad programmes

ABSTRACT Learning abroad has become a central component in the internationalisation strategies of many Australian universities, following trends in other countries such as France, Germany, USA, Singapore and Japan. To expand access to different types of students and to diversify host destinations, short-term programmes have been the focus of institutions over the last five years. However, little is known about the outcomes of short-term learning abroad programmes. This article explores the connection between short-term learning abroad experiences, career outcomes and employability skills development of graduates in the Australian context. In the first national study of learning abroad outcomes, most former participants were positive about the perceived benefits provided by their international study experiences in terms of their employment outcomes. Respondents strongly supported the role of learning abroad in the development of core employability skills. The findings confirm an amplified impact on participants in internship programmes and multiple learning abroad programmes. The results of this study support the further development of short-term learning abroad opportunities for students, with considerations for access to programmes for those from underrepresented backgrounds.

IMPACT OF EXTRACURRICULAR IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION GRADUATES’ EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS: THE CASE OF TUNISIA

This paper investigates the impact of extracurricular activities (ECA) on developing employability skills of higher education graduates in Tunisia. In this regard, we use a quantitative survey that has been distributed to 451 graduates. The results of the logistic regression model show that participation in extracurricular activities (ECA) is the main determinant of soft skills development. In addition, Spearman's correlation analysis demonstrates a positive one between the acquisition of soft skills and participation in extracurricular activities. Each of the activities develops specific skills. We found that participation in social groups helps to develop more soft skills. Keywords: soft skills, employability skills, graduates, ECA, Tunisia.

International students' perspective on developing employability during study abroad

AbstractIn the last three decades, the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in employability skill development has been emphasised in UK national policy. Within the same time frame, internationalisation has emerged as a key strategy in higher education (HE), nationally and globally. However, the connection between the internationalisation of higher education and developing graduate employability is an understudied area of research. This paper addresses an identified gap in extant literature by examining the intersection of internationalisation, employability and the international student experience. The paper focuses on non‐EU international students' perspectives which is neglected in dominant discourses on employability. Thematic analysis of data collected from 36 semi‐structured interviews with students from 11 non‐EU countries reveals the importance international students place on employability development opportunities during their study abroad. The findings highlight how international student agency is enabled or constrained within the affordances of international HE, and the implications for employability policy development in an increasingly internationalised context of the delivery of higher education. In conclusion, the implication of the findings is considered in view of the constraints on mobility brought on by COVID‐19.