IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v12y2022i3p72-d845169.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Graduate Employability of Business Students

Author

Listed:
  • Wise Mainga

    (College of Business, University of The Bahamas, Nassau P.O. Box N-4912, Bahamas)

  • Marlo B Murphy-Braynen

    (College of Business, University of The Bahamas, Nassau P.O. Box N-4912, Bahamas)

  • Remelda Moxey

    (College of Business, University of The Bahamas, Nassau P.O. Box N-4912, Bahamas)

  • Syed Abdul Quddus

    (College of Business, University of The Bahamas, Nassau P.O. Box N-4912, Bahamas)

Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine the perceptions of business students on their employability skills at the point of graduation. The study was partially driven by past research which identified lack of soft skills as one of the main contributing factors in younger workers’ dismissal from work, and the need to understand the level of employability skills younger graduates have at graduation. An exploratory descriptive research methodology was used for the study. A survey was administered to 189 fourth-year business students. In total, 90 students filled-in the questionnaire, representing a 47.6% response rate. Based on a structured survey questionnaire administered to final-year undergraduate business students, the four most important employability skills for recruitment to entry-level positions are communication skills, learning skills, positive attitudes and behaviours, and problem-solving skills. The main prominent result was that ‘learning skills’ were ranked the second most important employability skills. In today’s fast-paced, rapidly changing work environments that are characterised by rapid knowledge obsolescence and an unknown future, willingness to learn and proactive lifelong learning are key to sustaining long-term graduate employability. Students seem to be satisfied with their perceived level of academic, personal management, and teamwork skills they possessed at the point of graduation. However, there are possible areas for further improvement regarding creativity and innovative skills, and ability to ‘resolve and management conflicts’ in teamwork. The study found that students used a combination of traditional and student-centred learning methods and pedagogies to acquire employability skills. As business students approach graduation, it is important to focus on areas they can improve and emphasise self-directed lifelong learning throughout their careers. The study confirms the role of external factors—labour market demand—in influencing perceived employability . The perceptions of students need to be systematically included in HEIs’ employability policy and discourse.

Suggested Citation

  • Wise Mainga & Marlo B Murphy-Braynen & Remelda Moxey & Syed Abdul Quddus, 2022. "Graduate Employability of Business Students," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-35, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:12:y:2022:i:3:p:72-:d:845169
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/3/72/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/3/72/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria José Sousa & Daniela Wilks, 2018. "Sustainable Skills for the World of Work in the Digital Age," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 399-405, July.
    2. Valentina Dolce & Federica Emanuel & Maurizio Cisi & Chiara Ghislieri, 2020. "The soft skills of accounting graduates: perceptions versus expectations," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 57-76, January.
    3. Erdsiek, Daniel, 2017. "Dynamics of overqualification: Evidence from the early career of graduates," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carla Carvalho & Ana Carlos Almeida, 2022. "The Adequacy of Accounting Education in the Development of Transversal Skills Needed to Meet Market Demands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    2. repec:fst:rfsisf:v:8:y:2023:i:15:p:62-85 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Mónica Santana & Mirta Díaz-Fernández, 2023. "Competencies for the artificial intelligence age: visualisation of the state of the art and future perspectives," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1971-2004, August.
    4. Pablo Fernández-Arias & Álvaro Antón-Sancho & Diego Vergara & Amelia Barrientos, 2021. "Soft Skills of American University Teachers: Self-Concept," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Eller, Robert & Alford, Philip & Kallmünzer, Andreas & Peters, Mike, 2020. "Antecedents, consequences, and challenges of small and medium-sized enterprise digitalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 119-127.
    6. Shivam Gupta & Sachin Modgil & Samadrita Bhattacharyya & Indranil Bose, 2022. "Artificial intelligence for decision support systems in the field of operations research: review and future scope of research," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 308(1), pages 215-274, January.
    7. Nanja Kroon & Maria do Céu Alves, 2023. "Fifteen Years of Accounting Professional’s Competencies Supply and Demand: Evidencing Actors, Competency Assessment Strategies, and ‘Top Three’ Competencies," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, February.
    8. Anneleen Vandeplas & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2019. "Skills Mismatch and Productivity in the EU," European Economy - Discussion Papers 100, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    9. Andreea Cordos (Labaditis) & Adriana Tiron-Tudor, 2023. "Employability skills for professional accountants in the midstof Industry 4.0 - a literature review," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 15(8), pages 62-85, November.
    10. Grace Ji & Grace Wong & Dennis Taylor & Dessalegn Mihret, 2022. "Motivational appetites, cultural orientations and accounting students' learning," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2283-2312, June.
    11. Apostolou, Barbara & Dorminey, Jack W. & Hassell, John M., 2021. "Accounting education literature review (2020)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    12. Pérez Navarro, Marco Aurelio, 2021. "University graduates’ job-education mismatches in the Spanish labour market," MPRA Paper 109881, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Araz Zirar, 2023. "Can artificial intelligence’s limitations drive innovative work behaviour?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2005-2034, August.
    14. Pollock, Marchantia & Schmulian, Astrid & Coetzee, Stephen A., 2023. "Do team-based written or video explanations of course content enhance accounting students’ knowledge, communication, and teamwork skills?," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Zirar, Araz & Ali, Syed Imran & Islam, Nazrul, 2023. "Worker and workplace Artificial Intelligence (AI) coexistence: Emerging themes and research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    16. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, O.D. & Lopez-Agudo, L.A. & Henriques, C.O., 2021. "Are soft skills conditioned by conflicting factors? A multiobjective programming approach to explore the trade-offs," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 18-40.
    17. Monique Micallef & Cheryl Mifsud & Lauren Ellul & Peter J. Baldacchino & Simon Grima, 2023. "The Skill Set Required in the Accounting Workplace: Perspectives of Accounting Graduates and Warrant Holders," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 117-145.
    18. Jan Aleksander Baran, 2020. "Are Poles stuck in overeducation? Individual dynamics of educational mismatch in Poland," Working Papers 2020-23, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    19. Jackson, Denise & Allen, Christina, 2024. "Enablers, barriers and strategies for adopting new technology in accounting," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    20. Manjunath Patel G C & Likewin Thomas & Mujeebur Rehaman & Praveena R, 2024. "Brainstorming and Fishbone diagram Tools for Enhancing the Student Placement in Technical Education System," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(3s), pages 1436-1454, March.
    21. Loureiro, Sandra Maria Correia & Guerreiro, João & Tussyadiah, Iis, 2021. "Artificial intelligence in business: State of the art and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 911-926.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:12:y:2022:i:3:p:72-:d:845169. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.