Tertiary Education Graduates Research Articles

Soft-skills, networking, and workforce entry: Impacts of a training program for recent graduates in Rwanda

Young adults seeking to enter the labor market often confront a skills mismatch, with employers expressing challenges in recruiting new entrants who possess the necessary soft skills. This paper reports findings from a randomized controlled trial in Rwanda, in which recent tertiary education graduates were randomly selected to participate in a two-week intensive soft skills training program developed and delivered by the staff of the University of Rwanda. Results indicate that the program expedited the graduates’ entry into the job market during a period marked by disruptions due to COVID-19. These effects dissipated over the following year as more jobs became available in the economy, and the employment rate of the control group caught up with that of the treatment group. The faster labor market entry for the training participants seems to be driven by an expansion and more intensive use of their job networks.

Gender pay gaps across STEM fields of study

ABSTRACT Gender pay gaps in earnings are well-documented in the literature. However, new factors contributing to women’s lower earnings have emerged and remain under-researched. Educational choices are among them. We use a rich administrative dataset from Poland, a Central Eastern European country with high tertiary education enrolment and high female employment rates among young women, to study gender pay gaps among tertiary education graduates with degrees in different fields of study while paying particular attention to STEM fields graduates (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). We find that already in the first year after graduation, women earn over 20% less than men. This gap widens over time. We also find significant variation across different STEM fields both in the size of the gender pay gap and in how it changes over time. The gap is the largest among mathematics graduates, at over 25%; while it does not exceed 3% among chemical and Earth sciences graduates. As these differences narrow only slightly within the first four years of graduates’ working careers, policymakers’ efforts to increase the number of women earning STEM degrees may not be enough to achieve gender pay equality.

A national survey of the antibiotic use, self-medication practices, and knowledge of antibiotic resistance among graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global public health concern that was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths and indirectly associated with 4.95 million deaths in 2019. Antibiotic resistance (ABR) occurs naturally, but its prevalence has been accelerated broadly due to antibiotic misuse and overuse, poor infection control practices, and availability of substandard and falsified medicines. ObjectivesTo assess antibiotic use and knowledge of ABR among graduates of tertiary education in Nigeria and evaluate if tertiary education, academic background (science, social sciences, or the arts) and years post-graduation significantly impact antibiotic use and awareness of antibiotic resistance. ResultDespite having tertiary education, 47.7 % of respondents self-medicate with antibiotics, 54.9 % of respondents don't carry out laboratory investigations before using antibiotics, and 70.1 % reduce or stop taking antibiotics on feeling better. Inconvenience, limited access to doctors and financial constraint were the most common reasons for self-medication. Academic background, age, gender and years post-graduation had no statistically significant effect on self-medication practices (p-value>0.05). Inappropriate antibiotic use for viral-infections like sore throat, cold and flu, and diarrhoea was reported in 50.2, 42.6 and 40.2 % of respondents, respectively. Amoxicillin (54.2 %), metronidazole (48.2 %), and ciprofloxacin (45.6 %) were the most used antibiotics. Pharmacists were the most consulted health professionals before antibiotics were used, and the internet is the most common source of information on antibiotic resistance. Most-respondents, 85.5 %, correctly identified that antibiotic misuse contributes to ABR. ConclusionThe increased knowledge and awareness of ABR among respondents did not translate into proper antibiotic use, emphasizing the need for more stringent regulations on antibiotic dispensing and prescribing. Health sector reforms focused on utilizing technology like telemedicine to improve convenient access to health care, and multiple health insurance schemes to reduce out-of-pocket spending should be prioritized to improve health equity and universal health coverage (UHC).

Curriculum innovation implementation for industrialization: A case of education 5.0 pre-service science and mathematics teacher preparation

Higher and tertiary education graduates in any country should possess job – relevant knowledge and skills to meet needs of industry. Consistent with this, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science, and Technology Development of Zimbabwe, adopted Education 5.0, comprising five components: teaching, research, community service, innovation, and industrialization. This case study sought to explore the understanding by science and mathematics teacher educators of Education 5.0 curriculum innovation implementation at 3 teachers’ colleges in Zimbabwe. Science and mathematics teacher educators, purposively sampled participated in focus group discussions. To gain insight on Education 5.0 curriculum innovation implementation, policy documents were analyzed. Emergent themes were interpreted, guided by the interpretivist paradigm, which acknowledges multiple realities. Findings show that science and mathematics teacher educators were positive that Education 5.0 curriculum innovation implementation would cause socio – economic development. However, diverse interpretations of the Education 5.0 curriculum innovation seemed to threaten successful implementation. Therefore, curriculum innovation developers should ensure that implementers understand the envisaged innovation implementation to counter the adverse effects of diverse ontologies. Also, conditions should be conducive to successful curriculum innovation implementation.

A Scoping Review of the Hospitality Industry and Tertiary Partnership to Prepare Work-ready Graduates

This paper is a literature review, aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the collaboration between the hospitality higher educational sector and the industry to prepare work-ready graduates. A scoping review of 111 research papers published between April 2000 and September 2021 in reputable hospitality and tourism journals was conducted. Research revealed different perceptions between industry employers, educators, and students about competencies required of entry-level hospitality employees. Previous studies confirmed the positive impact of the industry-university collaboration on enhancing hospitality graduates’ employability. The work-integrated model has been widely implemented to develop hospitality students’ skill sets. Thus, hospitality higher education institutions need to adapt to the constantly changing business environment and present graduates with sufficient industry knowledge and skills. This study adds to the current literature on hospitality competencies expected from tertiary education graduates and highlights the appropriate methods to ensure effective industry-academia partnership. Generally, hospitality students and educators place more value on industry knowledge and technical skills. Hospitality tertiary educators should, thus, seek industry inputs more proactively to redesign their education programs, and industry professionals should engage and offer more support to higher education institutions to raise the quality of potential candidates.

Core Entrepreneurial Competencies for Local Content Curriculum

One of the severe problems facing the world-wide is a large number of unemployed, both high school graduates who do not continue their tertiary education and university graduates. The curriculum requires competency content to prepare graduates who are ready to work. One alternative is implementing an entrepreneurship curriculum so that graduates can decide on a career after graduation. This study aims to identify what core competencies are needed to start/start-up, manage, and develop the entrepreneurship local content curriculum for Islamic High Schools. This research method is a descriptive qualitative survey technique. The survey results were discussed through Focus Group Discussion with the participants, who were curriculum and entrepreneur experts from IAIN Syekh Nurjati Cirebon Indonesia and Kitakyushu University Japan. The result shows that the core and basic competencies consist of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes entrepreneurs must possess. The six core entrepreneurial competencies for local content curriculum are 1) Identifying business opportunities and exploiting businesses; 2) Implementing managerial activities; 3) Implementing human resource management; 4) Implementing commercial and marketing activities; 5) Implementing financial management; 6) Actualizing attitudes and behavior. This research contributes to providing knowledge to educational stakeholders to improve the quality of education by increasing its relevance in graduate employment.

Unemployment among technical students: implication for managers of higher education

The problem of unemployment among youths has remained unabated. This has cast doubt on the methods of instruction by lecturers. This study takes a critical review of some of the previous studies with an emphasis on employment statistics and employability skills (ES). The paper identifies the basic elements of ES and the latest statistics on youth unemployment in Africa, particularly Nigeria. The aim is to sensitize education managers of higher institutions in Nigeria about the danger inherent in turning out graduates massively without the corresponding skills to match them adequately with the world of work. Findings show that there is a persistent rise in the rate of youth unemployment because what the schools offer is not compliant with the labor market demand. The resulting skills played a significant role in increasing unemployment among tertiary education graduates. Therefore, the higher education curriculum needs to be modified to reflect the skills required by employers.

Aspects of the Vocational Education and Training of Tertiary Education Graduates

On the labour market, an important aspect is the resizing of jobs due to automation, respectively globalization. Technological changes have led to the need to acquire higher skills. The acquired knowledge and skills can lead to an increase in the ability of graduates to enter the labour market. Thus, for the member countries of the European Union, the article presents an analysis of the share of the population with age between 25 and 64 years, with a tertiary level of education. Likewise, the degree of insertion of graduates of tertiary education programs can be influenced by the economic activities carried out by economic agents. Analysis of employment rates for graduates of tertiary education programs is important. From this point of view, an analysis of the educational fields of the graduates is presented. The used comparative statistical analysis considered the study of the evolution of the number of tertiary level graduates, as well as of the educational fields, for the period 2013-2020, for the member countries of the European Union. Also, the 25-64 age group was selected, and for this the evolution of the share of people with tertiary education was studied. The importance of the degree to which graduates occupy a job after graduation, led to the selection of another indicator – the employment rate (for the period 2012-2021). The rate of participation in continuing professional education and training programs was another indicator for which a comparative statistical analysis was carried out. For all these analyses the existing database on the EUROSTAT website was used. The creation of new jobs involves, and also requires, new skills. For people in the field of work, the updating of skills, respectively their improvement, can be achieved by participating in education and professional training programs. At the same time, this subsequent participation in education and professional training programs is an indicator analysed in the article. The presented data show us that in 2021, approximately half of the population aged between 25 and 64, with tertiary education, was the majority in Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Sweden, Lithuania. The evolution of the number of graduates, at the level of the European Union, shows us that the number of graduates is increasing, so that in 2020 there were 4.24 million tertiary level graduates. It was found that in 2020 most graduates came from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland. Also, in 2020, the most graduates were for the field of business, administration, and law, followed by: engineering, manufacturing and construction, health and welfare, and education. The lowest share of graduates was for the field of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary. It was found that in 2021 the employment rate for people aged between 25 and 64, with a tertiary level of education, was high for: Malta, Poland, Hungary, Romania. The lowest values were registered in: Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus. At the same time, in the period 2013-2019, the values of the participation rate in education and professional training programs for people aged between 25 and 64, with a tertiary level of education, remained relatively constant, oscillating between 18.0% and 18.7%.

Assessing the Nexus Between Education, Economic Growth, and Innovation: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract Countries with a higher proportion of tertiary education graduates are wealthier and offer more diverse and motivating career opportunities to individuals, including students. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have examined the impact of education on wages and economic development and the impact of R&D and innovation on economic and social progress. However, research has focused less on the specific impact of education components (competencies, learning methods, information and communications, technology, and infrastructure) on economic development and innovation. The paper uses quantitative research methodology and dynamic panel models explore the impact of education on economic development, wages, and innovation in the European Union countries and countries that participate in PISA testing, over the period 2012-2019. The data was gathered from Eurostat, and the time period studied ranged from 2012 to 2019. We found evidence that the substantial funding of R&D and education, which promote innovation, supports a country’s need to develop and distinguish itself from others that underfund the most critical areas of economic development. The implications of this study are significant for Romania’s academic and political environments, as it encourages changes in educational policies that will consider the multifaceted impact of educational components on development through innovation.

Public Expenses in Education and Youth Unemployment Rates—A Vector Error Correction Model Approach

In the last decade, much of the attention of public expenditures in education has been focused on improving the offer to the labor market to minimize unemployment rates among young people. Since education directly affects human capital, investing in higher education is considered a benefit to future employment. Therefore, it is the purpose of this paper to investigate whether the government-allocated share of funds to total public expenditures in education affects the unemployment rates of youth in Albania. A quantitative analysis of total public expenses in education and of the country’s economic growth rates is used to investigate their effects on youth unemployment rates in the country. This is followed by another deeper investigation of public expenses in higher education and the country’s economic growth rates analysis on the youth unemployment rates of tertiary education graduates in Albania. Time series data are used in a set of econometric analyses such as the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test, Johansen test, and vector error correction (VEC) model to test for short-run dynamics and long-run causalities among the variables. The study results reveal that there is a short-term causality between the real economic growth rate and the youth unemployment rate, while there is a long-term causality between total public expenditures in education and the youth unemployment rate. If total public expenditures in education increase by 1%, the youth unemployment rate would decrease by 10.81%. Similarly, but not so strong, there is a long-term causality between public expenditures in higher education and the graduated youth unemployment rate. If public expenditures in higher education increase by 1%, the graduated youth unemployment rate would decrease by 5.85%. The speed of adjustment from the short-run to long-run equilibrium, in a quarter time, of the youth unemployment rate is 22%, while of the graduated youth unemployment rate is 53%—showing a faster convergence.

NEED ANALYSIS OF NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSE (ESP)

This research is to investigate the need analysis of the non-English students in ESP. This research is descriptive and qualitative. The findings show that in the educational students’ background in high school from 348 students as respondents, most students (196 students or 56.3 %) graduated from Vocational High School. They think that the career opportunities available to tertiary education graduates are much wider and more numerous. Most students (259 students or 74.4 %) have a ‘Basic’ level. The students can use simple vocabulary/expressions in English, know a little grammar and make lots of pronunciation errors. Most students (232 students or 66.6 %) are motivated to learn English to have the ability in communicating orally in English and to get a good job after graduating from the study. Most students (231 students or 66.6 %) have difficulty understanding grammar’. Most students (250 students or 71.8 %) want to have the reading ability in looking for information on English text. Most students (283 students or 81.3 %) want to have the ability in writing English sentences properly and correctly. Most students (270 students or 77.6 %) want to have the ability in listening to and understanding English presentations from the lecturer. Most students (304 students or 87.4 %) want to have the speaking ability in pronouncing English words correctly. Related to English language material needs for specific purposes required by students, most students (303 students or 87.1 %) want the material of vocabulary, especially English specific terms in several references such as books, journal articles, textbooks, modules, or other sources according to their study program in the fields of Accounting, Taxation, Engineering and Information Systems, and Islamic Economics.

NEED ANALYSIS OF NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSE (ESP)

This research is to investigate the need analysis of the non-English students in ESP. This research is descriptive and qualitative. The findings show that in the educational students’ background in high school from 348 students as respondents, most students (196 students or 56.3 %) graduated from Vocational High School. They think that the career opportunities available to tertiary education graduates are much wider and more numerous. Most students (259 students or 74.4 %) have a ‘Basic’ level. The students can use simple vocabulary/expressions in English, know a little grammar and make lots of pronunciation errors. Most students (232 students or 66.6 %) are motivated to learn English to have the ability in communicating orally in English and to get a good job after graduating from the study. Most students (231 students or 66.6 %) have difficulty understanding grammar’. Most students (250 students or 71.8 %) want to have the reading ability in looking for information on English text. Most students (283 students or 81.3 %) want to have the ability in writing English sentences properly and correctly. Most students (270 students or 77.6 %) want to have the ability in listening to and understanding English presentations from the lecturer. Most students (304 students or 87.4 %) want to have the speaking ability in pronouncing English words correctly. Related to English language material needs for specific purposes required by students, most students (303 students or 87.1 %) want the material of vocabulary, especially English specific terms in several references such as books, journal articles, textbooks, modules, or other sources according to their study program in the fields of Accounting, Taxation, Engineering and Information Systems, and Islamic Economics.

Education and Employment of Population with Tertiary Education Attainment in the European Union

Changes in the labor market are due to changes in production processes. Automation and globalization lead to the need to update the skills of the workforce. Finding and accessing jobs is all the easier as people have a high level of education. In a globalized economy, maintaining a high level of competitiveness is a major challenge. Vocational education and training systems can provide the skills, knowledge and competencies needed for new jobs. Vocational education and training programs are thus solutions by which the lack of skills or skills gaps can be filled. For the period 2000-2020, the article presents the comparative situation of the share of the adult population with tertiary education attainment. Their participation in lifelong education and training programs is very important. The comparative situation of participation rate in education and training is also analyzed. The labor market can influence the areas that high school graduates can pursue in higher education. Thus, the article presents the distribution of tertiary education graduates according to field of education.

Global expansion of tertiary education and the position of young people in the labour market

Introduction. The explosive growth of tertiary education around the world calls attention to how this affects the employment of young graduates.Aim. The current research paper is aimed to analyse how the growth of young people’s participation in tertiary education is reflected in the change of their employment and economic activity.Methodology and research methods. The comparative and correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between changes in the education attainment of young people and the dynamics of employment and economic activity indicators by levels of education. The article deals with educational statistics data from OECD countries, Russia and some other countries participating in OECD educational research.Results. The results of the analysis presented in the article show that the growth of tertiary education leads to an increase in the unemployment rate among the young population; however, this is true only for the least advanced programmes, while there is an increase in the employment rate for master’s degree graduates. Economic activity among young graduates with a master’s degree grew faster after the 2009 crisis than among graduates of other tertiary education programmes. Master’s degree graduates were in a better position during the crisis of 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific novelty. The authors presented a detailed analysis of the growth in the scale of tertiary education and the changes of status in the labour market indicators of graduates of different tertiary education programmes.Practical significance of the study lies in the development of the information and analytical basis for adjusting further policy in the field of development of tertiary education based on the goal of increasing youth employment.

Perspectives on employers’ expectations on tertiary education graduates’ employability skills in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Given that undergraduates, graduates and tertiary institutions of higher learning are uncertain Given that undergraduates, graduates, and tertiary institutions of higher learning are uncertain regarding the expectations of employers in the work organizations on the skill that graduates possess, the study presented in this paper attempts to provide some meaningful clues in that directions. The study followed a research question that interrogates what employability skills employers expect graduates to possess for an entry-level job. Designed as a descriptive study, a quantitative research approach was chosen, where the survey method of data collection was employed through a closed-ended structured questionnaire. The study targeted employers (managers) of public and private work organizations in the health and education sectors in a South African town Mthatha, from where a sample of 41 participants (representing organizations) was drawn. The study employed a stratified random sampling in selecting the participants, which ensured that the principle of selecting representatives of the target population was met. Data collected from the participants were analyzed by the use of selected descriptive tools. The analyzed data revealed that all employers expect graduates to possess all the 13 skill areas that employees require to function in the workplace. Surprisingly, the employers mostly expect least from the young graduates in terms of quantitative skills and leadership capabilities. While this finding corroborates what exists in the literature, it provides a new dimension with regard to priority skills needed by employers in the South African labor market. The study, therefore, recommends that the work organizations and higher institutions of learning should form a partnership and a close relationship so that they can assist one another in building the employability skills of graduates.

The Level of Education of Graduates in Romania in the Context of Globalization

Research background:Technological changes are one of the reasons for the resizing of jobs. Demographic change is affecting the labour market, both locally and regionally. Thus, together with technological changes, they lead to changes in the level of education of graduates. The process is accentuated by globalization. There are changes in the labour market that require people with higher skills.Purpose of the article:For Romania, the analysis of the level of education of graduates at regional level, depending on the county, is presented in this article. In the paper, depending on the level of education, the evolution at county level of the number of graduates is presented. At the same time, the evolution of the total number of graduates for the levels of primary-secondary, vocational, high school, post-high school education, respectively for the level of university education, is analyzed.Methods:Thus, following the analysis, it is observed that, at national level, the number of graduates decreased. Also, for certain levels of education and only for some counties, the number of graduates has increased.Findings & Value added:The radiography performed is important for the regional needs’ analysis of the labour market. Thus, following the analysis, it was found that most graduates of tertiary education are from university centers: Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Timiș. Graduates with a high level of knowledges, skills, and competencies have higher opportunities and abilities to identify and occupy a job.

Unemployment Among Technical Students: Implication for Managers of Higher Education

The problem of unemployment among youths has remained unabated. This has cast doubt on the methods of instructions by lecturers. This study takes a critical review of some of the previous studies with an emphasis on employment statistics and employability skills. The paper x-ray the basic elements of employability skills and the latest statistics of youth unemployment in Africa particularly, Nigeria. The aim is to sensitize education managers of higher institutions in Nigeria about the danger inherent in turning out graduates massively without the corresponding skills to match them adequately with the world of work. Findings show that there is a persistent rise in the rate of youth unemployment because what the schools offered is not compliant with the labour market demand. The resulting skills played a significant role in increasing unemployment among Tertiary Education graduates. Therefore, the higher education curriculum needs to be modified to reflect the skills required of employers.

Does Vocational Education Pay Better, or Worse, than Academic Education?

In this paper, we use the Chinese General Social Survey data to analyse the returns to upper secondary vocational education in China. To address possible endogeneity of vocational training due to omitted heterogeneity, we construct a novel instrumental variable using the proportion of tertiary education graduates relative to the entire population by year. Our main finding is that, although returns to vocational upper secondary education appear higher than returns to academic upper secondary education according to the Mincerian equation, the results from the instrumental variable method tell the opposite story: vocational upper secondary graduates face a wage penalty compared to academic upper secondary graduates. The wage penalty is confirmed by an alternative and more recent IV method - the Lewbel method (Lewbel, 2012). Our findings highlight the importance of properly accounting for endogeneity when estimating the returns to vocational education.

Нормативно-Политические Вопросы Обращение С Обеспечением Низкого Образования В Индонезии (Policy In Handling The Low Education Relevance In Indonesia)

AbstractThe problem of Human Resources (HR) in Indonesia is becoming increasingly complex, this is reflected in the large number of formal education graduates from various levels who are not absorbed in the world of work. Many factors cause this to happen, including the mismatch between HR competencies and the labor market, the growth of the workforce is greater than the availability of available employment and population distribution between regions is not evenly distributed. If you look at the achievements of Indonesian tertiary education graduates, many of Indonesian tertiary education graduates are slow to get jobs, this shows that there is a broken link between higher education and the world of work. Higher education has not been able to produce graduates with high selling prices armed with the knowledge they have learned even though in general higher education graduates have greater employment opportunities than high school or lower level graduates. Many realities on the ground show that the quality of Indonesian people as a potential resource still does not meet expectations. This happens because of the low quality of education in Indonesia. By fulfilling good educational needs, the students will get benefits and can improve the quality of life of the knowledge they have, so that after completing their education, they can get decent jobs or create quality jobs. Indonesia's education world must start to build links with the world of work, so that the world of work responds to graduates produced in accordance with what the world of work wants; this paradigm must be understood and built by the Indonesian government. Education transformation is needed so that education is able to produce reliable and resilient human resources; education and educators must be improved.

Research Trends in K–12 MOOCs: A Review of the Published Literature

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) appeared in the area of educational technologies in 2008. Until 2013, academic research into MOOCs focused mainly on their application to adults as well as students or graduates of tertiary education. However, since 2013, the rising number of K–12 students enrolled in higher education MOOCs made MOOCs a de facto reality in pretertiary education and triggered universities, governments, and MOOC providers to (a) develop MOOCs specifically designed for pretertiary education, and (b) research their potential and value in K–12 educational settings. This resulted in a notable number of K–12 MOOCs and pilot research works in the literature that focused on the potential of MOOCs in compulsory education settings, as well as on their ability to reshape and transform the current educational K–12 framework. This work seeks to (a) trace, analyze, and review the existing literature on K–12 MOOCs, (b) identify representative MOOC implementations, (c) classify and organize research trends and patterns, and (d) reveal MOOCs’ potential value and impact on K–12 settings. The research used a narrative literature review methodology in order to critically review and qualitatively analyze twenty-one research publications in a systematic manner. Analysis of relevant works demonstrated that MOOCs, under a set of prerequisites, can be effectively incorporated into and positively affect pretertiary education.