The Work Readiness Scale (WRS): Developing a measure to assess work readiness in college graduates

Abstract

Work readiness is a relatively new concept which has emerged in the literature as a selection criterion for predicting graduate potential. Its definition and validity however, is contentious. To address this issue, the current study aimed to identify the attributes and characteristics that comprise work readiness and develop a scale to assess graduate work readiness. A qualitative study was conducted to assist in generating a representative pool of items for quantitative measurement. The resultant 167 item Work Readiness Scale (WRS) which we developed was validated in a sample of 251 graduates across a range of disciplines. Item analysis assisted in refining the scale. Exploratory factor analyses supported a 4-factor solution, with the final WRS consisting of 64 items. The four factors explained 44.7% of the variance, demonstrated excellent reliability and were labelled personal characteristics, organisational acumen, work competence, and social intelligence. The findings indicate that work readiness is a multidimensional construct and initial evidence is provided for the construct validity of the WRS.

Enhancing graduate employability and the need for university-enterprise collaboration

“…Again, one can find different concepts of skills used in the literature which all claim to be necessary for graduates to participate and to develop in the employment market: generic skills, soft skills, transferable skills, cross-disciplinary skills, graduate attributes, core skills, key skills, basic skills, crosscurricular skills, common skills, essential skills, enterprise skills or even employability skills, to name a few (Caballero, Walker, & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, 2011;Cabellero & Walker, 2010;Hager & Holland, 2006;Lowden, Hall, Elliot, & Lewin, 2011;Rust & Froud, 2011). The word 'skills' appears in almost all articles in relation to the quality outcomes of HE; professional knowledge is sometimes also considered a type of skill, called technical skills (AC Nielsen Research Services, 2000;World Bank, 2011).…”

Value-adding to health professional student placement experiences: Enhancing work readiness and employability through a rural community engagement program

“…When on professional placement, students' main priority is the acquisition of profession-specific clinical knowledge, skills and abilities (Qenani et al, 2014;Thompson et al, 2013). While these are essential to their future health professional roles, literature suggests that employers place value on students possessing a broader, more generic skill-set (Caballero & Walker, 2010;Caballero et al, 2011). This and other previous studies suggest that community engagement targets these generic competencies, as well as adding to their core clinical competencies.…”

“…In acknowledging this issue, in 2015, Universities Australia launched a national strategy focussed on work integrated learning to strengthen collaborations with industry and communities in order to better prepare university graduates for employment (Universities Australia, 2015). While traditional, formal models of university education provide students with many of the pre-requisites for employment in their chosen field, they also need contextually authentic and relevant activities that extend their capabilities (Higgs, 2011) and ensure they are work-ready, improving their chances of obtaining a job when they graduate (Clark et al, 2015;Prout et al, 2014) and meet the expectations of potential employers (Caballero & Walker, 2010;Caballero et al, 2011;Hager & Holland, 2006;Walker et al, 2013) in order to develop their broader generic skill set that employers value.…”

“…Industry demands and employer expectations require graduates to have a broad skill set that will enable them to integrate readily into the workforce and be able to solve complex problems (Millican & Bourner, 2011). These broad skills valued by employers include resilience, teamwork, communication, personal and social qualities, and self-management (Caballero & Walker, 2010;Caballero, Walker, & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz., 2011;Hager & Holland, 2006;Messum, Wilkes, & Jackson, 2015;Walker et al, 2013). Generally students themselves also want to develop such skills (Thompson, Clark, Walker, & Whyatt, 2013) and thus enhance their employment prospects (Qenani, MacDougall, & Sexton, 2014).…”

Work Readiness of Software Engineering Student in Batu City

“…The work readiness in this context is the readiness of students as candidates for graduates to work especially in industrial world. Work readiness can be defined as to what extent graduates feel to have attitudes and traits that make them prepared or ready to succeed in the work environment [19].…”