Universities need to take stock of the current state of graduate employability from both the employers' and the graduates' perspectives if they are to respond effectively to the knowledge and skills requirements of the industry. Globally, graduate employability is a concept that is becoming increasingly popular in the higher education sector. The underlying assumption is that graduates need attributes other than those skills needed in the subject-specific discipline. This article provides an assessment of stakeholders' perceptions on graduate employability attributes for management sciences graduates in Namibia. The study applied a survey method, with questionnaires being administered to the three types of stakeholder, namely, employers, lecturers and graduates. The study found a mismatch in responses between these stakeholders regarding the attributes that are important for the job market, those that are emphasised in curricula, and those that graduates need more training on. The argument presented by the article is that mapping stakeholders' perceptions will enable universities to equip their graduates with employability attributes needed by the industry.
Recognising implicit employability attributes within discipline-specific program modules is a critical part of the process of developing new employability modules in the management sciences curricula. The notion of graduate employability has gained acceptance in the higher education sector across the world and furthermore higher education and industry appear to have reached consensus on the importance of enhancing graduate attributes through the curricula at university. This paper offers a qualitative analysis of curricula documents to determine strategies that are effective in enhancing graduate employability. Using content analysis to assess six bachelor degree programs in management sciences from selected universities in Namibia, the study established that, in addition to work-integrated learning modules, there is evidence of graduate employability attributes being implicitly embedded in core curricula and discipline-specific modules. The researchers argue that universities should develop a stand-alone core module specifically to cultivate employability attributes. This should be supported by multiple work-integrated learning experiences for students to practise technical or discipline specific skills and generic employability attributes.
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