Disparities in Perceptions of Generic Skills: Academics and Employers

Leveson, Lynne

doi:10.5367/000000000101295002

Cited by 48 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…As consequence, the mis-match between entry level graduates and the requirements of organizational environments is likely to see opportunities for new graduates become increasingly limited (Kavanagh et al, 2009). This view is supported by Leveson (2000) who states that the absence of a common vocabulary between education and professional environment widens the gap between students' perceptions and employers' expectations.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 48%

Skills and Attributes Needed for Success in Accounting Career: Do Employers’ Expectations Fit with Students’ Perceptions? Evidence from Tunisia

Klibi¹,

Oussii²

2013

IJBM

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Purpose -The aim of this article is to examine perceptions and expectations of two major stakeholders: students and employers of the importance of skills and attributes for securing entry-level employment in accounting.Design/methodology/approach -The authors conduct an empirical study using a list of 78 items, starting by comparing employers' expectations with students' perceptions concerning the set of technical and non technical skills required from accounting graduates to pursue a career in the accounting profession This study involving data collection from 81 accounting students in five business schools in Tunisia and 48 practitioners.Findings -Findings indicate that employers are seeking graduates who possess a diverse range of non-technical skills. However, accounting students perceive that it is rather technical skills which determine their abilities to pursue a career in the accounting profession.Practical implications -The paper's findings are of interest to several different parties, primarily the professional accounting body, universities and students.Originality/value -The paper describes an empirical study, conducted on a developing country, which provides a better understanding of new skills expected for future accountants in this changing business environment. The paper constitutes also a meaningful contribution to the accounting education literature, as it examines an interesting subject that has not yet been investigated in the Tunisian context.

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Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 48%

Skills and Attributes Needed for Success in Accounting Career: Do Employers’ Expectations Fit with Students’ Perceptions? Evidence from Tunisia

Klibi¹,

Oussii²

2013

IJBM

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“…This may explain why the funding, effort and institutional resources for addressing graduate employability focus almost entirely on the first stage of developing non-technical skills and not empirically examining and modelling their subsequent transfer to the workplace. This second stage to achieving graduate employability is not necessarily overlooked by stakeholders but simply, and maybe incorrectly, assumed as occurring automatically (Leveson, 2000). The practice of interchanging employability and non-technical skills confirms stakeholder assume they are one and the same thing, successfully developing non-technical skills equating to graduate employability with little thought to the potentially missing link of learning transfer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business graduate employability – where are we going wrong?

Jackson

2013

Higher Education Research & Development

123

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| P a g eBusiness graduate employability -where are we going wrong? AbstractPersistent gaps in certain non-technical skills in business graduates continue to impact on organisational performance and global competitiveness. Despite business school's best efforts in developing non-technical skills, widely acknowledged as fundamental to graduate employability, there has been considerably less attention to measuring skill outcomes and even less on their subsequent transfer to the workplace. It appears stakeholders are assuming transfer occurs automatically in graduates, neglecting the influence of learning program, learner and workplace characteristics on this complex process and its potential impact on graduate employability. This paper unpacks the concept of transfer and proposes a model of graduate employability which incorporates the process. Measures for empirical analysis are discussed. Testing the model would indicate the extent to which transfer occurs and highlight collaborative strategies for employers, universities and graduates in nurturing learning and workplace environments in which transfer may flourish, taking us one step closer to the elusive 'work-ready' graduate.

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“…This lack of consensus stems, to a large degree, from differences in understandings about what the term "generic skills" actually means and what is entailed in their development. These differences have been noted individually, among and between academic and employer groups (Al-Mahmood & Gruba, 2007;Barrie, 2004;Leveson, 2000;Marginson, 1993) and institutionally in the plethora of approaches to generic skills development adopted by Australian universities. In recent years attempts to clarify the situation have seen a shift in research focus from mapping and describing generic skills to one which investigates how these skills are acquired and developed and the teaching and learning strategies employed in the process (Hoban et al, 2004;Bowden et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Separate or Integrate? The Contribution of the Workshop Model to Effectively Embedding Generic Skills

Daly¹,

Leveson²,

Dixon³

2011

ASS

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A major question for the generic skills project (Graduate Skills, 2010) was how best to promote the development of these skills for students in business. This question has preoccupied educationalists for decades and a variety of strategies are currently in use. This paper reviews the literature in the area and proposes an additional approach to the development of generic skills  the use of intensive workshops. Beginning with students and later incorporating teaching staff, a series of one-to three-day workshops were held at various universities around Australia. These were well received by both the students and academics who participated. Student feedback from the workshops showed they had improved their understanding of the four generic skills discussed  critical thinking, teamwork, sustainability and ethical practice  and had especially enjoyed learning in a socially interactive and challenging environment. These results suggest that the workshop model has considerable potential either in stand-alone form or as a complement to an existing strategy for generic skills development.

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Disparities in Perceptions of Generic Skills: Academics and Employers

Cited by 48 publications

References 10 publications

Skills and Attributes Needed for Success in Accounting Career: Do Employers’ Expectations Fit with Students’ Perceptions? Evidence from Tunisia

Skills and Attributes Needed for Success in Accounting Career: Do Employers’ Expectations Fit with Students’ Perceptions? Evidence from Tunisia

Business graduate employability – where are we going wrong?

Separate or Integrate? The Contribution of the Workshop Model to Effectively Embedding Generic Skills

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