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What makes better career opportunities for young graduates? Examining acquired employability skills in higher education institutions

What makes better career opportunities for young graduates? Examining acquired employability... The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model to examine key employability skills that match workplace requirements and foster employability.Design/methodology/approachThis research comprises a cross-sectional study from self-financing institutions in Hong Kong. The current study adopted structural equation modeling to examine key employability skills that match workplace requirements and foster employability.FindingsBased on the empirical findings, the acquired employability skills of young graduates are entrepreneurship, professional development, work with others, self-management, communication and problem solving. Moreover, higher education institutions should work closely with industry stakeholders to get employers engaged with the work-integrating learning (WIL) programs and subsequently equip young graduates for better employability opportunities. In connection with employer engagement, employability skills of communication, problem solving and self-management would be improved. Furthermore, entrepreneurship and problem-solving skills could further be developed for young graduating students working in SME organizations during WIL.Originality/valueAs a notable gap exists in the current literature to examine young graduates' key employability skills in the context and content of Hong Kong self-financing tertiary education, this research explores key employability skills of self-financed young graduates and the relative importance of employability skills across company size using a quantitative approach. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Education + Training Emerald Publishing

What makes better career opportunities for young graduates? Examining acquired employability skills in higher education institutions

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References (87)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0040-0912
DOI
10.1108/et-08-2020-0231
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model to examine key employability skills that match workplace requirements and foster employability.Design/methodology/approachThis research comprises a cross-sectional study from self-financing institutions in Hong Kong. The current study adopted structural equation modeling to examine key employability skills that match workplace requirements and foster employability.FindingsBased on the empirical findings, the acquired employability skills of young graduates are entrepreneurship, professional development, work with others, self-management, communication and problem solving. Moreover, higher education institutions should work closely with industry stakeholders to get employers engaged with the work-integrating learning (WIL) programs and subsequently equip young graduates for better employability opportunities. In connection with employer engagement, employability skills of communication, problem solving and self-management would be improved. Furthermore, entrepreneurship and problem-solving skills could further be developed for young graduating students working in SME organizations during WIL.Originality/valueAs a notable gap exists in the current literature to examine young graduates' key employability skills in the context and content of Hong Kong self-financing tertiary education, this research explores key employability skills of self-financed young graduates and the relative importance of employability skills across company size using a quantitative approach.

Journal

Education + Training – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 9, 2021

Keywords: Employability skills; Employer engagement; Structural equation modelling; Work-integrated learning (WIL); Young graduates

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