This paper explores the skills that Hong Kong employers and graduates see as important to have in the workplace as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data are interviews with 40 employers and 69 graduates in the territory. Using reflexive thematic analysis, our qualitative findings center around four themes. First, we highlight the necessity…

Established and well-known employers in Bangladesh often complain that suitable candidates are not available for employment in their organizations, despite the millions of unemployed graduates in the country. This bears clear witness that graduates in Bangladesh are mostly unable to fulfill the needs and expectations of established and well-known…

This study investigates the importance of help-seeking skills among higher education graduates as perceived by employers. Through semi-structured interviews with 16 employers across various industries in Australia, the research identifies help-seeking as a critical skill that enhances employability. An employee demonstrates effective help-seeking…

Purpose: Our work adds to the debate regarding higher education graduates' skills required in the labour market in Germany and beyond. Design/methodology/approach: Using Q-methodology and the accompanying narrations, we explore German employers' and employees' views (N = 26) on characteristics required at the entry level. Findings: Our findings…

Universities tend to focus on the hard skills required within disciplines, with a general lack of focus on the teaching of soft skills, specifically in the hard sciences, while a graduate with good attributes ought to have both. There is an uncertainty over whose responsibility it is to teach soft skills between industry and universities, with the…

There is no single agreed-upon definition of data literacy because expectations of what it means to be data literate varies across contexts. The lack of agreement on a definition of data literacy across contexts is therefore necessary. However, definitions are important. Definitions embody our understanding of concepts and are the foundation for…

The growth in digitalisation has led to an increasing demand for digital skills in various job sectors. In particular, employers in scientific job areas have shown interest in candidates possessing digital competencies. This study aims to analyse the digital skill requirements for candidates in scientific job opportunities. The content analysis is…

Purpose: American Community colleges are vital to the country's economic mobility and are leaders in developing and facilitating career, technical, and workforce education. This study explored employer perspectives on employees' common and specialized skills across industries in the United States. Design/methodology/approach: Employers were…

Co-operative education (co-op) programs enable students to gain real-world experience by alternating work and study terms. Understanding employers' expectations of students in different disciplines is therefore critical for success. To do this, the relationships between co-op job postings, required skills, and academic backgrounds can be modeled…

Literature and research span a multitude of ways to define critical thinking. It is used frequently and interchangeably within academia and the workforce based on the context and experiences of the individual. Amidst the ambiguity and complexity in a composite definition of critical thinking, over the past years, it continues to rank in the top…

Purpose: The paper aims at examining the employability skills relevant in the unprecedented times of turbulence in businesses due to COVID-19 in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach: The study examined the recent skills model through an extensive literature review. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is conducted to identify the…

To advance the employability agenda in higher education, we need new ideas for embedding career skills into university curricula and novel tools for articulating the capabilities of learners. Situated in the discipline of environmental science, the aim of this study was to examine employer perceptions of the skills needed for a career in the…

Governments have become increasingly concerned with improving the employability of university graduates in recent years, but most existing studies of what graduate employers look for are limited by their reliance on self-reported preferences. This study, which focuses on the UK context, aims to develop our knowledge of the determinants of…

Growing concerns about the employability of science graduates has led most Australian higher education providers to incorporate work-integrated learning (WIL) into their science curricula. Project-based learning (PjBL) is a student-centred approach to learning that focuses on the application of discipline specific skills and knowledge in…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how hiring managers describe the importance of education and industry related/real-world experience as criteria in hiring recent business graduates for the Consumer Products Goods industry in the United States. The theoretical foundations for the study were the CareerEDGE Model, and…