Youth unemployment remains a major political and socioeconomic challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, particularly given the region's young population. Literature points to two key barriers facing youth employment in the region, skills deficiencies and weak fundamentals that inhibit job creation and growth. Labor supply challenges are…

The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent industry representatives deem employees' readiness as satisfactory for the implementation of Industry 4.0 elements, to determine how the availability of related positions in the market is perceived and, on that basis, to identify the implications for the education system in terms of structure…

New hires must prepare to make an immediate impact in a fluctuating and dynamic job market. Teaching career readiness and employability skills helps prepare college students for a job search and, ultimately, success in their careers. This paper discusses how an academic program at a university adapted to prepare students for the workplace during a…

Contribution: This article demonstrates and illustrates the implication of design-based learning (DBL) and plan, do, check, and act (PDCA) methodology to foster creativity, critical thinking, collaborative decision making, and communication skills ("C4") with realistic constraints, theory, and practical implementation in higher…

The aim of this article is to provide a systematic review of the transversal competencies for employability in university graduates from an employer's perspective, with consideration to the importance of the topic in the cross-national context. The PRISMA statement was used to guide the methodology and the reporting for the systematic review. The…

The employability of liberal arts versus specialized degree-holders is a significant concern in a technology-driven labor market. As a result of the specialized market, there has been an immediate demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or STEM-related degree-holders. However, the demand for STEM-related skills also…

This study examined the extent to which experiential learning and career guidance activities, as strategies for equipping students with transferable skills, are used by Higher Education (HE) in two African countries, Nigeria and South Africa to prepare students for the volatile labour market. The contributions of the two strategies to students'…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of graduate work readiness (GWR) from a stakeholder perspective. The research attempts to pull together the various multidisciplinary themes from the literature into a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between graduates and the labour market, considering the international…

This paper reports a study about the perceptions of the academic community, employers and civil servants regarding graduates' employability skills in East Africa. Specifically, it focuses on the mismatch between skills acquired in Higher Education (HE) and those in demand by employers, and explores factors influencing the situation. A mixed method…

Purpose: This article provides empirical validation of the Graduate Capital Model, adopted at a UK Russell Group University as a tool to analyse and support the career preparedness of both undergraduates and postgraduate students. An overview of employability capitals and how the development of these will potentially result in positive employment…

Understanding the developmental and contextual nature of social and emotional competencies has always been a key concern of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), including the ways students and adults use core social and emotional competencies in preparation for and within their work-life. The current labor market…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is, first, to examine student perspectives of their university experience in terms of the soft employability skills they develop; second, how prepared those students feel for the future employment market and finally investigate whether there are differences in perceptions between Chinese and Malaysian students…

A pragmatic approach was used to explore the extent to which four selected social science degree programs were relevant for the skill needs of the job market in Zambia. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 162 participants using interviews and questionnaires. The SPSS version 24 and Atlas. Ti Version 8 were used to analyse…

Many have called for greater alignment between education systems and the workforce, more equitable access to career-oriented experiences, and new policy approaches that will enable all individuals to successfully enter and thrive in the evolving labor market. Overall, education leaders at all levels must commit to new policy solutions that offer…

Graduates with employability skills are considered as assets by employers because they are dynamic and adapt easily to today's work environment. Thus, higher education globally is under pressure to produce graduates who are employable and able to continue learning and remain employed. This study examined the extent to which the undergraduate…