graduate employability as an indicator of institutional effectiveness: a case study of nmmu prof...
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GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY AS AN INDICATOR OF INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS:
A Case Study of NMMU
Prof Heather Nel and Dr Annemarie Barnard
Strategic and Institutional Planning Unit
Centre for Planning and Institutional Development
The purpose of this study was to analyse perceptions of NMMU graduates & employers with respect to:
o Knowledge, attributes & skills contributing to graduate employability
o Extent to which NMMU qualifications/programmes equip graduates with required knowledge, attributes & skills
o The benefits of experiential learning
o Aspects impacting on graduate employability
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
CONTEXT: Effectiveness of higher education
The growing number of unemployed graduates globally is challenging the effectiveness of HE institutions in providing the requisite education for national development & economic growth.
Graduate unemployment in SA increased by almost 50% between 1995 & 2005 – fastest growing unemployment rate among all education cohorts (MacGregor, 2007)
“Higher education has a responsibility to its principal stakeholders — students — to equip them with more than a profound knowledge of an academic subject area. Higher education has a responsibility to students that includes encouraging and enabling them to develop, through their academic study, a range of explicit attributes, which allow them to subsequently engage effectively in the world of work” (Stewart & Knowles, 2000: 2)
CONTEXT:Higher education efficiency & effectiveness
Efficiency:Is higher education doing things right?
Examples of efficiency indicators (inputs – process – outputs): Participation ratesStudent: staff ratiosExpenditure per studentGraduation ratesResearch outputs
Effectiveness:Is higher education doing the right things right? What difference is it making?
Examples of effectiveness indicators (impact/outcomes):Graduate employability & employment ratesHE participation/graduation rates compared to national GDPEducational attainment levels of population
studentsstudents graduatesgraduatesefficiencyefficiency graduate graduate employabilityemployability
research research outputsoutputs
funding funding (public &(public &private)private)
educationaleducationalattainment ofattainment of
populationpopulation
staffstaff
servicesservicesstudent/student/
staffstaffsatisfactionsatisfaction
national &national ®ionalregional
development/development/economiceconomic
growthgrowth
service & service & outreachoutreach
On inputs and outputs/outcomesOn inputs and outputs/outcomes
student student progressprogress(credits)(credits)
attritionattrition
Employability is taken as:
“a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy”
(Higher Education Council, Australia, 1992)
CONCEPTUALISING GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY
For the purposes of this study, graduate employability was conceptualised as:
“a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” (Higher Education Council, Australia, 1992)
LITERATURE REVIEW Employability is not the same as employment
o Capacity of the graduate to function effectively in a job & it should not be confused with the acquisition of a job – too many extraneous political, economic & social factors impacting on employment
Employability as a curricular process
o Curricula design should support the development of intellectual & critical thinking skills that enable a graduate to fulfil a role – not merely possessing the task-related skills that enable a graduate to do a specific job (Cox & King, 2006)
o “Increasingly complex” understandings by academics of generic graduate attributes & how these inform curricula (Barrie, 2006)
LITERATURE REVIEW (cont.) Employability as achievement and potential
o HEIs are not always successful in preparing learners for the complexity of advanced knowledge economies – “symbolic analysts” (Reich, 2002)
o Undergraduate programmes should be concerned with:
Abstraction (theorising; relating empirical data to theory; using formulae, equations, models & metaphors);
Systems thinking (seeing the part in the context of the wider whole);
Experimentation (intuitively or analytically);
Collaboration (involving communication & teamwork skills).
Data Collection and Sample
o Quantitative & qualitative methodologies
o Graduate survey
2005-2008 NMMU graduates: 2841 in total
Non-probability convenience & snowball sampling methods
Sampling frame: NMMU alumni database
2008 graduates were targeted at the graduation ceremonies in April
o Employer interviews
Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with selected employers in E & S Cape
Sampling frame = all employers on the NMMU employer database
Purposive sampling - at least one representative per employment sector
45 employer interviews conducted in total
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: GRADUATE SURVEY
YEAR OF GRADUATION
PARTICIPANTS GRADUATES
2005 2.4%(68)
28.2%(6613)
2006 4.5%(195)
24.4%(5718)
2007 3.2%(91)
21.8%(5097)
2008 89.9%(2555)
25.6%(5994)
INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS Cut points calculated by dividing the range of 4 (5-1) into 4 equal
intervals:
o 4.2 and above
o 3.4 – 4.2
o 2.6 – 3.4
o less than 2.6 Percentages positive, negative & neutral
Analysed for whole sample & broken down further for relevant variables (e.g. year of graduation, faculty, qualification type, employment sector)
Open-ended responses
Recurring themes extracted from the interview data
Literature control & triangulation – enhance validity & reliability
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Employment Status
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Employment Status
More than 75% of all respondents in full-time employment
76.9% of 2008 respondents in full-time employment
Only 3.3% unemployed
Most respondents (81%) employed in an occupation related to their qualification
86.3% of respondents obtained their first jobs within six months after qualifying
Of the 3.3% who were unemployed at the time of the study, the reasons provided for unemployment included:o More than a third (34.3%) were studying further o The rest could not find employment due to the following reasons:
Lack of work experience (25.8%) Lack of opportunities in field of study (14.3%) Not seeking employment (13.5%)
o Other common problems reported in finding employment included: Employment equity policies ‘Under-qualified’ ‘Over-qualified’
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Employment status
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Recruitment and training
NMMU Graduate Recruitment Programme: “Graduate placement was amazing!”
Some concerns expressed by employers:o Graduates do not know how to prepare proper CVs when applying
for a jobo Employers feel that graduates should be better prepared for job
interviewso Graduates do not seem to have sufficient career information and
have very unrealistic expectations about the world of worko It takes graduates a long time to adapt and become fully functional
in the workplaceo Insufficient numbers of graduates in scarce skills areas (e.g. ICT)
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Experiential learning
Employers:o 17 of the 45 employers in the sample currently offer opportunities for
students to be placed for experiential or work-integrated learning
o Employers appreciated the fact that some academic departments encourage feedback from industry (e.g. Engineering, IT)
o Lack of trained workplace mentors problematic – capacity constraints Graduates:o 82.2% of respondents who did not take part in experiential or work-
integrated learning felt that it would have enhanced their employability
o 87.4% of respondents agreed that academic staff should consult employers when designing or updating academic programmes/ curricula
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Level and type of qualification
More than half (59.7%) of the respondents pursued further studies
85.2% felt that their postgraduate studies enhanced their knowledge, skills & competencies for their current job
Graduates in Science (70.3%), Arts (68.4%), Business (61.2%), & Education (61.2%) most likely to study further
Graduates who obtained a four-year professional degree were the least likely to continue with further studies (34.4%) – e.g. Law
Emphasis placed by employers on employees engaging in continuing professional development & lifelong learning – obtaining a first qualification is no longer sufficient
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Graduate knowledge, skills & attributes
22 skills & attributes rated according to (i) importance, & (ii) extent to which graduates were equipped with these skills & attributes at NMMU
All of the skills & attributes rated by graduates as very important, with the exception of entrepreneurship (3.98)
Top 6 ratings: professionalism (4.64); honesty (4.57); communication skills (4.53); problem solving (4.51); self-confidence (4.50); teamwork (4.49)
Best prepared through their studies: honesty (4.47); professionalism (4.42); working independently (4.35); interpersonal skills (4.30); teamwork (4.30)
Effect size: determine whether statistically significant differences are discrepancies of practical concern
o Differences of moderate practical concern: communication skills (d = 0.56); presentation skills (d = 0.51)
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Graduate knowledge, skills & attributes
Employers expect graduates to be competent in the following skills:
o Communication
o Interpersonal relations
o Teamwork
o Problem-solving & analytical skills
o “Soft” skills such as the ability to dress appropriately, basic good manners & the ability to present themselves well
o Computer literacy
o Management skills (especially financial & project management)
o Administrative & organisational skills
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Graduate knowledge, skills & attributes
Employers seek out graduates with a range of personal attributes:
o Honesty & integrity - professionalism & behaving in an ethical manner
o Self-assurance, including self-confidence, -awareness, -belief, -sufficiency, -direction & -promotion; labelled “assertiveness” by some employers
o Ambition, including the drive to succeed, commitment, willingness to go “the extra mile” & passion
o Self-regulation, including time management, ability to work without supervision, being a self-starter & seeing things through to a conclusion
o Resilience, i.e. ability to work under pressure & to cope with stress - “emotionally mature”, “emotionally intelligent”, “spiritually mature”
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: Enhancing the Employability of NMMU Graduates
Address unrealistic expectations of students regarding the world of work
More opportunities for experiential learning before graduation
Academic staff should work more closely with relevant employers to enhance the relevance of curricula & facilitate experiential learning/graduate placement
Relevant or market-related programmes
Improve communication skills of all students
Emphasise work ethics
Develop “soft” skills
Embed knowledge on basic business practice into all curricula
THE WAY FORWARD:Some considerations for “closing the loop”
Research-informed dialogue with academics & other stakeholders to enhance curriculum responsiveness – role of IR
Systematic impact studies: go beyond merely counting the number of employed graduates in SA – deeper analyses of graduate employability
Possibility of follow-up studies to inform analyses of HE impact: o At departmental or programme level (e.g. as part of programme
review/ professional accreditation processes)o At institutional level – constraints: financial & HR capacity; availability
of accurate alumni data; comparability of research findingso Need to implement nationally commissioned graduate employability
studies at sectoral level funded by DoHET/CHE – e.g. Australia, UKo Conduct comparative analyses of SA research findings with similar
international studies
