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Graduate competencies and employability: The impact of matching firms’ needs and personal attainments

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  • Teijeiro, Mercedes
  • Rungo, Paolo
  • Freire, Mª Jesús

Abstract

Professional competencies are a key factor in gauging how employable a graduate is. This paper demonstrates that individuals who have best developed the competencies which firms feel to be most important are more likely to be in a position to obtain a job. To this end, we have developed an indicator that measures the proximity between the relative levels of both importance and attainments. Results confirm the feeling among experts that the most relevant competencies in the labour market are predominantly of the systemic type, i.e. transferable personal competencies, to the detriment of more instrumental competencies related to capacities and graduate education. This paper clearly points to the fact that universities must change their traditional focus and make a special effort to help their students to develop those competencies that best foster employability.

Suggested Citation

  • Teijeiro, Mercedes & Rungo, Paolo & Freire, Mª Jesús, 2013. "Graduate competencies and employability: The impact of matching firms’ needs and personal attainments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 286-295.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:34:y:2013:i:c:p:286-295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.01.003
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    3. Peter Hoeschler & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "The Relative Importance of Personal Characteristics for the Hiring of Young Workers," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0142, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Jan 2018.
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    5. Beatriz LOPEZ-BERMUDEZ & Carla OLIVEIRA-SILVA & Maria Jesus FREIRE-SEOANE, 2020. "Study Of Workers’ Education Levels In Spain And Portugal (2006-2016)," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 20(1), pages 19-30.
    6. Carlos Pais Montes & Maria Jesús Freire Seoane & Beatriz López Bermúdez, 2016. "Perfiles de empleabilidad: de las competencias a las identidades," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 11, in: José Manuel Cordero Ferrera & Rosa Simancas Rodríguez (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 11, edition 1, volume 11, chapter 43, pages 771-794, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    7. Humburg, Martin & van der Velden, Rolf, 2015. "Skills and the graduate recruitment process: Evidence from two discrete choice experiments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 24-41.
    8. Golo Henseke, 2019. "Against the Grain? Assessing Graduate Labour Market Trends in Germany Through a Task-Based Indicator of Graduate Jobs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 809-840, January.
    9. Berlingieri, Francesco & Bonin, Holger & Sprietsma, Maresa, 2014. "Youth unemployment in Europe: Appraisal and policy options," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110578.
    10. Lukasz Wiechetek & Nada Trunk Sirca, 2014. "Entrepreneurs’ Expectations and Students’ Competencies According to the First Stage of the Synergy Project Evaluation," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia, vol. 3(1), pages 101-123.
    11. Blázquez, Maite & Herrarte, Ainhoa & Llorente-Heras, Raquel, 2018. "Competencies, occupational status, and earnings among European university graduates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 16-34.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Graduates; Competencies; Human capital; Job matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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