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This paper aims to identify the factors that can affect the overall graduate employability (OGE) of the private university graduates of Bangladesh. The authors carefully selected six such employable factors after searching the existing literature. Those six factors: academic performance (AP), technical skills (TS), communication skills (CS), personality (PE), leadership & motivational skills (LMS); and teamwork and problem solving skills (TPSS), had been considered as the independent variables while OGE had been considered as the single dependent variable.

The authors collected the primary data from a valid sample of 360 employers through a structured questionnaire working as the hiring managers. Those respondents were selected on a random basis. The authors used exploratory factor analysis to validate the items under those independent variables and structural equation modeling with AMOS (24) to test the hypothesized relationship between each independent variable and the dependent one.

After proper statistical analysis, the results revealed that AP, PE, CS and TPSS can positively and significantly influence the OGE of Bangladeshi graduates while LMS and TS have positive but insignificant influence over OGE.

Based on the findings, this paper can help scholars in further investigating the employability factors.

This explorative study will guide the fresh graduates in developing their required employability skills while assisting the employers in recruiting suitable candidates with the required skills and performance.

This is one of the few attempts that focused on the employability factors of private university graduates in Bangladesh. The authors are well confident that this empirical paper can shed some light on the fresh graduates’ employability and conducting further investigations on it.

The need for “job‐ready” graduates has catalysed the development of non‐technical skills in higher education institutions worldwide. Continued criticism of business school outcomes has provoked this examination of non‐technical skill deficiencies in Australian business graduates. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings with existing literature on skill gaps in other developed, culturally‐similar economies, underscore the generality of identified problems, and highlight to stakeholders in undergraduate education those areas requiring curricula review.

In total, 211 managers/supervisors of business graduates and 156 business academics assessed the typical performance levels of Australian business graduates against a comprehensive framework of 20 skills and 45 associated workplace behaviours. Ratings were examined within and across the two samples and variations analysed by work area, business activity and business discipline.

Some differences were detected between academic and employer skill ratings of certain workplace behaviours. Respondents agreed that although graduates are confident and proficient in certain non‐technical skills, they are deficient in vital elements of the managerial skill set. There were differences in employer ratings across certain business activities and work areas but none detected in academic ratings from different business disciplines.

Findings broadly align with literature from previous studies, highlighting the generality of presented skill deficiencies. The study suggests that although business schools are producing well‐rounded graduates, they are overlooking the development of certain non‐technical skills deemed essential in managers. This urges curricula reform and raises questions on who is responsible for developing work readiness in graduates. The implications of differing perceptions of graduate performance are discussed.

Universities have become training centres or “academic hubs” where skilled labour for societal and global consumptions are continuously produced. More so, the quality of teaching (pedagogy) provided by universities is essential in enhancing the skills, expertise and competencies of students who are required to meet the needs of the construction industry after graduation. Hence, the purpose of this study is to assess employers’ level of satisfaction with the employability skills of built-environment graduates in Nigeria.

A quantitative approach was adopted for this study with close-ended questionnaires administered to respondents drawn from professionals in the Nigerian construction industry. Out of 150 questionnaires disseminated, 131 were completed and 126 were usable, signifying an 87% response rate. Data from this research were analysed using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis.

Employers are seemingly satisfied with the sound academic record of built-environment graduates. They also affirmed their contentment with graduates’ willingness to learn and the way they achieve tasks with positive results. However, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the graduates’ prior work experience, communication skills and technical competencies in handling industry tasks effectively.

Data was collected from construction professions across two cities – Abuja and Lagos. Because of the limited budget allocated for this study, other regions were not considered. Because of time and financial implications, it was extremely impossible to visit all 36 states. It is, therefore, impossible to generalise the results of this research to the larger population. In generalising the results on a larger scale, the study would have to factor in a more diverse sample to ensure it is more representative. A more diverse sample may mitigate any possible bias that may arise from a self-administered questionnaire.

From the survey results obtained from the respondents, it was observed that general knowledge about local and global trends, management skills, teamwork skills, work experience, communication skills, critical thinking skills, numeracy skills and civic responsibility are among the major non-academic skills lacking among built-environment graduates. This places significant pressures on universities in Nigeria to revisit and revamp its curricula in developing these skills among students who require them to thrive in the construction industry.

Although the subject of employability has been adequately discussed across various fields (accountancy, psychology, management, business, marketing, etc.), there exist limited research studies in the built-environment context, a gap, which this study aims to fill. This study also provides several approaches through which employability skills can be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the requirements of accounting graduates in relation to generic attributes. Employers have consistently maintained that graduates are deficient in this area. This Australia‐wide, all‐sector study addresses the issue by examining what employers mean when they make demands for universities and academics to deliver work‐ready graduates.

Interviews (recorded, transcribed and analysed with NVivo) with employers, and accounting professional bodies were conducted to ascertain their views of their needs of accounting graduates into the future.

Employers held the generic attributes of communication, team work and self‐management to be the most critical for graduates in the three areas of recruitment, training and ongoing employment. Demands on universities to deliver work‐ready graduates are not homogeneous. Employers in different sectors construe the meaning of generic attributes in line with their specific needs.

The study was an original piece of work that gauged the opinions of professional accounting bodies and employers of accounting graduates across Australia and in all sectors of the accounting profession. The value of the study is to inform academics as to the ranked importance of generic attributes but also alert them to the different meanings that are assigned to these skills by employers in different sectors.

Available literature overlooks the factors that affect employers’ opinions of the skills graduates bring to the labour market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the perception of graduates’ skills and the employers’ anticipative and remedial strategies.

A qualitative multiple case study is used and data were gathered from interviews with human resource managers in ten firms in Portugal. The data set includes information on perceptions of graduates’ skills, solutions for the acquisition of skills, hiring and training policies, and practices associated with university–industry linkages.

Almost all the employers sampled are unsatisfied with graduates’ preparation in soft skills and other personal traits. Some report skill shortages and gaps in technical skills that result in training costs. The perception of technical skills varies according to anticipative and remedial strategies.

This is an explorative study with a very small sample of firms. However, it is a first step towards further research into whether the perception of graduates’ skills is affected by anticipative and remedial strategies implemented by firms within a particular human resource development system.

It is argued that the responsibility for graduates’ employability should be shared. Practitioners should learn how to interact with higher education, researchers should profit from insights into typologies of employers’ strategies on skill formation, and policy makers should understand that employers are heterogeneous and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Universities, employers and policy makers should understand that the employability of graduates presupposes shared responsibility.

The relationship between the strategies employers adopt to access skills and their perception of graduates’ skills is a quite underexplored topic.

While the global education debate remains focused on graduate skills and employability, the absence of a shared language between student, academic and industry stakeholder groups means that defining industry skills requirements is both essential and difficult. The purpose of this paper is to assess graduate skills requirements in a knowledge-intensive industry from a demand perspective as distinct from a curriculum (supply) viewpoint.

Skills items were derived from a breadth of disciplines across academic, policy and industry literature. CEOs and senior managers in the innovation and commercialisation industry were surveyed regarding perceptions of skills in graduates and skills in demand by the firm. Two rounds of exploratory factor analyses were undertaken to examine employers’ perceptions of the skills gap.

First-order analysis resolved ten broad constructs that represent cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills domains as applied in this industry. Knowledge, leadership and interprofessional collaboration feature as prominent skills. Second-order analysis revealed employers’ perceptions of graduate skills specifically centre on organisational fit and organisational success. An over-arching theme relates to performance of the individual in organisations.

The findings suggest that the discourse on employability and the design of curriculum need to shift from instilling lists of skills towards enabling graduates to perform in a diversity of workplace contexts and expectations centred on organisational purpose.

In contrast to the heterogeneous nature of industry surveys, the authors targeted a homogenous sector that is representative of knowledge-intensive industries. This study contributes to the broader stakeholder dialogue of the value and application of graduate skills in this and other industry sectors.

Commences with an examination of SME research, traces how it has progressed over the past two decades and then focuses on the growing interest relating to the application of graduate skills. It primarily results from research carried out between 1996 and 1998, using a database of 206 graduates and 32 firms. The framework of knowledge associated with skills and competitiveness is explored, as is the issue of the categorisation of skills. Two categories are principally identified – personal and business – with listings introduced following a process of qualitative interviews with graduates and managers of SMEs. The lack of consensual paradigms in relation to skills is explored. It is argued that the resulting SME value chain is a valid alternative model with wider application among SME managers.

A sample of 1996 undergraduate students from the University of Central Lancashire were surveyed soon after graduation. Responses were obtained from 143 graduates of the University from an initial census of 315 (45 per cent) drawn from six departments. Although the initial purpose of the survey was to assess the usefulness of survey methodology as a means of assessing graduates’ skills development, the research also addressed a number of key questions relating to the importance and quality of graduates’ generic transferable skills and competencies. Basic findings in terms of skills development are threefold: (a) graduates tend to rate the importance of particular skills more highly than their own ability in those skills, (b) graduates tend to rate their level of ability lowest in IT skills and highest in their ability to work without supervision, and (c) that there are possible differences between the views of males and females. The research has implications for undergraduates, employers and careers advisers. Furthermore, academic departments facing teaching quality assessment might find that this approach offers useful evidence for their self assessment.

This paper aims to examine the skills expected by employers and the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates with data from 160 employers of accounting graduates in Ghana. From the perspective of employers, the authors compare the expected skills to the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates and identify any significant gaps.

One-way analysis of variance, T-tests and factor analysis are used to test significant gaps that exist between expected and demonstrated skills by employers and accounting graduates using survey questionnaires and purposive sampling.

The results reveal that there are significant gaps between the expected skills of employers and the demonstrated skills of accounting graduates. The authors find generic skills to be more expected by employers, while technical skills are demonstrated most by accounting graduates. The top five skills expected by employers are: business ethics and integrity; problem solving and decision analysis; written communication skills; learning skills; and application of accounting principles.

The study focuses only on organizations that use fresh accounting graduates in Ghana. Further studies may consider other business-related fields like finance, human resource management and marketing.

The study provides insights on standards that serve as benchmarks for the conduct of accounting graduates as well as the development of accounting curriculum in Ghana. Accounting education should incorporate work-integrated learning as part of their curriculum to enable accounting graduates to solve problems and make decisions through a practical application of accounting principles, standards and concepts, especially in conducting audit and writing reports.

This study fills the gap in the literature on accounting education from employers’ perspectives in a developing country. It conducts a comparative analysis between the most important skills required by employers and the ones demonstrated by accounting graduates to provide insights on standards that should serve as benchmarks for the development of the accounting curriculum from an emerging economy perspective.