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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the soft skill gap of graduate employees, as well as the factors influencing the skill gaps of real estate graduates in the employment of real estate firms in Nigeria.

Primary data were employed for the study. Close-ended questionnaire served on real estate employers in the two major property markets of Nigeria: Lagos and Abuja. From a total of 343 questionnaires administered, 172 (59.7%) questionnaires were retrieved. While data from the graduate employees were obtained via a web-based survey sent out to a total of 558 graduates, 119 (21.33%) responses were received. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed in the data analysis.

The findings showed that employers had high expectations for soft skillsets relating to responsibility, administrative, listening and communication skills. These have respective mean scores of 6.38, 6.33, 6.31 and 6.31 on a seven point scale. However, the results revealed significant skill gaps with skills such as logical thinking, business negotiation, responsibility and marketing. Further, the analysis revealed that factors influencing the skill gap, in decreasing order of influence, are training/professional mentors/remuneration, personal preferences/industry characteristics and curriculum/faculties.

Real estate graduate soft skills are investigated to uncover areas of emphasis and skill gaps. These outcomes could serve as important feedbacks for stakeholders towards improving real estate teaching and curriculum. The findings could also assist real estate graduates to know employers areas of emphasis in relation to graduate employability skills.

Extant studies have reiterated and evaluated the soft skills gaps based on the perceptions of employers, faculties and institutions of higher learning. However, there is the need to investigate the perception of graduate employees, being the recipient and major stakeholders in the training process.

The global shift in the traditional skills required of real estate graduates has led to an increased demand for employees who have the required skills and competencies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate employment considerations of real estate firms and analyse employers’ skill expectations and the observed skills possessed by the graduate employees. This study also analysed the self-assessed soft skill levels of the graduate employees, thereby establishing the skill gap.

Data were sought from real estate employers in the two dominant real estate markets of Nigeria: Lagos and Abuja, and real estate graduate employees who have had a minimum of six months working experience in real estate firms. Data collected were analysed using statistical techniques such as frequency, percentages, mean, correlation, multivariate analysis of variance, paired-samples t-test and independent samples t-test.

The findings of this study revealed that employers’ soft skills expectations were high with skills such as responsibility, administrative, listening, communication, business negotiation and work ethics. Based on employers' observed skills, there were significant skill gaps with respect to soft skills such as responsibility, business negotiation, logical thinking, marketing and dispute resolution. An analysis of the core skills reveals employers' preference for technical competencies in valuation, agency, property management, marketing, report writing and landlord and tenant laws. However, graduate employees possessed significant skill gaps with regards to technical skills such as valuation, property investment analysis, feasibility and viability appraisal, market research methods and facility management.

An understanding of the skill gaps will provide useful feedback to professional bodies, regulatory boards, institutions of higher learning, faculty members and other stakeholders regarding deficient skill areas, especially for curriculum review, development and training in the real estate sector.

There is a paucity of information about employers' skill preferences and the skill gaps in the real estate sector.

Managers claim that fresh graduates are unequipped to meet market demands. The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of employers in retail Islamic banks of Bahrain on newly graduated business students. The Singaporean Model of Employability Skills was implemented, to ascertain the mean ratings of employability skills in terms of their importance and the competency of business graduates.

This deductive research approach initiated with a literature review that identifies research gap and a model that was tested via a self-administration adopted survey by collected data from 220 senior employees at retail Islamic banks of Bahrain

The systematic of convenience sampling technique was used in selecting 161 samples and the researcher received only 85 completed questionnaire forms. Findings initiate that employers appreciated the importance of teamwork, risk management and decision-making skills. Their main recommendation was that employers should establish a durable bond with universities to enhance employability skills.

Because the researcher gathered all data from employers of different Islamic banks in Bahrain, this sector in addition will get the advantage of the results that banks will formulate their strategic plans accordingly to tackle the business graduates’ weaknesses. Likewise, universities and researchers might be motivated to look into new innovative methods that assist graduates to accommodate with market conditions.

The purpose of this study is to review scholarly research on employability and skill gap in the context of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) education in India. This paper provides an overview of the critical themes and identifies research gaps for future investigations.

Published empirical studies were reviewed and thematically analysed using NVivo 11 Pro.

In addition to technical aptitudes and skills, organisations also seek other attributes that are associated with employability, such as communication, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills. Communication is an important skill frequently cited in the literature. Additionally, themes related to reasons for skill gaps are identified.

Soft skills and non-technical aptitudes should be emphasised in MBA education. Furthermore, significant reforms in MBA education programmes should be implemented in India to make graduates industry-ready.

Several studies have been carried out to verify the existence of and reasons for skill gaps amongst MBA graduates in India. Through integrative literature review, the issue of skill gap is discussed. Future research directions are also recommended in this paper.

The study provides an evaluation of the knowledge and skills importance covered in the degree of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) as well as the knowledge and skills gap of graduates entry-level.

The study used both descriptive and exploratory research designs. The study adopted a self-administered questionnaire. The sample size is 41 logistics industry mid-managers of six organizations selected from the main operators of Sohar Port in Oman.

The findings reveal that logistics professionals agree on the importance of all the learner attributes, knowledge and cognitive skills, and general competencies identified in a university degree with a major in LSCM. Furthermore, the results identified moderate levels of gaps in five knowledge areas and six soft and hard skills of graduates at the entry level.

Further research can be built on this study findings by evaluating the perception of logistics and supply chain industry professionals in different global contexts and investigate the effectiveness of different training and educational programs in enhancing the knowledge and skills of logistics professionals in various regions.

This study may extend beyond Oman and have important implications for LSCM practices in other developing countries. Universities' management in developing countries can use this study findings to identify the key skills required by entry-level logistics professionals and incorporate them into their curricula to better prepare graduates for the workforce. In addition, the skills identified in our study, such as decision-making skills, managing stress, negotiation skills and critical thinking, are relevant to logistics professionals in other developing countries with similar socio-economic and industry characteristics.

Unlike the prior studies that focused on the mismatch between educational degrees and job requirements without considering study specializations and industry, this paper lays a nuanced understanding of the knowledge and skills gap associated with entry-level graduates of the logistics and supply chain industry. As such, the paper offers inputs for the LSCM academic degree related to knowledge and skills needed by logistics and supply chain industry.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the gap between skills expected by managers and skills possessed by business graduates employed by banking industry.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with bank officers under whom fresh business graduates were working. They were asked to indicate the importance of 12 employability skills in the industry and to rate business graduates working under them against these skills. Results are achieved by applying paired samples and independent samples t-tests on data collected from 121 bank officers.

Results prove that overall employability skills of the graduates are lesser than expected by the managers. Significant skill gaps were found for listening, problem solving, communication, leadership, interpersonal, analytical, self-management, numeracy and critical thinking. Results also reveal that problem-solving skill of male graduates is superior that that of females.

The study makes business graduates clear in what skills they are to learn and how it relates to the expectations of managers in banking industry. It helps business schools to revise and improve curriculum of some specialized banking programs according to the needs of the industry.

This is the first study that investigates the skills required by the banking industry out of business graduates. It also identifies the skill gaps for fresh business graduates from managerial perspective in banking industry of Pakistan.

This paper compares and contrasts graduate accountant skills and employers' expectations in South East Asia (SEA).

We analyse the employers' expectation performance gap (EPG) in three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam – to provide a reflection on current professional accounting development in SEA. The study relies on data derived from multiple sources including job advertisements, CIMA “ready for business” project, Glassdoor website and other secondary data sources.

The findings indicate that over recent decades, the changing nature of the economy, state, and interest of the business sector (including the “Big Four”) have led to the wider adoption of professional accountancy qualifications. The findings suggest that graduates should be equipped with active learning activities such as project-based and work-integrated training to fill the expectation gaps between local university educators and employers.

Drawing upon a literature review of professional accounting education, we use the results of the documentations and secondary analysis to describe the performance expectation gap of accounting education in SEA.

The study indicates a large discrepancy between the teachings in accounting education and employer requirements in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia and propose different methods to fill this employability gap in South East Asia.

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.

The purpose of this study is to understand the mediating role of psychological need and immersive experience on graduates' skill gaps on massive open online courses (MOOCs) adoption intention.

The proposed research model is developed by combining two popular theoretical models, namely, the self-determination theory, network externalities theory along technology adoption theory. Data are collected from 318 respondents to test the model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to analyze the data.

The study reveals that the sense of psychological needs and immersive experience mediates the influence of skill gap and social interaction on MOOC adaption willingness. However, immersive experience alone cannot influence adoption intention. Similarly, psychological needs cannot have a significant impact on adoption intention without the graduate skill gap.

This study specifically focuses on investigating the mechanism of how psychological needs satisfaction mediates the relationship between graduates' skill gap and MOOC adoption intention. The findings suggest us to develop a course that will increase learners employability skill. This study also contributes by incorporating the idea of immersive experience to facilitate improved virtual social interaction.

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.